The Source: "The Monkey Who Gathered Lotuses" by Tayodhamma Jataka in The Jataka: Volume 1
Parks and Recreation
It was a typical Tuesday afternoon at the Pawnee Indiana Parks Department. Ron Swanson was overlooking his department, as director of the Parks and Recreation Department. Ron was fearful of a subordinate that would overpower his directorship one day, so he used his fear tactics to deter anyone from overpowering him. As an avid outdoorsman, Ron was skilled at all typical masculine activities. He would even describe himself as a mans-man. All was going well, until one day a bright eyed woman named Leslie Knope walked in. As Deputy Director of the Parks and Recreation Department, Leslie Knope has so many dreams about future government opportunities and the entire city of Pawnee. Ron Swanson didn't like this new Deputy Director who challenged everything he stood for. Leslie began to question Ron and the decisions he was making for the department. Leslie noticed abnormalities that Ron said would help the department, but actually did not. As Leslie became more and more suspicious, Ron caught wind of these doubts. Ron had to come up with a plan to get Leslie fired in order to protect his job as Director of the department. So Ron began planning, and had a seemingly brilliant idea. Ron remembered the creepy guy named Joe in the sewage department that he could rely on to trap Leslie in a scandal that would ruin her political career. So Ron sent Leslie to the sewage department to "talk" to Joe about issues with the public restrooms in the park. Joe began to be very creepy with Leslie, and instead of falling for Joe and Ron's plan for entrapment, Leslie reported Joe's antics to the Mayor. Leslie returned back to her department and realized that Ron had set her up. The Mayor was informed on this action and Ron was fired in a fit of fury. Leslie Knope was promoted to Director of the Parks and Recreation Department, and all was well in the small town of Pawnee Indiana.
(Parks and Recreation: flickr)
I love Parks and Rec!! It is one of my favorite shows this is such an interesting take! I think that when you say that he is skilled at "typical masculine activities" it may be beneficial to name a few. Then There may need to be a little bitt more of a transition. For people who have not seen the show it may be important to mention how Ron likes silence and doesn't like to get actual work done. Other than those 2 small things I can't think of anything else. That was a great story!
ReplyDeleteHey Anna,
ReplyDeleteI think you did a great job of integrating the Monkey lotus story with Parks and Rec. I feel like this was really interesting because you didn’t just make up Ron and Leslie, but these characters already have their own back stories from Parks and Rec that add to the retelling of this story. I don’t think it’s completely necessary, but maybe you could have gone into more detail about what sorts of things Ron and Leslie disagreed on. Also, I’m kind of hoping for a sequel where Ron seeks revenge.
Anna, nice adaptation of this Jataka tale. I’m torn because this is a good application of this specific entry in the Jataka, and the character molds fit, but seeing Ron fired is tragic! His character arc in the show is pretty fantastic, but I suppose that’s the fate of Devadatta in these stories; to be bested by the ever-wiser Bodhisatta.
ReplyDeleteAnna, really like this adaption. You stay true to the Jataka while making it your own. It is weird to see ron fired, but that is just personal bias. I think you hit all of the plot points for the Jataka real well, and made them make sense in the context of your new story. I personally feel like you could have added some more details on the things they disagreed on, or just included some dialogue to help establish their dynamic. It was an overall good story.
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