Parks and Recreation: April Ludgate, The Secretly Optimistic Cynic | Explained - video Dailymotion

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Get 50% off your first year at http://monarchmoney.com/thetake | Parks and Recreation’s April Ludgate is known for her cynical, sarcastic demeanor. But, underneath that moody exterior, she...

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00:00Parks and Recreation's April Ludgate is known for her cynical, sarcastic demeanor.

00:05I'm Janet Snakehole. I'm a very rich widow with a terrible secret.

00:09But underneath that moody exterior, she was actually a surprisingly positive thinker.

00:15It's just that optimism looks a little different on April.

00:19Though it might not seem like it at first, April provides a really relatable example of how to

00:24figure out your sense of self and build up your own life without giving up all of the things that

00:29make you, you. So how did she do it? Let's take a closer look.

00:33I'm April Ludgate. I like people, places, and things.

00:42One of the most memorable aspects of April is her sardonic nature.

00:46She never wants to be seen as taking anything seriously, and especially wouldn't want anyone

00:50to think she was invested in anyone or anything around her.

00:54You want me to dial a number and then read another number out loud?

00:58Yes. Can you handle this?

01:03No.

01:04She uses her sarcasm as a way to keep up a barrier between her and the world.

01:09But it's not because she doesn't care. She's created this deadpan persona as a way to feel

01:14like she's different from the bubblier people she finds herself surrounded by.

01:18She feels boxed in by the societal expectations around how a young woman should act, and so instead

01:24decides to run in the opposite direction.

01:27Well I always think April's gonna clean up.

01:29And I never clean up.

01:31It's cute right?

01:32No.

01:32Yes it is.

01:34She plays aloof and says quite often that she doesn't like people. But really the main thing she doesn't

01:40seem to like is feeling like she's not in control. You can't ever really control other people's reactions

01:46or feelings. And when they don't line up with what you expected, it can be tough.

01:51Maybe little Sebastian got upset because he tried to share his true feelings with someone

01:55and they didn't reciprocate.

01:57This is why she often leans into attempting to shock people with her snarky quips.

02:01Because at least then, she can feel like she'll already be prepared for how they're going to react,

02:07and thus she can continue to feel like she's in control.

02:10While all of this can certainly cause problems for April, as we'll unpack in a moment,

02:15as she learned to harness this side of herself, it actually became one of her greatest strengths.

02:21I like to do nothing with no one, so thank you and I love you, but no thank you and I hate you.

02:28I love you.

02:29One positive aspect of April's desire to constantly go against the grain is that she doesn't allow

02:34herself to get rushed into a life she doesn't want. She's a 19-year-old intern who isn't sure

02:40what she wants out of life when we first meet her, so she can come across as a little aimless.

02:45But she doesn't give in to everyone around her's ideas of what she should do,

02:50no matter how incessantly they try to help her work towards a future. She might not know exactly

02:56what she does want, but she definitely knows what she doesn't want, and has no problem putting her

03:02foot down. And while she might take her time to figure out some decisions, when she knows what

03:11she wants, she isn't afraid to jump in head first, like marrying Andy after only dating for a month.

03:17We're often told that there's only one real path to building a happy, successful life,

03:22but April shows us that that isn't the case. We can absolutely carve our own path, and it doesn't

03:29have to look like everyone else's to be considered a success.

03:37Because April is protective of her inner self, and okay, maybe a little afraid of connecting with

03:42others, she initially has a hard time really opening herself up to anyone.

03:48No, I didn't win, but at least I didn't make any new friendships.

03:52April doesn't let people get close to her easily because she's afraid of getting hurt. If she lets

03:57someone see the real April and they don't respond well. Having people react negatively when you're

04:02being deliberately standoffish is one thing, having people react negatively when you're just being you

04:08is very much another. She feels safer locked up behind all of the walls she's built up,

04:14only occasionally giving people glimpses of the kind, sweet woman inside. But over time,

04:19she's able to begin letting her guard down little by little because she's come to genuinely trust the

04:25people in her life. April was the perfect foil for Leslie. For every over-the-top upbeat moment

04:30of exuberance from Leslie, April had an understated little bit of snark at the ready.

04:35Let's say I'm Meredith Perkins, yay!

04:37Oh, Leslie, this is so nice.

04:40I put the poisonous gas in one of these balloons, so if any of them pops, you may die.

04:43This helped tether Leslie's pie-in-the-sky optimism to reality, but over time, April, though she'd never

04:49want to admit it, actually started to adopt more of Leslie's mindset too.

04:54April, that would be the coolest thing since NSYNC, Aerosmith, and Nelly

04:58performed together at the Super Bowl halftime show.

05:00Ew!

05:01This is how her secret optimism begins to sneak out more and more. She comes to realize that

05:08doing good and making positive changes doesn't have to mean always being a ray of sunshine.

05:13She can combine her own attitude with what she's learned from Leslie to start working towards goals

05:18in a major way without losing her sense of self.

05:21Opening herself up to the right people also helps her grow in other ways,

05:26like when Ben has to give her a wake-up call when she's working for him in DC.

05:30Just more generally, they help her realize that

05:32adulting doesn't have to mean giving up all of the fun in her life.

05:36Okay, you have to pay these.

05:38Good thing I didn't lose them.

05:39And in fact, can actually help facilitate the life she wants.

05:43We are responsible adults.

05:45We have money and we are going to buy the f*** out of this house.

05:50Seriously?

05:51Yes.

05:51While we don't all have people like Ben and Leslie in our lives to help us get things together,

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07:20Andy Dwyer is actually one of the first people to really melt April's ice walls.

07:25She attempts to keep him at arm's length like everyone else,

07:28but his infectious energy shines through even her darkest clouds.

07:32Because of their very different demeanors, they can sometimes not be quite on the same wavelength,

07:37No, I'm not mad at him. He's great. I awesome sauce Andy.

07:42But those differences are also what allow them to bring out the best in each other.

07:46While Andy helps April open herself up to the fun side of life,

07:50she's able to use her intensity and power to propel him towards his goals too.

07:56April began the show with a special set of skills that allowed her to carve out her own

08:00special place in the Pawnee Parks department.

08:03Now, I know I'm not going to find someone who's both aggressively mean and apathetic.

08:10April really is the whole package.

08:12Over time, however, she came to realize that she didn't feel totally fulfilled by her assistant's

08:17jobs, and wanted something more, even though she wasn't exactly sure what.

08:22When she helped cover a lot of Leslie's job at the end of season 4, she realized how difficult the

08:28work is, but this time also allowed her a good opportunity to figure out a lot of the parts

08:32she hates, but also some of the things she does like and even excels at.

08:37Instead of trying to mold herself into jobs that didn't work for her or would make her miserable,

08:42she was able to begin figuring out how to carve her own niche within the department where she could

08:47use her skills to help out, and then expand even further.

08:50A major step towards figuring out her future came when she commandeered the animal control department

09:01by bringing it under the parks and recreation department and getting her self-made deputy

09:06director so that she could help the animals herself. It didn't end up being her one true calling,

09:12but it did help her begin to open herself up to new possibilities for her career.

09:17This winding path of searching for a job that fit her skillset and attitude,

09:21instead of forcing herself to stick with a career that wasn't working for her,

09:25definitely wasn't easy. She was wracked with self-doubt and the worry that she'd never figure

09:30out what she was really supposed to be doing.

09:33I don't like anything, okay? You're not going to be able to find a career for me, so just give up.

09:37No way, babe. We can do this.

09:39Eventually, she got lucky and came across a great job with the American Service Foundation

09:44that would allow her to utilize her favorite skill of all.

09:47I know exactly what I want to do. I want to tell people what to do,

09:51and then send them far away from me. It's perfect.

09:54While some might feel like they need to be always on and positive to keep moving forward

09:59and motivating others, April knows that that isn't necessarily the case.

10:03I'll put your news plate in my purse, I almost have a complete set.

10:05Really? Oh my god, you're so smart.

10:07She's a cynic, but importantly not really a pessimist at heart.

10:11Underneath all of that doom and gloom, April always has a little ray of hope that shines through.

10:17This allows her to keep moving forward. She might not be the image of the classic

10:21chipper optimist, but she also never gives up. She shows how it's actually okay to complain sometimes,

10:28especially when things are actually bad, and how it can even be a good thing because it allows for

10:33some catharsis. And being willing to directly and clearly point out problems also means that they

10:39can much more easily get fixed. While she might often seem to focus too much on the negative,

10:45she's actually also really great at finding the positives in the negatives too.

10:50Over the course of the show, April's sardonic nature trended a little more goofy,

10:54but it didn't feel like slanderization, but instead just genuine growth. She was a 19-year-old

11:00intern when we met her, and she's a fully grown adult woman at the end.

11:04I was aimless and just thought everything was stupid and lame. You turned me into someone with

11:14goals.

11:15It makes sense that her perspective shifted a bit over time, that she became a little less

11:20angry and tough and more open and wacky. But she never changed to the core of who she is.

11:26April was an incredibly important piece of the Parks and Rec puzzle, and the show definitely

11:31would not have been the same without her. Of course, we love her iconic one-liners,

11:36but the other side of her story is so important too. How growth does mean having to accept some

11:41change, but it doesn't have to mean changing everything about yourself to fit in. We could

11:47all learn a thing or two from April's cynical optimism as we go forward trying to figure out our

11:52own lives.

11:58That's the take. Click here to watch the video we think you'll love, or here to check out a whole

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Parks and Recreation: April Ludgate, The Secretly Optimistic Cynic | Explained

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