Image courtesy of Syfy.
I’m not the type of person to watch a lot of TV shows. My 8th grade sister utilizes our Netflix subscription more than I do by at least tenfold, and I haven’t seen just about any modern classics like Friends or The Office. But about a year ago, my friend convinced me to watch The Good Place, and it is life-changing.
I might be going out on a limb when I say this, but I believe that everyone should watch The Good Place if they want to become better people.
The Good Place challenges ideas of what even constitutes a good or bad person, and their human characters, I believe, resemble many aspects of average people. Rather than serving as television archetypes, the human characters represent different sides of what it means to be good.
Before I go on, this blog post is absolutely going to contain spoilers for the show. I strongly advise that you not read this article unless you’ve seen the first two seasons; I’ll try to keep information about seasons 3 and 4 vague and sparse.
So now, let me introduce you to the main human characters of The Good Place; these are the dead people in the Good Place neighborhood.
Eleanor Shellstrop: a saleswoman from Arizona with a troubled past who is all-around a pretty terrible person. Image courtesy of Wikia.
Chidi Anagonye: a moral philosophy professor from Senegal who gets very anxious when forced to make a decision. Image courtesy of Wikia.
Tahani Al-Jamil: a wealthy British socialite and philanthropist who has donated billions to charities. Image courtesy of Wikia.
Jason Mendoza: an extremely dimwitted DJ from Florida who has led a life of crime. Image courtesy of Wikia.
Throughout the show, The Good Place tackles ideas of how we function ethically or not in our lives. When the four humans find themselves in the “Good Place,” the afterlife for good people, Eleanor and Jason quickly realize they aren’t supposed to be there and solicit ethics lessons from Chidi. As Eleanor and Jason learn to become better people, Chidi and Tahani begin learning about themselves too.
Now, unlike most TV shows, I think that The Good Place has a unique take on its characterization. Where in most NBC sitcoms like The Office, Parks and Recreation, or Brooklyn Nine-Nine, you have your classic pranksters, nerds, bosses, and cynics, The Good Place is far more nuanced. Its characters can’t neatly fit into categories that so many other sitcom characters can.
Eleanor, for example, isn’t nearly the classic protagonist of a story. She’s so unbelievably selfish at the beginning of the show that you couldn’t possibly consider her a hero or an anti-hero; I don’t know if there even is an archetype you could use to describe her. But later in the show, she shows incredible drive and motivation. Without spoiling too much, she takes the lead on a new project in season 4 that has drastic implications for the entire universe.
Chidi is, yes, a nerd, but his character is marked later in the show more strongly by his indecision than by his nerdiness. He’s smart, yes, but that intelligence is sometimes put on the back burner after season 1. Chidi serves, instead, as the moral compass of the group. In a recent episode, he expresses frustration at his determination to follow his own moral code; it often gets him in trouble, ironically.
Tahani is multiple things. She’s the “hot one,” (though all the characters are depicted as objectively attractive). She’s snobbish and at first easy to resent, but she has a deeper role in the series than just the annoying neighbor next door. Tahani serves multiple purposes: one, to show us the dangers of sibling rivalry, but two, to represent generosity. She’s donated over sixty billion dollars to charity, and she sacrifices her time and energy to help others when necessary.
Jason, finally, is probably the most archetypal of the characters: he’s the dumb one. But whereas many of the “dumb ones” of other shows, like Friends or The Big Bang Theory, tend to be used as scapegoats for inappropriate jokes or behavior, Jason is used for the complete opposite: kindness. He cares deeply about his friends, both on Earth and in the Good Place, and he maintains optimism about even the direst of situations.
None of us, as humans ourselves, function without any of these traits. We can’t do anything without commitment and reason, and we can’t interact with others without kindness and generosity. These characters, in fact, didn’t succeed during their lives on Earth because they lacked one or more of these traits.
Which is why I think that to watch The Good Place is to understand more about yourself and others. We all need to exhibit the primary behaviors of these characters in order to be good people. Because the characters of The Good Place don’t neatly fit into archetypes, we’re able to stop and think about their personalities and apply their strengths and weaknesses to ourselves.
And if that doesn’t make you want to be a better person, I don’t know what will.
Image courtesy of Giphy.
The moment I read the title, I knew I had to read/comment on this. The Good Place is hands-down one of the best shows I’ve seen, based on the storyline, cast, and deeper messages. There was a point near the end of season 1/beginning of season 2 that I was so confused with where the characters were and how the writers would somehow keep the show going. But upon watching the next season, the show just kept getting better in my opinion. The cast fits so well together, and they do a great job of fitting their roles. The ethical dilemmas brought up in the show make it so relatable for all viewers, and bring up pressing questions related to the purpose of our lives. How do our actions affect other people and us, down the line? What constitutes “right” or “wrong”, and how can we make those decisions? The Good Place attempts to address these questions, and to push their audience to answer these questions for themselves.
I agree with you SO much. The cast is actually perfect for the show; so many of them actually resemble their characters in real life, and I really love what they bring to the show. The Good Place raises such good moral questions; I absolutely love it.
Oh my gosh, like you, I also do not watch a lot of t.v. shows. This is because most shows don’t really capture my attention nor keep my attention for more than three episodes. The Good Place is one of the few exceptions. The show is really well written and the humor incorporated is unlike any other t.v. show. Part of the reason why I keep watching the show is how relatable the characters are (especially in their immoral side). For example, all of us have a bit of selfishness in us (Eleanor); sometimes, we can be really indecisive in our decisions (Chidi); sometimes, we have a need to prove ourselves to people (Tahani); other times, we have preform some sort of reckless decision (Jason).
I love this so much. As you know, I started watching The Good Place on the ride back from Romeo and Juliet and I have binged my way through the first three seasons! I completely agree with what you said about the characters; the character development is incredible, and you walk away with a special place in your heart for each of them. I love how they all have their own fatal flaws, but they all show growth and development throughout the series. I honestly can’t decide which character is my favorite, which is pretty surprising for me (although I can say that while Janet and Jason are cute, Eleanor and Chidi are my favorite couple.)
The episodes are short and sweet, and always contain some development so you never get that feeling of “Well those are 22 minutes of my life I’ll never get back.” The writing is witty and hilarious without being crude and stupid, so you can binge the whole show and not feel like your brain is melting. This version of the afterlife is riddled with the traditional rules clashing against moral ambiguity and really makes you think about what is good and right, and what we could do better.
Anyways, you did a great job with the article, it was well formatted and fun to read. Based off of this, you definitely would not enjoy Riverdale. Great job Ann!
Eleanor and Chidi are the best couple on television. They complement each other so well! Eleanor takes action but has no morals! Chidi has morals but never takes action!