“The Good Place,” a sitcom by Michael Schur that aired on network television from 2016-2020, now streams on Netflix.
It humorously explores philosophical concepts by following four main characters through an afterlife experiment.
The main characters work together with Michael, their reformed demon friend, and Janet, a magical database hybrid, to change the system that sorts them in the afterlife and prove that humans can improve to be better.
The 1998 philosophical novel “What We Owe to Each Other” by T. M. Scanlon inspired the whole show. The book poses questions such as, how do we judge whether an action is morally right or wrong?
In the book, Scanlon answers the question as it applies to the central part of morality. It introduces the idea of contractualism, a simplistic version of acting reasonably to one another.
In the show, there is an ongoing point system where no humans have gone to the Good Place for over 521 years, and the ones in charge seem to have no interest in changing that. Viewers learn that it is harder and harder to be a “good” person in modern society.
In one example from the show, Michael compares the number of a man who gained 100 points by giving flowers to his grandmother hundreds of years ago. In contrast, a man today did the same thing, but he lost 4 points because he ordered the flowers on a phone made by exploited workers, the company growing the flowers uses pesticides that harm the environment, and the CEO who harasses his employees gets rich from the purchase.
The creator intentionally lined up the timeline to when early capitalism first began. Although we don’t like to think about the exploitation of the purchases we make, the negative consequences still apply.
The show doesn’t focus on how to be good but how to be good in a bad system. Sounding familiar? Ultimately, it argues that tending to friendship, love, and relationships in one’s life offers the key to salvation.
Some people have criticized the show for oversimplifying deep, philosophical concepts. In my opinion, exploring them in a humorous manner with genuine feeling makes philosophy feel more present rather than preserved in an old book.
I started this show back in 2023, and it has become my favorite. I enjoy seeing the character development and the chemistry between them grow. It also inspired me to expand my understanding of ethics, which I couldn’t imagine for myself before.
It emphasizes the idea of self-improvement and that we can always be better than the person we were yesterday. I relate to the show because the world we live in is cruel.
We are constantly shown what we should want. We are told we can achieve happiness by doing the right things in the right order. Moreover, this leaves us feeling miserable and unfulfilled. We end up torturing each other because the system is set up to fail.
Worst of all, the people in charge keep telling us that the system is correct and masks the main issues through a cover of civility. To make matters worse, those who benefit from the system might even enjoy watching us torture each other and degrade humanity.
To change things we must fight the urge and take care of each other. What makes life wonderful is the relationships to the people around us. Building true empathy and love is what allows us to be good in a bad system.
Overall, this is a really good series to binge over the winter break. It stars actors such as Ted Danson, Jameela Jamil, and Kristen Bell. Trust me. The series moves pretty fast, and there are four seasons in total. The Good Place is a masterpiece, and I truly have grown to love this show.
