The Good Place: Being a Good Person in a Bad System
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- čas přidán 16. 02. 2019
- Just me talking for a really long time about a show I like too much.
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Also have twitter here / popularcc1
I also read some great pieces on the design of The Good Place that I want to link! There's this one from Vulture (which mentions the use of the Futura font) www.vulture.com/2016/10/the-r...
This one (which has some great quotes from the costume designer) www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/arti...
And this one, which talks about The Grover and Disneyland as a frame of reference. www.indiewire.com/2018/06/atl...
Now I'm just typing words like capitalism and socialism and whatnot to try to make this video show up in some search results. - Krátké a kreslené filmy
I love how the joke of Chidi always thinking that using almond milk in his coffee despite the knowing the negative enviromental effects was the reason why he got sent to the bad place actually turned out to have merit.
I am so glad that season 4 introduces the premise that everyone who could have ever passively benefited from the Columbian conquest, genocide, and slavery (and the capitalist exploitation that follows) is destined for damnation because it is a lot easier to fight for justice instead of looking out for number one when you come to terms with the fact that you are not worthy of heaven and that you're getting hellfire regardless of how good you tried to be.
However I _do_ object to the 500 year timeline because there were many indigenous peoples who did not come into contact with or trade with western imperialist powers until centuries later. Seeing a massive drop-off in "Good place"-worthy people in the 16th century followed by a couple more in the 18th and 19th centuries before complete disappearance by the early 20th seems more plausible.
@@discountchocolate4577 that last part doesn’t sound right, many people would think, if you’re damned for hellfire anyway, what’s the point?
I've always been really confused by the timeline. All of them seem die in the 21 century, they get rebooted for a couple of 100 years but they somehow still seem to be in the 21 century. Whenever they talk about their family/friends they seem to still be alive even though they should be long dead.
@@jossposs3400 didn't they reset the time back to when they first died? so when they went back to earth for the first time it was like they never left
Imagine dying and being free from the burden of student loans and credit card debt only to wake up in the afterlife with a credit-score worse than before.
Commented on youtube -14 points.
Made am entertaining comment: +2 points
@@idsbraam That would literally be one of them lmao
@Maximal mentioned the point system -999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999,999.999999999999999999999999999999999999999873 points
Made a college student have an existential crisis over your comment - 420 points
Jean Val Jean loses 17 points for stealing a loaf of bread, as well 1 million points for being French.
Stealing bread is -17 points, but feeding a starving child may be more than 17 points. So it is a net positive.
17 points for what he did, the rest because he tried to run
@@varvara3709 👏👏👏
@@varvara3709 😂😂😂😂😂😂
Loses 20 more points for stealing a baguette
I love the judge’s description of what it’s like to live on Earth “it’s hot and crowded, but somehow also cold and alone”
“apparently down there i’m black and man they do not like black ladies” ate as well
The cute little speech at the end of the video made me realise how much the power of friendship is more than a My Little Pony-esque plot point. It's genuinely the solution to our selfish society.
Common MLP:FIM Win!
🐴🐎🎠🏇🐪🧲🦄
But billionaires won't get as much money. Won't someone think of the billionaires? /s
Wait - I just realized something:
Chidi and Eleanor were chosen soulmates in the beginning, but as the series progressed they became true soulmates!
Jason was forced to be a Buddhist monk in the beginning, but at the end, he found a similar peace and a simple life in the forest, waiting to give Janet the necklace.
Tahani died, unwilling dressed as a servant, and took down her sister's statue. But at the end, she chose to learn all sorts of different structural arts, probably learning to carve statues. Then she chose to become a servant and work her way up to be an architect!
What they were unwillingly doing in the beginning, they, one way or the other, became it at the end.
Wow
@@skylarsaysstuff thank you! :D
The fact that Jason becomes a monk is one of my favorite things in the show ☺️
You just realized this?... That's what the last episode is literally about.
Tahani spent her life helping people just to earn her parents approval and never really caring about the people she helped. In her afterlife, she actually got to help people by becoming an architect.
i think they should've used Comic Sans in the "Welcome to the Good Place"... but it would give it away too easy...
Well, Michael did say that they were intentionally picking things that were neutral enough that people would not feel like they were REALLY in a paradise for them, but that they were simultaneously neutral enough that people wouldn't question that it is in the "Good Place".
@@robertmasengale9366 Would have loved to see it as a gag is Season 2 when he's running through ideas... He walks in to Elenor, reset- "You're in the Good Place!" "Heaven?" "Well yes, you may call it that" She points at the sign, in gawdy Comic Sans. "Ya sure?"
Is this a Parks and Recreation reference?
Robert Masengale kinda like how they chose frozen yogurt shops because it’s something humans think they enjoy but is actually kind of boring
I'm not exactly sure what tipped me off but at the end of the first episode I told my boyfriend "Ohhh...I bet this is the Bad Place" and he laughed at me and after the end of season 1 he was really irked. He's also now an ex-boyfriend lol
;--; that was fun till the last second-
Girl you were really smart because when the twist happened and was shocked lmao 💀
Are you Ex’s because of the show??? 😅😅😅
For me it was the frozen yogurt places; to quote the video "what kind of heaven doesn't even allow you to indulge in ice-cream?" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🥲
Also congratulations on making that an ex boyfriend, you don't need someone who has a negative reaction to you being intuitive, you need someone who looks at you & goes "Wow! You were right!! Great job" 🥰🥰🥰🥰
"How to be good in a bad system" is the perfect way to describe the good place.
I love this discussion but it also makes me sad about how hopeless change feels sometimes
Zenen Himes same :(
Well it might take several Jeremy Bearimy's, but it can happen🙂
Yeah I actually started crying because of how hopeless it made me feel
Watch out, CZcams tried to make me rate this comment on a scale of terrible to great. I didn’t, but :(
But what about the ending of the essay? Change is very much possible
I think one of my favorite things about the first season is that Janet, the all knowing being/afterlife alexa, also was duped into believing she was in the good place, and even though she was reset only a few times by that point still wasn't able to figure it out until the human figured it out herself! I believe the writing on this show was absolutely genius
IMO the shows greatest crime was never exploring a romantic relationship between Eleanor and Tahani. In the episode where they go over all the different reboots, one of them features Eleanor and Tahani as sole mates and I think not expanding on that dynamic was a mistake.
yeah I wish we'd gotten to see that reboot play out and have more of them. The show does have moments of Eleanor flirting with her (and a scene with Simone does establish her attraction to women) but it's not seriously explored enough
Chidi saw the time knife and thereafter, everyone's character started changing; Jason became enamored, Tahani highly considerate, Eleanor more bookish, Janet and Michael, more human.
One thing I found great about the show is how you get to realize that part of the reason why the Good Place architects aren't actually concerned about saving more people is that they're secretly freaked out about how the Good Place is actually just as bad or worse than the Bad Place.
We need way more The Good Place think pieces like this. Thank you.
so when years later when humanity does decide to evolve again in an few billion years or so again from tree swinging mammals of 99% genetic similarities you can refer to humans as "before time" and "new normal" humans. the new normal humans don't know any americana pop culture sayings and are kinda as eleanor says "basic"...like yogurt and there an lot and lots of yogurt..."before times" humans wouldn't accept an free expresso from Bill Cosby but New normal humans will, cause they don't know who he is.
When you talk about season 1, you discuss how different aspects of what we think is heaven in the show are really disappointing and create more of a faux happiness than any actual paradise. I think it's interesting how after seeing the first plot twist the audience thinks that many of these things are purposeful as the good place serves as a hell exactly because it's a fake paradise. However, when we arrive at the actual good place, we find that many of those aspects of the season 1 fake heaven actually exist in the real heaven, such as swear filters, an overly bright and fake happy aesthetic, forced monogamy, etc. I don't think the authors actually intended to do this, but I think it makes a good point about the extreme flaws of any conception of an absolute paradise. It reminds me of the argument that even if a God exists, the idea that this God would be an absolute moral figure is inherently flawed. What if God said murder was good? Would that make murder good? And if you show up at a supposed heaven, and they say that these aspects of life are the ultimate good, are they automatically correct? I don't think so. Even the "real heaven" of this world sucks. Because just because the system is this way and the most powerful beings support it, doesn't mean that it is just.
This was very interesting to me as well, that the "real" Good Place has the swear filter, even though that was obviously a torture created for Eleanor in the fake Good Place. Now obviously the actual reason is because you can't say swears on network television, but it raises a lot of questions. Will there be full fat ice cream?
Please tell me where forced monogamy is in that episode because I never see it, also, in the finale, it's obvious they're not doing the soulmates thing again, so I think that was Michael.
I do recall them saying that only some of the good place looks like where they went. Different parts of the good place may be suitable for different people.
The swear filter was not a toture, it was a simple ruse put in to further support the "hey this is the good place.
God has already done worse than say murder is good. He murdered the whole freaking world, and then made murder bad.
I was recently thinking that by text book religion standards, animals couldn't go to heaven by the rules placed for humans unless it is said otherwise. So by going the only universal thing all life have in common is reproduce. The most logical "good" deed required to go to paradise is to reproduce and make your offspring can as well. This sounds extremely dreadful and yet makes the most sense.
This remains to be one of the most well developed and fatally underrated videos on CZcams about a tv show. I'm going to rewatch this forever
When I first saw the first season, I though the reason everything wasn't that great because it was Micheal's first neighborhood, and he didn't know what he was doing. Micheal was my favorite character because he seemed like a guy who just wanted everything to go perfectly as planned, but it never worked out, which is a super relatable character. Just how I justified how shrimpy the Good Place was. (The swearing confused me the most, honestly.)
Shrimpy because of all the shrimp?
I agree with most of your early criticisms, but I'd like to point out that one of the first soulmate couples we see with actual lines outside the first four are a male/male couple who feature heavily all throughout episode 2. It's not a great ratio -- there are a LOT of male/female couples walking around -- but it's very quickly established that this isn't a purely het world.
Hey! Thank you for watching!
I've gotten this note a few times, so I wanted to mention my thinking here. I did think about the two guys we see picking up trash in season one, but I still think the het critique is a valid one because A.) We spend very little time with them. B.) Unlike other soulmate pairs, they aren't framed terribly romantically (Look at their portrayal vs the older swinger couple we see later) and C.) Sooo much time in the first season is dedicated to the romantic woes and pressures of the main four. The pressures and expectations of traditional heterosexual romantic love is one of the most prominent parts of their torture. These people were thrown together and pressured by the environment to be 'soulmates.' I see this as a critique of how our culture (still) highly pressures people into the cultural "default"...lifelong heterosexual marriage. People still get flack for going outside of this, be it through same sex partnership, or divorce, or simply not believing in soulmates (if you try saying you don't consider your partner your soulmate because soulmates aren't a real thing, some people take it very badly.) The Good Place is critiquing how this pressure can make us miserable.
And by the time we see other, more prominent, same sex soulmate pairs (like attempt 218) we know the whole thing isn't real and Michael is trying out some other modes of torture.
@@popularcc4539 Those are good points, and upon reflection I think the only reason I even remember them is because I've watched the series multiple times -- I'm pretty sure I forgot their existence a few eps in the first time, because we were focused entirely on our (extremely het-coded) main four as our standard, and they were just never important again. So from a practical standpoint, I see your point.
And in one of the reboots Eleonor and Tahani are soulmates.
@@jossposs3400 In one of the reboots, Eleanor and a golden retriever are soulmates
@@ilke3192 Clearly you've never met a golden retriever.
ALSO soulmates are NOT innately sexual ! They even say that lol
Edit** the NOT aha
I always find IKEA interesting that while it's toted as a place of "cheap" goods and was featured in Fight Club as the peek sample of vapid consumerism IKEA also plants trees and uses solar panels and stuff like that. While true ethical consumption is nigh impossible in our current world I think it's a good sign that such a iconic symbol is also one that tries to be more eco friendly.
Yeah. Ikea is one of the few Lawful-Neutral companies
Yeah they plant trees but also purposefully buy stolen wood from restricted access forests in Roumania. Also the founder joined the nazi party in sweden. This is what no ethical consumption under capitalism means, that no matter how progressive a company might appear to be, prosperity and growth under capitalism cannot be divorced from environmental damage and exploitation. Ikea's whole business model is based on never ending consumption of their cheaply made furniture where before people bought furniture for a lifetime. Even their stores are intentionally designed so that customers pass through every aisle, enticing them to buy things they don't need. Make no mistake, ikea (and other companies) is concerned with its financial success, and i can guarantee you that using solar panels doesn't make up for the damage they cause.
Wait does IKEA really take wood from restricted forests in Romania? Oh wow never heard of that. I’m curious, where did you get that information from?
@@anylove370 so if anything related to the consumption ahas any negative attributes then that counts regardless of the overall morality? So wouldn't it be "there's no ethical consumption under anything"?
@@jamieadams2589 a company doesn’t have « morality » they have a bottom line. IKEA’s business model is to get people to buy furniture (as any other furniture store, I’m not singling ikea out), preferably pretty regularly since if they stop buying ikea stops making money. Let’s not say there’s no ethical consumption but there certainly isn’t any ethical consumerism.
23:06 "We're told we can achieve success and happiness by doing the right things in the right order, as if life is a game you can win by scoring enough points."
This phrase struck painfully true for me. Anytime I struggled with school, anytime I told my mom I hated anything related to it or was struggling with it because of mental health reasons, she always told me the same thing: It's a game, even if it's flawed to the point where most of it won't help you for what you want to do, a diploma is proof to others that you know how to play the game.
This coming from a woman who dropped out of high school, just like my father.
Every time I struggled teachers would try to help, it was never their fault, I knew what was being taught and understood it but with the way things were set up I would miss assignment after assignment. It was always tallying up the right assignments to get just enough points to pass enough classes to get just enough credits to get my diploma.
I still don't have it because I need to find a job, I need to help my family, I'm trying to finish school but with the hand I was dealt I don't have the luxury to pyritize school.
I failed the game, and there is a good chance going to stunt me for the rest of my life.
The game is incredibly difficult. I only just passed high school but junior and senior year was horrible. I'm in college now, going through the motions. The hand I've been dealt shouldn't be so difficult but for some reason it seems to always be. It has its moments, like in any game there are some positives, even if minimal. Points where all you have to do is walk from point A to point B. But life is far more than just walking, there are so many pther factors to it that are more than just adventuring from one point to another. You'd think it easier, simpler maybe, but here we are. A system, a game which refuses to change. Wjere everyone's answer is "that's how it works" and "you have no other choice" or "what else are you gonna do?" People get lost in taking the "next natural/logical step," a step laid out in front of us, what we're supposed to do, that we fail ourselves. Dreams lost, choices regretted, things done all in the service of a system which we are forced to live by, not one which we can live in, not truly anyway. For those of us failing, we'll get there in our own ways, every game has other routes. It's an open-world with a failing linear story, we'll get there eventually, stunted or otherwise. It might suck but I suppose we'll have to live it as best we can in the meantime, right? play the game, our own way.
Hey, hope you're doing well. Just wanted to chime in and say that I believe in you. I barely passed high school and I just finished my master's degree. Sometimes we change, circumstances change, and sometimes we have to push really hard to make everything work. Don't give up on the things that are important to you.
if you dont like the game, play a different one
Wow, this was so good. Feel ridiculous now for rejecting show upon first few episodes believing it was giving off bad messages not even bothering to look at it critically. Thank you, can’t wait to start watching it(and earn some brownie points for consuming stuff as opposed to making an effort of constructing actual solidarity)
What do you mean by 'bad messages'?
@@Alice-si8uz Did you watch the video? The video itself points out the "bad messages".
@@brunohenriqueazevedoborges5490 yes i did watch it.
The font is actually Brandon Grotesque. Similar to Futura but more playful. Feels quirky and type heavy like a Wes Anderson film but with more of an NBC kind of vibe.
I knew it looked familiar!
This is a beautifully eloquent way of saying "Holy mother forking shirt-balls, *this* is the Bad Place!"
Thanks for an insightful video :)
When you put the clip of Chidi and Eleanor watching Michael's montage o started to tear up again. That episode was heart-wrenching
Except the soulmates shtick makes perfect sense when you realize that first season Good Place isn't actually the real "Good Place" but a fake designed to torture the main characters (of course, this breaks down if my memory has failed me and soulmates are a thing in the real Good Place as well).
honestly if Michael's plan worked the "soulmates" thing is a very immediate and effective means of torture. Like imagine the last thing you see is your loving partner comforting you and then an old dude in a suit introduces you to some rando who's your "soulmate."
That's exactly this video's point...
I only made it about 3/4s of the way through Season 1, and even though I knew where the show was going I honestly felt really uncomfortable with the whole thing. Your analysis of what the show becomes after the point where I gave up has really made me want to give the show a second chance. Meant to become a patron after your last video but then got busy and forgot- definitely won't be making that mistake again. Stay strong, solidarity forever!
Oh that's interesting, what put you off it?
This video actually made me tear up a little! The Good Place is honestly the best show on air right now and the only one I can think of which is fighting against capitalism etc with hope, joy and friendship. I just love this show so much!
I just realized that that this show tells us the problem with our society and how we can fix it with our relationships with each other. Thank you Popular C/C.
this is forking fantastic
I was convinced around episode 2-3 that something was up for these same reasons. My friend told me I was over analyzing it. We got to the season 1 finale and I jumped from my chair and shouted "I KNEW IT!"
It's such a well done twist; honestly going back and watching it knowing what happens everything really lines up. (Also, thank you for watching!)
Yeah I didn't get to watch season 3 because I rely on Netflix but I got absolutely hooked. I love it when shows can go an extra layer deep and I was kinda afraid after the season 1 finale that it would stall and rehash but it kept going deeper. And if I'm being honest the trolley car episode was by far my favorite.
i feel like chidi a lot. the extremely anxious and obsessed with doing the right thing personality and even the stomach ache when stressed thing. for a long time i thought this world was great and the people are doing bad things are just doing it for no reason and that's it's easy to be a good person but the more i grow up the harder it gets to be a good person and the more i try the more i get hurt and the people who seem to be selfish are thriving. it feels kinda impossible to be good and happy but i always look up to this show for help
chibi was teaching them in the beginning but how do you teach ethnics and morality to things that lack moral compass? like that tinkerbell demon at the board room meeting, how would that each new humans not to hurt my magical pony?
So, from the sound of it (haven't seen the show yet), it seems like The Good Place is one of the rare examples of media that genuinely criticizes capitalism, even if only a little bit. Do you know of any other shows or movies that were both successful and anti-capital?
The first one that comes to mind is Sorry to Bother You, which is an explicitly anti-capitalist film that came out last year and is wonderful. Of course you've got classics like They Live and Chinatown. I think you could make a solid argument for Wall-E. I'd put Snowpiercer in there. There's several good movies made around the 2008 financial crisis, like Queen of Versailles and The Big Short. The Big Short I especially like because it avoids falling the trap that a lot of movies trying to criticize the financial industry fall into (Wall Street, Wolf of Wall Street, Glengarry Glen Ross) where they're trying to be critical but end up making the industry look cool.
I'd actually say there are several good anti-capitalist movies out there, or at least movies that flirt with anti-capitalist themes. Most don't make the leap to advocating for socialism/communism (though Sorry to Bother You does.)
As for the Good Place, I don't know if I'd say it's explicitly anti-capitalist on purpose. I'm doing a bit of a deep read of the film based on some events in the most recent season.There are certainly a few lefty writers in the room, but I think it's more drawing on the general culture of discontent.
Vice, no seriously, it's from the same writer/director of The Big Short and it's about Dick Cheney and his impact in US law and general state of things...
It's horrifying to a point.
I'd add The Hunger Games though it looks more concerned with fascism than capitalism it does kinda touch in how they are interconnected.
Some people could argue that The Matrix.
Jurassic Park (the original one) also very, very dimly.
Oh...and Princess Mononoke.
Lord of the Rings, though that's more like the industrialisation which is kind of the birthplace of capitalism, so it works.
Mr Robot!
Great video!
I think the real “good place” is the journey to become a better person, a state of mind driving you to act on being a better you.
As it reflect our world, the show has, since season 1 consistently changed and challenged the différent perspectives and point of vue on what it is to be good, posing interesting questions and slowly digging into the complexity of ethics.
It shows there are flaws on all side which raises confusion but also consciousness of the mess we live in today.
It’s difficult to know now where it is going, and how deep they’re going to go.
But as big changes are expected in that universe, it makes sense though in the end that the good place will be the journey taken by these characters towards the “good”.
Nick Cornu the real good place was the friends we made along the way
this is very similar to my belief of reincarnation. it doesn't make sense to me that my faith in eternity would be decided after one life that could go wherever between 0 and 120 years. what does make sense to me is, that each life I live, be it as a human or another form of life, is an opportunity for me to grow and a step closer to enlightenment, ie. becoming truly /good/.
The thing you need to understand isn't just that it is a good show.
It's not even that it is ALSO a better show than that.
The thing about it is, that it is absolutely and unequivocally the BEST show, IN ADDITION to being good and better.
Holy shirt, it’s so true!! I always knew it was a great show, but after this season, it’s vaulted into my Top 10 favorite shows of all times.
It really is one of the best shows on tv right, and probably one of the best of all time. And it’s only in Season 3!!!!
🤔
its even funnier now after the pandemic! Michael observed them rebooted them over 800+ times! that's thousands of years possibly and wipes their memory every single time! where does he find the time for all that?! maybe that's michael's torture but he seems to enjoy it.
Period!!!
The Good Place, an Existential nightmare.
my father used to tell me that being nice is committing selfless acts for the validation of others(thus making them selfish), but being kind is committing those same selfless acts because it's the right the to do. and being a kind person is what makes you a good person.
and... i kind of like that.
my father doesn't tell me anything
This is beautifully written and presented, the ending made me tear up. Also some very astute observations about the class favoritism in the points system (funny jokes, but... HMMM) and how it all reflects on the broken system we're living with right now. The show is already inspiring and hopeful, and you did an excellent job encompassing its whole ethos here. Wonderful job!
Damn i know im a crybaby but thats gotta be the first time ive cried watching a series analysis on youtube, good job!
i thought it was just me. cried the whole video. love this show so much.
Back then 3 years ago, I never was into live action sitcoms, I usually am not a fan of them. But when I found out it has a story in the afterlife, I got intrigued. I soon watched more episodes, I wanted to give season 1 a chance since some jokes were actually hilarious. But I was genuinely shocked at some of the philosophical stuff, and some interesting thoughts shared in the show. It’s just really intriguing and I’m glad this show exists
I'd donate if I weren't poor myself, I am a student and thus I really need every penny I can have.
I agree with you on every point, and once I get on my feet I promise I'll donate something to your KoFi.
I really loved this piece, I am one of those people who believe that a revolution must occur or we are all doomed. To be honest, I am a little cinycal regarding any chance of that happening at least during my life time.
Extra points for using the sim city 4 and sim city remake soundtrack 🤩
I was so annoyed at the good place "point system" in season 1, but when it was revealed that it was all fake, it all made so much more sense as well.
All I have to say is that I'm glad I found this video.
I feel like The Good Place can have a perfect 5 season story (and no further) if they carried this theme to it's extreme, as they've seem to done that so far (turning the ignorance of the problems seen in Season 1 into the focal point of Season 3).
Season 4:
The characters are testing their theories and constantly being undermined by the Demons, taking up most of the season.
The metaphysical beings (Micheal and Janet) have the subplot of the political side of the universe, the Demons starting to manipulate the Angels into constantly compromising and therefore agreeing to try and ruin the main character's plans, while the physical four (Elenor, Chidi, Jason, Tahani) deal with personal drama and debating the philosophy of what they're doing and how they're doing it.
At the end, their test proves correct but it's not enough, and so their test place is now The Middle Place where reconsiderations can take place, and no real systemic change is achieved.
This culminates in the Demons convincing the Angels all to give their power to the Demons and so the Demons torture them and now control both sides and start wreaking havoc, with the Judge being the only one to stand against them, but her power is now equal to them and she's pretty much still a moderate. To compromise, she agrees to change the system so humans have to be as responsible as physically possible, but this still means that everyone is still going to the Bad Place, leading to the main characters to rebel and escape back to Earth after stealing a lot of powers.
Season 5:
Now the main plot involves changing Earth itself, now with the ability of their near-Janet like abilities, by changing people's behavior and making them more responsible (with the subtext being about putting checks on Capitalism).
This can still fit the style as in the show we've never really seen TV News or worldwide movements, it's always kept a simple crowd-equates-to-the-people sitcom kind of approach, which really benefits this season.
For one example, an early failure of theirs is forcing the end of Spacebucks (Diet Starbucks, Starbucks without the threat of being sued) in an attempt to make the world a better place as it can't contribute to all the horrible things they do, but the people start to riot as they no longer have any Spacebucks, so in a compromise with the CEO of Spacebucks (again can be topical as the Starbucks CEO is literally running for president), they agree to have the people vote, choose to have Spacebucks and all it's horrible consequences or to not, and they're all up front about the ethics abuses, and the people vote for it to remain, a failure for the main characters and a push to them realizing they need to be more radical about systemic change.
The subplot this season, aside from the usual physical four personal drama, is the metaphysical beings realizing that humans and metaphysical beings can be equally powerful in the afterlife as they can remove the powers of the metaphysical beings, which neither the Demons or the Judge like so they start to join forces.
By the end, the main characters have ended Capitalism (mostly inadvertently, similar to how Gun Control happened in Bojack Horsemen after a single female mass shooter), and on the top side Michael taking the powers away from the higher being (besides the Judge) and having the humans in the Bad Place fighting back and also having a revolution.
The Judge determines that since the Humans were all responsible for their own course in afterlife, they deserve to be reconsidered and so they're sent to the Middle Place, she also deems the rest of the metaphysical beings to be lacking in responsibility and so sends them all down to Earth to live as humans (a really deserved end since they heavily emphasized how much they despised humans and their bodies in Season 1 and 2).
The show ends with the physical four living on Earth again with each other now in a socialist world, though it's clear there are still plenty of ethical issues and things that need improved, while the Judge, Janet, and Michael work with an army of Janets to recreate the Good and Bad Place into real paradises and rehabilitation centers.
season 5 Trevor and Michael get married and have kids, tiny four oreos diameter sized magical creature kids. u know he looks like anderson cooper. then jason & janet has kids. then the "committee" decide to proveribally extend an regular "wheel of fortune" if you will to four times the regular size so it takes several species and several centuries just for one turn! As to prolong their inadequate grip on power. Then at which point they take over everything and everyone with clones copies of an copy of an copy of an copy! only its the demons that want to leave because devouring an "evil soul" has NO FLAVOR! even torturing an zombie because boring as they were numb and just going through the motions....what kinda demon would get any satisfaction out of torturing the damned if they can't feel anything? boring.
I truly loved this video. I’m a huge fan of The Good Place and I’ve found myself at times thinking about how we as a society can improve despite the odds being stacked against us. Your response was on point and perfect. Very well done.
You're quickly becoming one of my very favorite leftist youtubers! Your analysis of this show is positively brilliant, but in particular I enjoy your brief discussion of "soulmates" in the faux-heaven of the Good Place's 1st season. I'm a bi-man myself, and I think the subject of bisexuality (and sexual liberation) on the show is an under-discussed aspect of its lore.
It's one of the rare pieces of media that doesn't frame bisexuality as a moral failing or a directionless overabundance of hedonistic desire. Eleanor seems to have canonical bisexual leanings (if her desire for Tahani is any indication) and these are never denigrated or refuted. Instead, the heteronormative "heaven" of the 1st season is overturned, and shown to be mere illusion designed to torment its inhabitants with anxiety and doubt. It's subtle, but the deliberate contrast between the idea of assigned soulmates (in what is essentially hell) and the unconventional and complex sexual desires of the main cast manages to call the whole system of monogamy and finding the One into doubt.
I first came to question the rigid expectations of monogamy and heteronormative-desire THROUGH my bisexuality. I recognized early in my life that I might never be wholly satisfied with only one person or gender, and (for me) the Good Place managed to mirror that journey into a more holistic idea of sexuality.
Anyway, great vid! Keep it up :D
YAY FOR MORE BI REPRESENTATION PLEASE.
Holy motherforking shirtballs, this was good!!!!
Thank you for making me love one of my all-time favorite shows even more, a feat I didn’t think was possible.
Your analysis is brilliant. The Good Place is truly one of the best shows I've ever seen!! There are some things that I already knew, but you said some really interesting stuff and it made me love this series even more.
Great work :D
I didnt like the show at first for the exact reason that i thought the point system was so unfair and simplistic, but i honestly never got the comparison to capitalism untill this video !
Brilliantly done!
This was an amazing review! Everything was tied together so well, especially the connections with Schur's other work and general aesthetic.
Thank you. I was feeling pretty hopeless lately and this reminded me to have some faith in humanity.
Wouldn't there be like a ton of people living in rural areas and tribal people in the good place then? ( the theory that your karma is low for consumerism really just works for the wealthy countries), secondly, under this system if you are a slave and your work is exploited by evil capitalists who do a lot of harm, would that count as negative karma too? Anyway, this was a pretty awesome video, gonna subscribe for the rest of your content.
In a way this system might actually promote basic humble living, and working the land, so maybe those religious guys who still use horses to go around are the real mvps.
Not sure if you've seen the show, but they more or less address this with Doug Forcett. He's living the "best possible life" under the point system and it makes him absolutely miserable. The point isn't that it's impossible to live a good life, but that in this universe a "good life" actually kinda sucks. Idk if that helps or not but I figured I'd try!
@@erinmckenna605 thanks! I'll look it up!
@@sacredlamb3021 as well, the idea of Doug is that he "does no harm" and while has hundreds of thousands of points (while much of humanity has negative points) you need MILLIONS to get into the Good Place. Doug "does no harm", but he does not "do good" because he spends so much time trying not to get points deducted.
There's a character, Mindy, that was sent to a "Medium Place", because even tho she was a scummy business woman, she made a plan to start a charity that will improve millions of lives and died on her way to the bank to start the plan. Her sister finds her notes and starts the charity in her name. And so by dying with the intention of doing so much good, and by the good still being carried out in Mindy's name, she gets millions of points. But by dying before the plan in enacted, she doesn't get the point deductions of say, using a computer made by sweat shop labour or anything else unethical you would need to do to do the work needed. She's not good enough for the Good Place, but they can't send her to the Bad Place after all the good she caused, so they put her alone in the Medium Place.
@@christinedraws1692 no I haven't, all of it, does this Doug live outside of the capitalist society?
Cause my point was about those society who have been untouched by capitalism, where their products come from 100% from local business. Like african tribes or other native people, sure some of them may partake on behavior that detracts points, like FGM or forced marriage, but if the thesis of the show is that capitalism doomed humanity, there's to consider the small section of communities that don't participate in it.
@@sacredlamb3021 Doug lives off the grid, grows all his own food, recycles his own water, walks everywhere, while living in rural Alberta and does anything anyone asks of him/as many good deeds as possible. But that's the point I was making, in the universe of The Good Place you can live outside of a capitalist society, but in order to do enough good in the world to enter the Good Place you need to make basically GLOBAL contributions, which is nearly impossible to do in an ethical way. Those living such local/isolated lives "do no harm" but they don't necessarily "do enough good" for the algorithm to count it
Minor correction: They do get Jason's race correct. He is Asian (Filipino specifically) it's his ethnicity they get wrong.
Ah good point. I really wish sometimes I could go back and make minor corrections to these videos.
well no considering asia is an entire continent you could hardly consider that correct. the lines between race and ethnicity are blurry enough but i personally consider filipino my race, for example, not asian
@@JosephQuimsonNuevaSchool My dear, filipino is NOT a race... you're Asian.
E. Khalilah huh? how lol? i mean yeah i’m asian but again that literally applies to anyone in the entire fucking continent of asia. my race is filipino.
@@MissEasyPeasySleasy Race isn't always as simple as it tends to be seen in the US. Race is constructed, so it can really depend. The term 'racism' was popularised as a term that referred to Nazism, which was primarily characterised by hatred towards Jews and other 'white' ethnic groups. While antisemitism is not always considered 'racism' in the USA, and some other countries, in the UK people are vehemently criticised if they express such sentiment. 'Asian' can also mean different things in different places: in the US, the word causes people to picture an East Asian person, whereas in the UK, it causes people to picture a South Asian person.
the Good Place finale had me cryin but this had me cryin again. Absolutely excellent video great job.
This is one of the most beautifully written pieces I've seen in quite some time. I'm definitely looking forward to your future endeavors.
I love this video, it expresses everything I learned and loved about The Good Place that I can't express myself because sometimes it's all so overwhelming 💖
I do not comment often, but the concluding segment of this video essay quite literally gave me chills. Thank you for doing this, keep it up you’re great.
I just finished the good place not long ago. Your video essay really broke me, I legit teared up. Thank you for this
Got to this through the dreaded main page, continued to binge all your videos, appreciate your work very much.
This was incredibly good and interesting, and really put in words a lot of things I, and probably many others, think about the show. Thank you for this awesome video!
My 30 minutes were spent well by watching this video. Thank you for your meticulous analysis and for reminding me just how much I love everything about this show. Time for a rewatch!
Keep up the good work.
I love this show so much, but this analysis really impacted me. This was incredible. Thank you for this
This was beautifully insightful. Thank you for all the work you put into this video. I love this show and enjoy watching analytical essays about it, but this one by far is my favorite. I never picked up on (or heard/read its mention anywhere) the significance of the year when the point system started to skew against humanity in the universe of the show. Liking, subscribing, contributing.
Michael's character development was one of my favourite things about this show.
i’m super late to this, it just got recommended to me. such a beautiful video!!! you truly captured what’s good about the good place. ❤
You have a great voice for this type of work and create a compelling narrative. I'm shocked that you don't have more subs!
This is such a good video essay omg. It perfectly summarising the good place and how amazing it is.
Amazing video and analysis. I think the finale of season three shows that to change the system one must be willing to sacrifice everything, even the things that are most important to us.
You shouldn't thank me. I should thank you. THANK YOU!!!
I had a mindful trip watching this 26:22.
Honestly, I've never went further past the 3rd episode from the 1st season. Not because I thought the show was bad - the concept in itself was really interesting - but because I'm oversaturated with TV series overall. However, the points you made resonated with me deeply.
I'm a young adult (24), so I'm pretty much fucked. And the current political discourse and environment makes me feel incredibly frustrated and powerless. Not just that, but everywhere I look around I see people either competing with each other or afraid of one another.
But now I realized that this feelings are not inherent products of our personalities, but a creation of the system we live in.
Life is already a struggle in itself. I'm an atheist and I don't believe in heaven, hell or whatever, but if there is philosophical mission we have in life is to help each other, make this continuous struggle that is life feels the most enjoyable and meaningful experience possible.
I'm really feeling sentimental while writing this.
Thank you!
You made my day :)
Thank you so much for this. :D I'm a recent subscriber. The Good Place very quickly became my favorite TV show of all time and you showed me several parallels I hadn't noticed. That's awesome. :D I hope your job hunt went well and you found something that's working for you.
I see a lot of people saying they stopped watching it before the Season 1 twist because of all the implications. I was not one of those people. This was on my recommended section and I have not watched any of your other videos (I will start because after this, OK?), I am a teenage autistic epileptic male atheist who has lost a parent. My mother strongly believed in an afterlife which I don't believe she was ever sent to, even though she was such a great woman. My mum would probably be appalled at the soulmates thing because her true love was my dad and only my dad, and no one else. I liked the show in Season 1 because of the characters, since I like characters more than the story. For example, I am more likely to like a bad story with good characters than a good story with bad characters. That was what Season 1 was for me, I knew the story was terrible, but the characters they created were really great (except Michael), when we got to the end of the season, and the twist, I realised that it was a good story. When I got to Season 2, I thought it was even better because it was good story good characters the whole way through, and Michael went from being the least interesting character to the most interesting character. The ending was even better than the Season 1 ending, because it takes us in a new direction and it really hyped me up for Season 3, which I think is the part to Season 1, but unlike Season 2, which focused on character development, this season is more of a story-focused season which focuses on the system being bad and how to fix it, though the characters still got a lot of development, the story was the main focus. That ending, it really got me crying. A LOT. And all, I have to say is Sean, fork you! Fork you to Heaven and back! So, yeh, I've subscribed, I love this video and I will definitely check out your channel.
I'm really glad you enjoyed this video; I feel like this show can really express a lot of amazing things about people and I wanted to try to capture that. Thank you, thank you so much for watching.
And I agree, fork Sean!
This was wayyyy too good to be free to watch on CZcams lol. Great work comrade
this is one of the best video essays/analysis i've ever seen!
This was an amazing video, I'm flat out embarassed some of the things I never noticed about this show until you pointed them out. I'm sorry I found it seemingly two years too late.
I hope you enjoyed the final season!
I also love how it stabs at religion and capatalism. I think that's what makes the show more realistic than others, even though it's so fantastical. It points out the very real views in such a clever way, instead of being lighthearted and way too optimistic.
I just finished the show 10 minutes ago, cannot get over how well this series is and I feel so happy yet sad??? I love it so much
i have chills from your end monologue
i enjoyed this discussion so much, thank you for reminding me how awesome this show was!! and like another comment said this is both very hopeful and hopeless aha, but change is something we can all strive for !
Such a great video about an awesome show. I knew I liked it for the reasons you started with but I hadn’t gotten that deep. Thank you for making this!
The first season twist (in the good place) is amazing, as a writer I thought it could be where they were going but even I wasn’t sure.
Really well done, that was amazing ! Just finished Series 3 this afternoon and here you are :)
The all video talk to me, but the last part, i think is the well written ^^
I found out your video on reddit, and all the kindness i found out there, quite shake my habbits. I'm a french student girl who studies cinema from this year, and the question of : Will i be any usefull to other, by making videos, tv shows, or movies ?
And my point is, if a show about kindness and ethical philosophy can like you reach like any videast and being so pasionate about it and want to change thing make a video this good. It worth it, i read on reddit btw that doing a thing, and even fail to suceed is better thant not even try to do it :) and you actually make my day :D BRAVO
This is the kind of editing process on an essay videos, and picking the right music, well crafted writing process that make still in my opinion one of the videos, i want to watch over again and again :) just when i'm feeling depressed or useless, any bad mood.
You my dear, gave us hope and kindness and one million times thank you for that :')
Romana
leaving a few lines to not spoil things here...
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My first thought when I heard the concept was "wouldn't it be funny if this was actually hell".
As the season progressed, I started to think more and more, "holy s. is this actually the case?!".
The reveal when it turned out I was right was cathartic.
That’s cool! And I swear I’m not being sarcastic. It caught me off guard in the best way.
This was a great video. This sort of analysis of the show and then relating it to real issues was really captivating. Definitely Subscribing
All of this is why the fourth season truly makes everything about this show incredible
I can't believe I'm 3 years late to this. This is a great analysis, love your style!
This video was so well made, you’re super underrated!
The only business in the universe is creating beautiful memories, the only currency in the universe is kindness, prayers are heard, the only job you will ever have is growing your capacity for Love. AMGD
This was wonderful! Good job on your job search. I need to get deeper on these subjects....
For a while, I've had another thought about the way that the whole soul mate system Michael puts in place in season 1 could be a form of torture. What if you were actually in love on earth, and then when you get to heaven, you learn that the person you thought was your soul mate or the love of your life on earth actually wasn't the right person for you? Surely, that would cause some pain, regret, or mental turmoil to learn that a person you had put so much energy into loving and caring for was all for nothing. It would really hurt to learn that even if you thought your partner was "the one," you were completely wrong. There was someone else who lived across the world, who you never would have come in contact with on earth, was actually the person you were supposed to be with.
This is beautiful! It's one of your best videos.
Finally CZcams has suggested a great video. I’m going to have to check out more of your stuff.
I'm so glad I found this video, thank you so so so much for making this. If you ever write a book, or make a movie, or something, pleaseee let us know T-T
This is such a great storyline and theme, exactly the type of stories I love 😊
I just found your channel and am fascinated and entertained by your content. Thank you!
I love this show and I'm going to rewatch becuz ur msg really resonate with my internal struggles about my disgust with human kind and the way the system Is set up for us to be against each other ❤️
I predict this channel is going to blow up soon. Great work!
Very nicely put together. Glad I found this channel friend!
I LOVED this video, it was very nice.
Very excited to see future videos of yours :)