Parks and Recreation ​season 3 episode 11 is named “Jerry's painting,” and features two

story arcs (07:08-25:49). The first is about a Leslie Knope falling in love with a painting of
herself as a topless, powerful centaur, and hanging it up in a government building (Jerry’s
Painting 4:36-9:12). This sparks outrage, and she is forced to try to defend it (Jerry’s Painting
9:20-24:58). The second story arc in “Jerry’s Painting” is Andy and April struggling to become
adults (05:41-25:50). While this is what literally happens in the episode, there are deeper social
implications.

Semiotics is featured in “Jerry’s Painting.” According to ​The World is a Text,​“Semiotics”

refers to the study of the signifier, and the signified (14). For instance in a mafia movie, when a
mobster puts a gun on someone’s coffee table, the gun is the signifier and the signified the harm
that the mobster is suggesting that he could commit to the other person if necessary. “Jerry’s
Painting” has many such symbols that it uses to communicate a messages; one signifer
recurrence of the topeles women throughout the episode (07:08-25:49). Toplessness has no
intrinsic implications, but based on American context that dictates that it is immoral for women
to be topless in public (and connects to double standards for women and men), toplessness
implies that Jerry’s painting is about patriarchy, which is the signified. (07:08-25:49). Patriarchy
refers to social or literal rules that take into account men’s interests over those of women. In the
show, there is explicate debate surrounding the idea of whether or not it is appropriate whether or
not the painting is appropriate (09:22-18:39). The “Jerry’s Painting” ends with the painting being
replaced by a similar painting of a topless man, which is deemed as socially acceptable
(24:22-24:58). The second story arc in “Jerry’s Painting” uses the the many infantile practices
(such as eating off of Frisbees ) of Andy and April (which is the signified) to comment on their
failing to mature into adulthood (which is the signified) ( 10:38-24:16).

The signifiers that are “Jerry’s Painting” is topless men and women, which based on
American culture, is used as a symbol to represent a double standard between men and women,
which is the signified (07:08-25:49). “Jerry’s Painting” clearly communicates this double
standard. Similarly, the second story arc uses similarly straightforward signifiers (i.e. infantile
practices) to signify Andy and April’s struggle to mature into adults (10:38-25:49). These
symbols are simple, but nevertheless an effective way to ground patriarchy and immaturity in
relocatable situations. For instance: most people watching would have a different reaction to a
shirtless women than a shirtless man, and most people watching notices their own immature
behavior through their immature practices.