Ron Swanson's Pyramid of Greatness


            I have recently started watching Parks and Recreation and I have to say that I believe that Ron Swanson is the funniest character on the entire show.  His dry way of speaking, hate for the government that he works for, and general bluntness about his opinions on any and all topics is frankly hilarious. 
            I believe that there has been no other scene in the show thus far that sums up everything that I love about Ron Swanson and his interesting take on the world than the “Swanson Pyramid of Greatness” scene.  Ron has been assigned to coach a youth basketball team in Pawnee, Indiana and the life lessons that he decides to teach these kids are absolute comedic gold.  He starts his lesson by telling the boys that they will grow “from boys into men, from men into gladiators, and from gladiators into Swansons.”  He believes himself to be a manlier figure than a gladiator.  The government employee from a small town in Indiana is somehow more macho than some of the most ruthless and battle-hardened men that history has ever seen.  Ron then tells the team about the importance of teamwork, followed by the equal importance of selfishness.  The obvious incongruity of the two statements makes the whole concept quite laughable.  Later in the scene, Ron appears to give advice about a healthy diet that includes only meat, but not fish meat because according to Mr. Swanson “fish meat is practically a vegetable.” 
            I believe the reading assignments gave me a new way to analyze this scene in particular.  Going back and watching the scene again after having read the article on the “Theories of Humor” definitely added another level of understanding and allowed me to view the scene in a new light.  I have attached the link to both the video of the scene and a blown up picture of Swanson’s pyramid below. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAQ4yNgXelk
https://www.nbcstore.com/parks-and-recreation-swanson-pyramid-of-greatness-poster.html

Comments

  1. Shane HerronAugust 31, 2018 at 9:45 AM

    He's a favorite character of mine too. I think his central comedic conceit is the irony of someone who is a libertarian in the government, and that repeats itself in the emphasis on the selfishness of teamwork.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Response to Alyssa's Blog

       Vines are, in a way, the simplest form of comedy.   Short, six second clips that do not even allow time to set up a proper joke; they are often almost indescribably funny.   The vine of the little girl falling off the swing and then rolling down the Wii bowling lane is one of my all-time favorites.   The surprise that accompanies the girl’s trip down the lane is probably the best way to describe why most vines are funny.   The unexpectedness, or incongruity, makes them true, goofy works of art.   Richard’s misadventures while attempting to play frisbee golf is another perfect example.   In the first second or two, we see him wind up to make the throw and openly wonder where in the world the video, and indeed frisbee, are going.   We obviously do not have to wait very long for the legendary line.   With both of these vines we also see superiority come into play as we watch a small child tumble helplessly...
Read more

Response to Hill's Main Blog

I absolutely love The Hangover and both of the sequels.   I agree with Hill that they are definitely some of the funniest movies in recent history.   All of the videos in the links were great and have made me want to go back and watch them all again.   These are the scenes that everyone remembers, but even the less popular scenes from the films have so many underrated lines that it is impossible to know them all.   One of my favorite obscure lines from the first movie comes when Chow and his bodyguards ram Phil, Stu, and Alan while they are driving in the Mercedes.   The bodyguards have taken Alan’s purse, which he continues to call a satchel, because they thought that it was Chow’s purse with a lot of money in poker chips in it.   One of the larger guards throws it on the ground and Alan, in the most serious and offended voice possible, says “Hey! There are Skittles in there!”   My family and I quote this line all of the time. ...
Read more

Response to Catherine's Main Blog

            I have never seen the 2017 version of Baywatch , or the original version for that matter, but the scenes in the link were pretty funny.   Movies with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson tend to be either really good or really bad in my opinion.   I also think that it is kind of funny that The Rock plays about the same type of character in every movie he is in.   His role always fits the same basic mold.   I agree with Catherine that the relief and benign violation theories are most applicable here.   The superiority theory is definitely present in the scenes in the YouTube video as well.   The jokes in the first scene fit the relief theory because tension is built by the number of inappropriate things that are said and done along with Ronnie’s anxiety about being stuck and the growing crowd around him.   This tension is of course broken when he jumps forward and breaks the chair...
Read more