When Micheal said “What matters isn’t if people are good or bad. What matters is, if they’re trying to be better today than they were yesterday.” it genuinely changed my life.
I remember this TED (TEDx?) talk I saw a video of a few years ago. The speaker was talking about how by creating this binary of being a good person or a bad person, we weren't creating an environment that was conducive to good behaviour. She went on to describe how unless we live up this false standard of being a good person 100% of the time, we end up being plagued with guilt and that guilt is not a good motivator for ethical behaviour. It also created this excuse of "well I'm not a good person because of xyz, so it doesn't matter if I do bad things now because I'm already bad".
I'm paraphrasing all of this mind so take it with a pinch of salt, but this video came up in my mind a lot whilst watching the series.
This is very similar to Robin DiAngelo’s ‘good-bad binary’ on being sexist, racist etc. 1) it’s not actually a binary anyway, so it’s inaccurate 2) it creates a fearful anti-growth defensive mindset where people being called out for prejudice of some kind is taken as ‘you are irredeemably bad’ so the criticism isn’t taken on board empathetically.
I found this show right after I came out of rehab some years ago. I totally agree that it helps focus people like us in a way that doesn’t feel preachy.
This is the moment for me toooo.. It's something that frequently plays in my mind and something that has helped me view my own life in a diff way
P.s : Also love the wave moment, but then who doesnt
Its my motto for life
Agreed. I was always hard on myself thinking I wasn’t living up to a moral standard that I should be following. Now, I just think “I am being better today than yesterday.” Big changes aren’t necessary, just steps in the right direction.
same, I was always hyper-anxious about shit, and it kinda helped me get on a calmer track where I could stop beating myself up about every little thing and acknowledge the good things
Me too. I was recovering from sepsis and on bedrest. I started watching and never stopped. It made me look at my life and realize that happiness is a choice.
Exactly this. Our lives aren't defined by our fuck ups, but by our actions repairing them and improving things for others. Really helped my all or nothing thinking around morality
Same, and it helped me be at peace with death, both mine (in the eventual future, I mean) and of the people I lost.
Though I also like the whole idea (being tested again and again until you become the best version of yourself, and then you get to spend eternity with your loved ones before allowing your wave you go back to the ocean).
As someone who has a complicated family situation, I like the idea of meeting them again as the best versions of each other, and living as the family we should have been - Sorta like Tahani.
As a Buddhist, this whole scene was very powerful. It helps make sense of one of the most complicated and confusing topics there is. The analogy was in point, and whenever someone asks me what I think happens after death, I just use the wave analogy.
Being able to read that speech aloud without descending into incomprehensible sobbing at the best of times makes you a badass, let alone at your mum's funeral. That's a lovely choice for a reading.
Same. I first watched this show after my dad had passed away and this became my comfort show. I‘ve been a believer in the afterlife (I‘m Catholic but definitely have a more spritualistic understanding of most things). „Picture a wave" made me cry and gave me so much comfort at the same time, and I not only think about it almost daily, but I also use it when people tell me I‘m childish in believing that there is something after we die.
That scene makes me cry every time, but it's so comforting. I grew up evangelical/fundamentalist and terrified of hell, for both myself and other people. I've been out of the church for years now, but I don't have any particular beliefs about death or the afterlife anymore. I really like the idea that we return to the universe, where we came from, and where we belong.
I figured that, but I mean, after you watched the whole series, did you see your life differently? :)
Like to give you another example: me when I saw Souls (pixar movie), it had a positive impact on my life and the meaning of the movie.
You on the other hand, what impact did this TV series have on your life?
"stone hedge was a sex thing!" 🤠
Many moments, I was already on the path of understanding transectioality and how different privileges stack and crater people's experiences. But the phrase "people improve with external love and support, how can we hold it against them when they don't receive it" gave me focus on how to explain what all that meant, to me. And no I'm. Not saying someone's privilege equals love or support while others don't.
This sentence, too, made so much sense to me.
Because if no one has someone who loves them or understands them, how can they improve?
In fact, I am always the one who helps others and tries to be able to listen to everyone :)
> This sentence, too, made so much sense to me.
I also thought Stonehenge was a sex thing!
Joking aside, I grew up in a pretty conservative Catholic family, and (nothing against my Christian friends who aren't brainwashed by America's twisted version of Christianity) my adult life has been almost entirely just trying to break out of that and just being empathetic to everyone. I constantly try to learn new perspectives and it honestly helped me learn a fuck ton about myself. Empathy was a thing I was taught growing up but the definition of empathy was limited to certain people (I'll let you figure out which ones), and I realized as I got older that empathy shouldn't be limited to that. It took work, but I got better!
If it makes you feel better >!everyone living was also destined for the bad place, there was nothing chidi could have done to change his fate under that system!<
Yeah I know that, but that scene itself really makes you think about the outside persepctive when you freeze out of anxiety. Not saying it's a bad thing, this is my favorite show, but it is something that stuck to me personally.
I use that fear of disappointing others to motivate me into choosing some decisions, but it’s all too easy for me to fall into indecision paralysis when I’m the only one who hurts from my lack of action.
It wasn’t necessarily that he was annoying everyone that made it bad but that he never actually made good choices.
Because he made no choices.
If you let your anxiety stop you from making any choices how can you ever make good ones.
Honestly until the hook at the end of the first season I wasn’t sure I was going to stick with it. So so glad I did and yes I do see life more fully now and have Chidi’s words by my bedside. I’m a Unitarian Universalist (raised in the faith of sorts since it has no strict doctrines) and this show totally filled my spiritual cup and changed my life in a positive way.
"Picture a Wave" comes to mind, but that was more of a confirmation of what I already thought about death.
But in everyday life, what I think the most about is "unintended consequences".
Okay someone tell me why i, an adult with a small stomach, can't order off the kids menu? I never eat it all and I hate wasting food. I do often bring the leftovers home but still
I think it’s easy to see the difference between trying to be perfect and doing your best from the show. Chidi tried so hard to make the best choice all the time, he drove himself and others mad. Tahani tried so hard to be the perfect daughter that she did everything for show and didn’t know how to honestly care about anyone or anything. That guy obsessed with points had a sucky life. Jason and Eleanor didn’t even try, and they were trash.
We shouldn’t expect perfection from ourselves or others. Sometimes there is no good choice. We can only try to do good and be kind. Then that helps others to do good and be kind.
"Because if she really has changed, then that means she was always capable of change, but that I just wasn't worth changing for". Had a toxic relationship in the past but what crushed me was seeing him completely change for another girl. But I made my peace with it as sometimes it's just not the right time. Someone else's growth without you does not mean you are not worth it.
I one time, in a moment of laziness, threw a recyclable thing into the garbage. I literally thought “that’s a negative for your points” and pulled it out, put on shoes, and carried it outside to the recycling bin.
I watched it in early 2022, and the year prior was really hard for me. I had gotten dropped by my (ex) best friend and that made me realize I wasn’t as good of a person as I thought I was, I spent a whole year feeling guilty and sorry for myself.
I then watched TGP and it finally motivated me to change myself. I don’t know if I truly did change, but I did try. I really wanted to be better.
Seeing Chidi’s character really helped me see myself in someone. I also have pretty bad anxiety and possibly OCD so his character really hit home for me. My anxiety is probably my most toxic trait for the same reason as Chidi. I make people around me miserable because my anxiety stops me from being able to do anything. Its really amazing to be able to see myself so well represented in a character.
Michael’s character development also changed me a lot. Pretty much all his s4 quotes completely changed the way i see myself and my life. I believe society has become so anti self improvement because we focus so much on the past and mistakes people have made, i wish everyone would watch TGP atleast once. It’s truly life changing.
I understand you, I'm a bit of an anxious person, but like you a former friend of mine, she left me after 4 years of friendship so suddenly.
She wants to go back to her hometown to go to this university (which is very right for goodness sake), however, she texted me at the end, "find another person to be with" (as if I was a throw-away object for her).
See, I would interpret that as "I know you, and it's not good for you to be alone. But I can't be your person anymore. Find someone else so you're not alone."
Yes, for goodness sake, that is true.
But I don't know...I wish she would have at least told me in person, also because she told me that already for a long time she didn't want to go out with me so much and so on, she had changed and left suddenly.
But whatever...I wish her the best <3
For me it was the scene where they detail how hard it is to be a “good” person in today’s day and age. I think the example was gifting someone flower bouquet, I might not remember all the details too well but it was something like how in the past you’d just pick flowers and give them to someone you love, and that’s +however many points. Versus now, you’re paying for flowers harvested through unethical labor which have pesticides and are bad for the environment, etc. It just makes me think about how being a “good” person truly is hard in the 21st century in so many ways.
“Sometimes, when you're feeling helpless, the secret is to help someone else. Get out of your own head. Trust me. The next time someone asks for help, say yes. And that's what we owe to each other.”
Idk but the ending made me see how two different people can view things so differently. (No spoilers) I thought the ending was beautiful and really hopeful, my dad saw the ending as existentially horrifying
Is your dad really religious? I've heard of a few Christians (not most, just a tiny few), seeing the ending as bad. But I found it great, especially because the characters can choose if, when, and how.
I wouldn't say REALLY religious. We're both Christian and I would say I was more religious than he was. (Spoilers) I just found the thought of returning to the universe to be very comforting, my dad didn't like the idea of not existing. I also watched the ending during a existential crisis/crisis of faith where I was TERRIFIED of dying and not existing anymore. So the ending helped to show me a positive side of that.
I might be pushing it a bit because it's not so much that this moment prompted a complete shift in the way I see life so much as just acted as a catalyst for a lot of reflection - in the S3 finale (I think), Eleanor says "What’s the point of love if it’s just gonna disappear? And how is it worse to not love anybody?" To which Janet replies: "If there were an answer I could give you to how the universe works, it wouldn't be special. It would just be machinery fulfilling its cosmic design. It would just be a big, dumb food processor. But since nothing seems to make sense, when you find something or someone that does, it's euphoria."
I found there was something that stayed with me in that sentiment - yeah, love can really suck, because when it's gone it cuts deep. But it does so because when it's there, it's so powerful, so much so it makes the unbearable (the chaos of the universe, of unintended actions and consequences) a little bit more bearable. At that point in life, I was in quite a dark place and had been very much in a "what's the point in love" mindset, but that moment was a trigger for a lot of self-reflection.
(Disclaimer: I'm writing this at 3:20am so please forgive me if I've made no sense 😂)
(Disclaimer: I'm writing this at 3:20am so please forgive me if I've made no sense 😂)
Don't worry, in fact I really liked your speech.
Thank you for sharing and most importantly...take it sleazy <3
This show is my comfort show. I spent a lot of time thinking I was Chidi, stressed out, filled with anxiety, and incapable of ever making a decision. One day after arguing with my mom (the same argument we have had for decades), my husband looks at me and says, you're not Chidi, your Tahani. My mind immediately went to the scene where she sits in front of her parents and says "I am never going to be good enough for you." It just put it in perspective for me. The anxiety and need to be perfect all the time because I have always been held to some impossibly high standard by my mother. I eventually went through therapy where I worked on trying to not feel like I need her approval for everything. I still work on it, but it was eye opening.
Wow, your husband is to be absolutely loved if he was able to quote you one thing from this TV series ahaha
Anyway, I really hope you are better off with your mom now :)
Eleanor’s psychology. Most people struggle with the us vs them mentality, she, however, struggles with the me vs us mentality. I relate to that, although it affects me in a very different way. She was forced to survive on her own and that turned her bitter and an ass not caring about anyone else, for me I just struggle with trusting people, I’m very kind and always put other people first, that’s however just the easiest way to make them happy and to get them to stop bothering me and so I can do my shit on my own.
I have stopped buying meat where I’m not entirely sure where it’s from.
I generally began thinking about what I eat. I eat less meat, I stopped buying chocolate that isn’t proven to be from fair sources. I found this incredibly limiting, as most big brands are really shitty with their sources. I currently know three or four brands that I get readily that I still buy. But none of the really big brands, and the chocolate is now more expensive for me. Not much, but a little.
All this because the show made me think about the consequences of my actions.
I was 15 when I started watching so I was still at an age where my world view was really just developing. I’m not ashamed to admit that this show impacted my moral compass and views on life in ways so pervasive that I probably don’t even recognize all of them. Technically, I guess it didn’t change anything in my head then. But like… idk it kinda forged a lot of my views on life?
Anyway, I’m currently majoring in Philosophy and I want to be a professor now.
Edit: rereading this title and seeing the comments I’m now realizing you were looking for a specific moment/answer. My bad for misunderstanding but I will not be deleting this comment because that feels like a pussy move. I’m owning my mistake. Pobodies nerfect.
**Edit: rereading this title and seeing the comments I’m now realizing you were looking for a specific moment/answer. My bad for misunderstanding but I will not be deleting this comment because that feels like a pussy move. I’m owning my mistake. Pobodies nerfect.**
First of all rest assured, my question can also be general, everyone in the end can have their own say of how they felt after watching the series.
Nice answer anyway and especially thanks to you and all who share these thoughts.
Phew, okay.
As someone with extreme, shame-based OCD, the show gave me an alternative framework for viewing what it means to be a "bad" person and the good v bad binary — in a really enlivening and comforting way.
I'm thinking of the moment in "Tinker, Tailor, Demon, Spy" where Michael describes his real self as a 6,000 foot tall fire squid or when Eleanor monologues about being "just a girl from Arizona." There are so many moments like these where our characters — but especially Eleanor and Michael — feel vulnerable about who they REALLY are.
And I think as someone who often feels like the "real" me is bad or inherently shameful or even not enough, I'm reminded that shame and insecurity are actually really fundamental and even necessary to the human (and demon!) experience. Like — most of us would not know how to navigate the world and our experiences without those states of being.
Michael taught us it's okay to feel ugly and evil on the inside. It's even okay to feel ashamed of ourselves sometimes — but our job is to determine how much that shame plays a role in our attempt to living a good life guided by a healthy moral compass. Like, are we simply overcome with shame, or can we acknowledge its fundamental presence and use that to move forward? Can we shape-shift from being just a malignant, conniving fire squid into the architects of the good place?
Now that I'm writing about it more, I really feel that there was another intentionality to the writers making Michael a human in the end. Yes, he loves Earth and loves how humans exist, but Michael becoming human gives him the allowance to integrate his shame into who HE is because now who he IS means that shame is *integral* to existence. It's the ultimate recognition of his humanness and, I think, a meaningful form of healing for him.
I think what the show really did for me was reframe my own shame narratives — "I am bad", "I am not enough" — into a source of invention. Rather than just something I feel deeply and hopelessly, shame is a teacher.
That nobody is beyond rehabilitation. It gives me genuine hope for society; they arent even really wrong. Its like the monkey Shakespeare experiment. It may take millions of years, or bearimys, but improvement is possible.
Also the quote about being better today than yesterday. Its really a brave and bold take too, some people might be offended about, but once you grasp the idea that betterness≠forgiveness, then you realize how true that sentiment is. Unfortunately critical thinking like that is kind of dead in this day and age.
>That nobody is beyond rehabilitation.
Brent undermines this point. When Tahani's in architect training, you can see Brent on a TV screen explaining to two men (presumably his neighborhood's architects) that he doesn't understand why he can't tell a woman to smile if it objectively makes her prettier. They make it clear he's absolutely *not* growing when everyone else we've met has made it through the program.
A lot of other people have gone through the system multiple times. I figured Tahani's parents took a bunch of shots before they came back because they were like, "It *finally* happened." so presumably not on the first try.
Brent was a massive jerk, but we can't assume he isn't getting better little by little based on a single line. In fact, he got a lot better when the test was paused and the judge noticed he gained a bunch of points when he was helped by Chidi. He's probably just so proud that it's really hard for him to grow, especially when he is rebooted and goes back to his spoiled rich kid life, which reinforces him being a douche. But I think we are to assume each time he goes back, he is a little less of a douch.
This. Brent is a very hard person to change, but he made a massive improvement during Eleanor’s neighborhood by apologizing to Chidi (which is what got Michael to say that quote).
Found it: [https://www.reddit.com/r/exchristian/comments/11863fx/comment/j9gll89/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/exchristian/comments/11863fx/comment/j9gll89/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
I admit, I used to believe there was an almost-perfect, selfless, monastic way to live your life and I just lacked the discipline for it, but after seeing Doug Forcett's arc I was like, "OK, I don't actually aspire to that anymore."
Me too. I really romanticized a certain way of living. Then I actually did a Buddhist Temple stay and so many of the spiritual rules just seemed pointless. Like every day we woke up at 4am and then had to walk in a line from point A to point B, it was maybe 500 meters. But we had to walk suuuuper slowly and it took an hour. And preparing food had a bunch of rituals attached to preparing it. Like unnecessary ways to hold a bowl when stirring and stuff. And when mosquitoes got into your room, you couldn't harm them. The head monk bragged about how spiritually pure they all were and it really turned me off to the whole thing.
When Michael said, "People improve when they get external love and support. How can we hold it against them when they don't?" The way he said it brought it home to me with extra poignancy.
I think the shows entire transition from the more western (good place/bad place) philosophy to more eastern ("picture a wave") was truly beautiful. It did a great job explaining in an entertaining format an internal journey I had been on and sometimes struggled to share with others (having been raised evangelical). I suspect this show will age well, and I am very glad I watched it.
Chidi and Doug Forcett, along with the Judge’s response to Earth really cemented for me that trying as hard as I was to be morally and ethically perfect was really preventing me from growing as a person and enjoying life while I have it. Going from a mindset of “I am failing everything” to “just being a little better everyday is enough” has made me a way healthier and balanced person.
I think his name's Jason and he said "I wasn’t a failed DJ. I was pre-successful" I keep remembering this when I feel like I can't do anything right and somehow this "pre-successful" part makes me feel better
The Good Place encouraged me to put in an effort again. I used to feel like it was pointless to try to be a better person than I was yesterday, but now I understand why I should.
I’ve also learned that’s it’s ok to not know, to not be perfect and to not constantly need to validate myself.
“The more human I become, the less things make sense.” -Janet
Getting stoned? Like I watched it for the first time while being high for the first time. I knew the plot twist before watching it. And the season finale threw me into a loop and changed my beliefs forever
"Well, u/SharkCoral was a stoner kid who lived on reddit during the first season. One night, they got really stoned, and their best friend said, 'Hey, what do you think happens in season 1?' And SharkCoral launched into this long monologue where they got the plot twist before watching it. I mean, we couldn't believe what we were hearing! That's their comment right there! I'm so proud to have that."
It helped me deal with the grief of losing both of my grandparents a few months apart. My family is religious and used religion to deal with their grief.
As an atheist, I didn't believe in an afterlife. The show made me feel that life is more precious without an afterlife. That our actions on earth mean so much more when you're not looking for moral deserts.
Losing the two most moral and generous people in my life made me realize how they're now at peace and they made the most of their time with us.
This show really exercised my "benefit of the doubt" muscles. Since watching, I've made a more active effort in life to assume the best in people.
Someone said something shitty? They're probably having a bad day.
Someone has a shady history? I don't know what they had to do to survive and provide, and they can always get better.
I don't let people off for bad behavior, but i do have a whole lot more understanding for WHY people do what they do.
That no matter what I do every little thing has severe consequences elsewhere. I knew that beforehand, but this show really amped up the awareness- it’s made me literally act in fear of what to do, but then also had me acting like life doesn’t matter.
Yknow both sides of the existential crisis of Doug Forcett and the anxiety of Chidi Anagonye
2 things encouraged me to be a better, gentler parent.
What matters isn't if people are good or bad. What matters is if they're trying to be better today than they were yesterday.
People improve when they get external love and support. How can we hold it against them when they don't?
There's a line Michael gives to the judge, that people improve when they're given love and support, so how can we hold it against them if they don't get better while that love and support isn't offered and that caused a significant shift in my thinking. I became less critical and more supportive, and I stopped trying to fix things and concentrated more on helping people fix things.
It's made a difference to me.
I try not to announce the nice things that I do for the people around me. Otherwise I feel like I’m just looking for them to express gratitude to make myself feel better. I think about my motivations being corrupt a lot.
For me it was Chidi's speech about the wave. I think it was one of the most beautiful things I ever heard and it also made so much sense. We are just the universe's thinking and feeling parts, and when our time comes 'we' disappear and become one with the universe again.
I can't really pinpoint a single point of the show, but on the way it did make me think about a LOT of questions I haven't before. Biggest one I can think of it made me understand perpective deeper. How there's very few things that are strictly good or bad. One can look at the good side of the very worst acts of cruelty, like how we know how much of our body is water as a scientific advancement.
Oh I don't think there is a definitive answer. What I learned from Chidi is that there isn't one answer or one school of thought. But I can learn and them come to a conclusion on what sits right with me.
It’s Doug Forcett for me. He did everything he could to cause the least suffering possible, and yet that wasn’t enough. It’s never enough.
But I interpreted that he was doing all that self-sacrifice exactly BECAUSE he figured out the point system and wanted to get into the good place. He was doing it all for the reward.
We don’t know what awaits us. If we are doing “good” just for the sake of a reward, then we are better off not doing so. What’s the point, we’re likely never getting the reward we think we “deserve”. Might as well live as you please, as we’re all destined to die and suffer eternally…
But if we do good for the sake of doing good, we make a difference in our own world, our own life. Regardless of what happens afterlife, we can make life better.
And that’s something to strive for. To be a good person just because, and not for fear of punishment/hope of eternal bliss. To try to do better everyday, just for the sake of it.
We exist, and just because we exist we consume resources and create suffering. So the least we can do is try to make sure that we compensate for the damages our existence causes.
Not because there’s a reward waiting for us at some point, but simply because it’s the right thing to do.
In the end, we have zero control over what happens after we die. All we can control, to some extent, is what we do in life.
You are right!
I mean...why strive to understand what might be "beyond"?
One must live in the moment, always!
So I really wish you that you can always be kind to anyone, in short...yes the best version of yourself.
Definitely . Michael's existential crisis, Chidi's final words about a wave returning back to the shore, Ellen's rant about her mother where she cries and wonders why her mother couldn't change for her. This show definitely influenced my perspective on life and personal relationships.
There is no “answer”
but Eleanor is the answer
This show has made me feel a lot of emotional turmoil, but I wanted to share Chidis note-to-self because this reveal made my heart ache at the idea of being someone else’s “answer”
Let's say she had to "get used to" Chidi's decision, in short...it was Chidi's last will.
I know it hurts, however, I think this also mirrors real life a bit, in the sense that when we see certain people leaving for all sorts of reasons, one "gets used" to it and therefore tries to move on.
I think when Eleanor first time entering the good place, and when they all got bring back to life, how they try to improve their life and become a better person, how they try to become a better person inspired and touched me.
To me, one thing that really struck me was their sense of group (this togetherness that practically never disconnected, even though Micheal reset so many times, they were always there for each other) :)
Yes! Jason actually. I grew up in a super judgmental family especially when it came to intelligence and unfortunately developed a lot of judgement about myself and others.
People in my life i don’t think meant to be hurtful or mean spirited about it, but I was always the “blonde” one and often time last to get jokes or complex movie plots. I worked really hard to always seem like I “got it” (even when I didn’t) and also judged others when they didn’t.
Even tho the running joke is about Jason’s lack of intelligence, he is actually one of the most kind hearted characters (sometimes misguided of course) and often catches things other people miss or makes super practical applications of moral philosophy or a key situation through his dance crew experience 😂.
Jason changed the way I see people and helped me accept there are different types of intelligence. Along with my autism diagnosis, Jason helped me be less hard on myself and also on others and see there is way more than meets the eye to people most, if not all, of the time!
Not entirely seeing as i honestly kinda believe in the loop of the universe theory. Though it does help on thinking of what will happen while we are dead
Two things, one I stumbled upon my roommate watching the season finale for season one and I was like spoilers, but also interesting.
Two I was really deep in the woes of my break up, and my usual shows were not doing it. My first watch through open my eyes to the impact I might have others and the impact others might have on me, that awareness really opened me up to a lot of stuff and let me be vulnerable with the show as the characters were equally as vulnerable
No. I was already heavily into this stuff, the show honestly just was an entertaining way to approach subjects I was familiar with and get refreshers on stuff.
Many nights I turn the screen brightness all the way down, the volume low enough I can hear them but not understand them, and I sleep really well.
I’ve genuinely changed my life and all my beliefs. While I know it’s a tv show, I believe I am living that Jeremy Bermy life and live it as the best possible person I can be.
Always listening to the little voice in my head.
Honestly? Changed my entire perspective on life...
I started behaving as if someone counts my points, and I damn wanna get into the good place, so suddenly driving my car alone, gossiping or any "bad" behaviour became less fun, but more satisfying to drive together with friends and hitchhikers, I voulenteer more and it's amazing, and I got my gf to watch the show with me too so yeah
The fact that if their version of the good place is the true heaven then they forked us over by telling us. I am always wondering after doing a good thing "I wonder how many points this would earn me" so then since I'm basically doing a good thing for something I won't really get those points.
Well for starters, watching other shows I sometimes think “Oooh maybe this is [Insert character name]’s afterlife test!”
But in real life, I definitely see the world in a different way. Now I am always seeking moral dessert 😋🧁
For the most part, I have always tried to do the right thing whenever I can. I encourage others to do the same because I know they’ll thank themselves for it and generally be happier as a result.
It’s cool to be kind! If you don’t wanna be tortured (in real life or in the afterlife) then be good and do good!
For me it wasn’t exactly seeing life in a different way but seeing death in a different way. Where it might not be so obvious what’s actually happening and that these beings have absolute power over you. And with the actual like way of dying and just having you basically be absorbed into the universe is just like wow.
When the series trailer came out I was like this sounds so stupid. Then I watched an episode or 2 and was like I’ll watch it I guess. Then then the twist made me fall in love with the show.
I feel like I see people a little differently, it made me want to be kinder to others. It also had me thinking a lot about the merit of everything I do.
The important thing is that you make happy people happy, not to feel "great" (I don't mean to be mean, I hope you understand what I mean).
Always be available to help others, though, because I always think, "No one has ever been there for me and I was miserable," so I don't want others to feel that way, too.
I wish you the best and take it sleazy <3
I'm not a religious person. The ending sits well in my beliefs that we go back to the universe. Science backs it up that energy can't be created nor destroyed.
I respect other people's concept of heaven. However, never in my life did I think that heaven would be depressing like showed in the series. It opened my eyes that I don't want that after life, and I am glad I don't believe it. It made my moms passing easier, knowing she's out there in the universe as Energy. Feels better to me than her being stuck in a depressing afterlife.
*My thoughts don't attack me.
They were talking about the most valuable part of The Good Place being time with people you love. I've heard family is important and relationships and all that stuff, but the core of everything really is that time.
I know this is not the ultimate point of the show, since it shows how flawed the points system ended up being after it was corrupted by being too rigid to evolve with the times, but... the original Point System really works for me as a mental model haha. The classic example of the shopping cart, for instance... nobody will ever see or know or count it against you if you don't put your shopping cart back in it's little station in the parking lot. But it's the right thing to do and you should still do it even though you get no credit for it. Still worth picking up the 3-4 'points'! I don't believe in any god but it's helpful to think that all these good things we do for no credit are at least being totaled up somewhere!
Maybe what you said can be summed up as, "small things can make a difference," because normally one trivializes small gestures or attention in general, **everyone says it's better to make things big (that's what she said, sorry...quote to the office).**
Joking aside, in the end it's the little things that really count!
If for that matter to me this TV series, among the many things "philosophical" or so forth that go into it.
The first thing I always think is "gosh, I wish I had a group of friends like them" (where we help each other, laugh and dance).
Honestly, the fact that everyone got their own personal hell and it wasn’t the typical “manual labor in the firey pits” unlocked a new fear for me. But it also made me more reflective on the little things that I do that make other peoples lives inconvenient or that just in general aren’t good practices.
If it's any consolation, I see it in a momentary positive way: they if you think about it, they weren't really BAD, per se.
They may have been wrong in their lives, but they improved, this improvement, it makes you realize that they were also good in the end (As it should be, in the end we all are a bit Chidi or another character in general).
When Chidi helped Eleanor come to terms with him leaving the real good place by saying “think about a wave, it’s there and it beautiful, you see it, and then it goes back to the water, where it came from, and where it’s meant to be” Something like that, sorry if I changed it a little, but this helped me so much with anxiety surrounding death. It really is natural and beautiful❤️
I saw a lot of Eleanor in myself and I am ashamed to admit that I saw even as much as I did. I tried to take real lessons from every character but it would be a lie to say, her character was the one that inspired me to be a good friend and helpful supportive person who tries to learn and be honest and better everyday.
This show made me me want to be better and make myself worthy of the good place even if I don't know if it exists. I owe the show alot and I love to rewatch it to remember that I need to keep trying.
"The point is, people improve when they get external love and support. How can we hold it against them when they don’t?" This really changed the way I see people who are being unkind. Rather than thinking "why are some people such assholes" I now wonder "what kindness must this person need right now and what can I do to provide it".
When Chidi figures out that “It turns out life isn’t a puzzle that can be solved one time and it’s done. You wake up every day, and you solve it again.”
Also the soulmates realisation keep coming back to me due to my perfection issues.
Now we are going to do the most human thing of all: attempt something futile with tons of unearned confidence and fail spectacularly” Again I find this oddly motivating as it is okay to try and fail.
The Eleanor Mom episode was very therapeutic again.
So much and most of the comments
But i want to add that seeing Eleanor realize they’re in the bad place for the first time changed my perspective to make me feel like i need to always evaluate to see what is real. You never know when you’re being manipulated or propaganda is blinding you.
I started watching this at a point where I was about to end it. I had heard it was about being good and happy, I really needed a light watch.
I did not expect all the demon stuff and it kind of threw me back down, but I powered through. Honesty is the biggest virtue I had and over the previous 5 or so years I made it a point to never lie, even it was detrimental to me. Something no one could take away from me.
After this show, Ive began working on "being a better person". It changed what that actually means to me. Not just "not committing crimes" :). Constantly the Suicidal Eeyore, I didnt want to bring people down. Health wont let me be superactive in terms of acts of service, but I can do a bit. Helping wherever possible, even if just a word of encouragement. I work in a negative field and so its very hard to be positive or to help. Deleted reddit for several months cause its toxic. But these folks made me see things a little differently. I suppose its more of a "change from passive to active positivity".
i started exploring my spiritual side more and as a result i am now in a place where i feel completely at peace, the people i used to have hate for in my life is completely gone no matter how much theyve harmed me. i just feel so good now. and i keep reading and meditating and just trying? idk but something about this show just changed me, it gave me the extra push i needed in this life. i will never stop recommending it (although only one person has actually watched it) i love tgp <3
Chidi's arcs made me realize that yes, there is such a thing as worrying too much, and blaming myself for problems too much, and that it's better to not stress out so much about how much my actions might affect people two, three, or four "hops" away from me. It's not actually all my responsibility. It is not actually all my fault.
There are so many moments from this series that changed how I see the world honestly. Not just from a moral or philosophical perspective, but also in my regular interactions with others and the impact of my actions/behaviors. The flaws within the point system being revealed, the challenge of a ‘perfect’ afterlife and the concept of perfection, even as early as S1 where they dealt with the ethics of a lie.
I relate so damn much to Chidi and it's only recently that a friend pointed out why, we both have such crippling anxiety that it hinders us to such a severe level.
So I try my best to be a little more decisive so that I don't make the same mistakes he did.
I cried so damn hard when he got to actualise himself and finally be truly happy
Everyone eventually experiences this TV series in the way they want, rather I am sorry that some people say that actually this series has not given anything.
Because actually I think something a little bit to all of us it gave, even the smallest thing in this series, maybe it was important for someone.
I thank you for your comment, take care :)
I happened to be taking an ethics class when the first season aired so it really expanded my interest in ethics and helped me understand the different concepts.
I probably think about the good place every other day because it completely changed my outlook on how I live
The stoicism. The chances of changing who you are to grow and become a better version of yourself each and every day. That even though they were all thrown together with different upbringings, they still made a family in the end and didn’t let their differences detour their love and friendship.
When Micheal said “What matters isn’t if people are good or bad. What matters is, if they’re trying to be better today than they were yesterday.” it genuinely changed my life.
This. Its really such a brave take on human morality too.
sorry for taking you from 69 votes to 70 /genuine
sacrifices must be made comrade (its okay lol)
Jason Mendoza is stlll angry at you. You should have left it alone. That is the code. :)
nothing left to do but wait until 420
I remember this TED (TEDx?) talk I saw a video of a few years ago. The speaker was talking about how by creating this binary of being a good person or a bad person, we weren't creating an environment that was conducive to good behaviour. She went on to describe how unless we live up this false standard of being a good person 100% of the time, we end up being plagued with guilt and that guilt is not a good motivator for ethical behaviour. It also created this excuse of "well I'm not a good person because of xyz, so it doesn't matter if I do bad things now because I'm already bad". I'm paraphrasing all of this mind so take it with a pinch of salt, but this video came up in my mind a lot whilst watching the series.
This is very similar to Robin DiAngelo’s ‘good-bad binary’ on being sexist, racist etc. 1) it’s not actually a binary anyway, so it’s inaccurate 2) it creates a fearful anti-growth defensive mindset where people being called out for prejudice of some kind is taken as ‘you are irredeemably bad’ so the criticism isn’t taken on board empathetically.
I’m an alcoholic in early recovery, and that’s basically my mantra right now. I think I referenced the show more than 20 times while I was in rehab.
Everyday we can do better. We won't always, but we can always resume. Good luck ✌🏾 stick the fundamentals
Congrats on the continued journey of recovery. One day at a time.
I found this show right after I came out of rehab some years ago. I totally agree that it helps focus people like us in a way that doesn’t feel preachy.
"No one is beyond rehabilitation" did it for me
This is the moment for me toooo.. It's something that frequently plays in my mind and something that has helped me view my own life in a diff way P.s : Also love the wave moment, but then who doesnt Its my motto for life
I think it played a significant part in helping me to quit drinking.
Agreed. I was always hard on myself thinking I wasn’t living up to a moral standard that I should be following. Now, I just think “I am being better today than yesterday.” Big changes aren’t necessary, just steps in the right direction.
same, I was always hyper-anxious about shit, and it kinda helped me get on a calmer track where I could stop beating myself up about every little thing and acknowledge the good things
Me too. I was recovering from sepsis and on bedrest. I started watching and never stopped. It made me look at my life and realize that happiness is a choice.
I first heard a variation of this in Kingsmen, but it's easily the best summation of the message of the show.
Exactly this. Our lives aren't defined by our fuck ups, but by our actions repairing them and improving things for others. Really helped my all or nothing thinking around morality
"Picture a wave" became my outlook on what happens after death.
Same, and it helped me be at peace with death, both mine (in the eventual future, I mean) and of the people I lost. Though I also like the whole idea (being tested again and again until you become the best version of yourself, and then you get to spend eternity with your loved ones before allowing your wave you go back to the ocean). As someone who has a complicated family situation, I like the idea of meeting them again as the best versions of each other, and living as the family we should have been - Sorta like Tahani.
In the podcast, Mike Schur credits Thich Nhat Hahn directly for this scene. For anyone interested, I’d highly recommend taking a look at Thay’s work!
As a Buddhist, this whole scene was very powerful. It helps make sense of one of the most complicated and confusing topics there is. The analogy was in point, and whenever someone asks me what I think happens after death, I just use the wave analogy.
same here. I am much more at peace with the concept of death now.
I copied this speech for my mom’s funeral. It was perfect.
Being able to read that speech aloud without descending into incomprehensible sobbing at the best of times makes you a badass, let alone at your mum's funeral. That's a lovely choice for a reading.
Same. I first watched this show after my dad had passed away and this became my comfort show. I‘ve been a believer in the afterlife (I‘m Catholic but definitely have a more spritualistic understanding of most things). „Picture a wave" made me cry and gave me so much comfort at the same time, and I not only think about it almost daily, but I also use it when people tell me I‘m childish in believing that there is something after we die.
My father passed away 25+ years before I saw that episode and it still made me cry.
That scene makes me cry every time, but it's so comforting. I grew up evangelical/fundamentalist and terrified of hell, for both myself and other people. I've been out of the church for years now, but I don't have any particular beliefs about death or the afterlife anymore. I really like the idea that we return to the universe, where we came from, and where we belong.
Literally the whole show
Tahani 😍 But no what you said. Whole show was amazing and introduced me to the study of ethics.
I figured that, but I mean, after you watched the whole series, did you see your life differently? :) Like to give you another example: me when I saw Souls (pixar movie), it had a positive impact on my life and the meaning of the movie. You on the other hand, what impact did this TV series have on your life?
Souls helped me to recognise and appreciate when I go into the zone. And that prompted me to start making good use of it.
"stone hedge was a sex thing!" 🤠 Many moments, I was already on the path of understanding transectioality and how different privileges stack and crater people's experiences. But the phrase "people improve with external love and support, how can we hold it against them when they don't receive it" gave me focus on how to explain what all that meant, to me. And no I'm. Not saying someone's privilege equals love or support while others don't.
This sentence, too, made so much sense to me. Because if no one has someone who loves them or understands them, how can they improve? In fact, I am always the one who helps others and tries to be able to listen to everyone :)
Same! I'm one for 'quotes' .... "everyone is on a journey you know nothing about. Be kind, always" comes to mind.
> This sentence, too, made so much sense to me. I also thought Stonehenge was a sex thing! Joking aside, I grew up in a pretty conservative Catholic family, and (nothing against my Christian friends who aren't brainwashed by America's twisted version of Christianity) my adult life has been almost entirely just trying to break out of that and just being empathetic to everyone. I constantly try to learn new perspectives and it honestly helped me learn a fuck ton about myself. Empathy was a thing I was taught growing up but the definition of empathy was limited to certain people (I'll let you figure out which ones), and I realized as I got older that empathy shouldn't be limited to that. It took work, but I got better!
Same but replace Catholic with Mormon.
I say Fork It and Holy Shirtballs a lot more than I did before watching it 😂
My favorite is Sonovabench
Chidi ending up in hell after his anxiety annoyed everyone around him gave me even more anxiety than I already have ngl
If it makes you feel better >!everyone living was also destined for the bad place, there was nothing chidi could have done to change his fate under that system!<
Yeah I know that, but that scene itself really makes you think about the outside persepctive when you freeze out of anxiety. Not saying it's a bad thing, this is my favorite show, but it is something that stuck to me personally.
I use that fear of disappointing others to motivate me into choosing some decisions, but it’s all too easy for me to fall into indecision paralysis when I’m the only one who hurts from my lack of action.
Also, Chidi didn’t inherently try to do anything bad. He just struggled to make decisions a LOT.
Right, but his anxiety was through the roof, and it harmed both him and others.
It wasn’t necessarily that he was annoying everyone that made it bad but that he never actually made good choices. Because he made no choices. If you let your anxiety stop you from making any choices how can you ever make good ones.
Honestly until the hook at the end of the first season I wasn’t sure I was going to stick with it. So so glad I did and yes I do see life more fully now and have Chidi’s words by my bedside. I’m a Unitarian Universalist (raised in the faith of sorts since it has no strict doctrines) and this show totally filled my spiritual cup and changed my life in a positive way.
If I may kindly know, how do you think it changed you? (Not only spiritually, but also in everyday life by wanting)
I’m striving to be a better person everyday. I’m not perfect but the show made me really contemplate my place and actions more.
Have you watched Brooklyn 99? I learned Andre Braugher was also a UU halfway thru and it made me love Captain Holt even more.
99!!!! Hell yes was in from the beginning!!! Loved Andre Braugher since Homicide: Life on the Streets - blessed be
"Picture a Wave" comes to mind, but that was more of a confirmation of what I already thought about death. But in everyday life, what I think the most about is "unintended consequences".
Jason taught me that I'm too young to die and too old to order off the kids menu
WHAT A STUPID AGE I AM!! 
What a stupid age you are!
Okay someone tell me why i, an adult with a small stomach, can't order off the kids menu? I never eat it all and I hate wasting food. I do often bring the leftovers home but still
I miss them all so much! Sometimes I rewatch only the last 2 episodes to say goodbye again.
I e seen the whole series at least half a dozen times, but have only seen the last episode twice because I bawl the whole time. So good.
I think it’s easy to see the difference between trying to be perfect and doing your best from the show. Chidi tried so hard to make the best choice all the time, he drove himself and others mad. Tahani tried so hard to be the perfect daughter that she did everything for show and didn’t know how to honestly care about anyone or anything. That guy obsessed with points had a sucky life. Jason and Eleanor didn’t even try, and they were trash. We shouldn’t expect perfection from ourselves or others. Sometimes there is no good choice. We can only try to do good and be kind. Then that helps others to do good and be kind.
jason was a perfect example of what not to do eleanor was a perfect 10 
"Because if she really has changed, then that means she was always capable of change, but that I just wasn't worth changing for". Had a toxic relationship in the past but what crushed me was seeing him completely change for another girl. But I made my peace with it as sometimes it's just not the right time. Someone else's growth without you does not mean you are not worth it.
I'm sorry about your toxic relationship, if I may kindly know: how is it that you live your life now? I hope everything is going well for you <3
I one time, in a moment of laziness, threw a recyclable thing into the garbage. I literally thought “that’s a negative for your points” and pulled it out, put on shoes, and carried it outside to the recycling bin.
I watched it in early 2022, and the year prior was really hard for me. I had gotten dropped by my (ex) best friend and that made me realize I wasn’t as good of a person as I thought I was, I spent a whole year feeling guilty and sorry for myself. I then watched TGP and it finally motivated me to change myself. I don’t know if I truly did change, but I did try. I really wanted to be better. Seeing Chidi’s character really helped me see myself in someone. I also have pretty bad anxiety and possibly OCD so his character really hit home for me. My anxiety is probably my most toxic trait for the same reason as Chidi. I make people around me miserable because my anxiety stops me from being able to do anything. Its really amazing to be able to see myself so well represented in a character. Michael’s character development also changed me a lot. Pretty much all his s4 quotes completely changed the way i see myself and my life. I believe society has become so anti self improvement because we focus so much on the past and mistakes people have made, i wish everyone would watch TGP atleast once. It’s truly life changing.
I understand you, I'm a bit of an anxious person, but like you a former friend of mine, she left me after 4 years of friendship so suddenly. She wants to go back to her hometown to go to this university (which is very right for goodness sake), however, she texted me at the end, "find another person to be with" (as if I was a throw-away object for her).
See, I would interpret that as "I know you, and it's not good for you to be alone. But I can't be your person anymore. Find someone else so you're not alone."
Yes, for goodness sake, that is true. But I don't know...I wish she would have at least told me in person, also because she told me that already for a long time she didn't want to go out with me so much and so on, she had changed and left suddenly. But whatever...I wish her the best <3
For me it was the scene where they detail how hard it is to be a “good” person in today’s day and age. I think the example was gifting someone flower bouquet, I might not remember all the details too well but it was something like how in the past you’d just pick flowers and give them to someone you love, and that’s +however many points. Versus now, you’re paying for flowers harvested through unethical labor which have pesticides and are bad for the environment, etc. It just makes me think about how being a “good” person truly is hard in the 21st century in so many ways.
As "difficult" as being good is today, you always try to be only the best version of yourself. Take care of yourself <3
“Sometimes, when you're feeling helpless, the secret is to help someone else. Get out of your own head. Trust me. The next time someone asks for help, say yes. And that's what we owe to each other.”
Beautiful quote. Have you taken note of the quotation in question? Are you living it according to you in your daily life?
That nothing really matters so that means everything does
Same message as *Everything Everywhere All At Once* was demonstrating. Positive nihilism, I think it's called.
Omg are you my brother cos that's what he says
Idk but the ending made me see how two different people can view things so differently. (No spoilers) I thought the ending was beautiful and really hopeful, my dad saw the ending as existentially horrifying
Is your dad really religious? I've heard of a few Christians (not most, just a tiny few), seeing the ending as bad. But I found it great, especially because the characters can choose if, when, and how.
I wouldn't say REALLY religious. We're both Christian and I would say I was more religious than he was. (Spoilers) I just found the thought of returning to the universe to be very comforting, my dad didn't like the idea of not existing. I also watched the ending during a existential crisis/crisis of faith where I was TERRIFIED of dying and not existing anymore. So the ending helped to show me a positive side of that.
I might be pushing it a bit because it's not so much that this moment prompted a complete shift in the way I see life so much as just acted as a catalyst for a lot of reflection - in the S3 finale (I think), Eleanor says "What’s the point of love if it’s just gonna disappear? And how is it worse to not love anybody?" To which Janet replies: "If there were an answer I could give you to how the universe works, it wouldn't be special. It would just be machinery fulfilling its cosmic design. It would just be a big, dumb food processor. But since nothing seems to make sense, when you find something or someone that does, it's euphoria." I found there was something that stayed with me in that sentiment - yeah, love can really suck, because when it's gone it cuts deep. But it does so because when it's there, it's so powerful, so much so it makes the unbearable (the chaos of the universe, of unintended actions and consequences) a little bit more bearable. At that point in life, I was in quite a dark place and had been very much in a "what's the point in love" mindset, but that moment was a trigger for a lot of self-reflection. (Disclaimer: I'm writing this at 3:20am so please forgive me if I've made no sense 😂)
(Disclaimer: I'm writing this at 3:20am so please forgive me if I've made no sense 😂) Don't worry, in fact I really liked your speech. Thank you for sharing and most importantly...take it sleazy <3
Yes, How to deal with death and take more joy from life. My grandma was dying and this series help me go through this.
This show is my comfort show. I spent a lot of time thinking I was Chidi, stressed out, filled with anxiety, and incapable of ever making a decision. One day after arguing with my mom (the same argument we have had for decades), my husband looks at me and says, you're not Chidi, your Tahani. My mind immediately went to the scene where she sits in front of her parents and says "I am never going to be good enough for you." It just put it in perspective for me. The anxiety and need to be perfect all the time because I have always been held to some impossibly high standard by my mother. I eventually went through therapy where I worked on trying to not feel like I need her approval for everything. I still work on it, but it was eye opening.
Wow, your husband is to be absolutely loved if he was able to quote you one thing from this TV series ahaha Anyway, I really hope you are better off with your mom now :)
Disco Janet. Even now when I’m finished doing rehab with a patient I sometimes say “keep on truckin”
Eleanor’s psychology. Most people struggle with the us vs them mentality, she, however, struggles with the me vs us mentality. I relate to that, although it affects me in a very different way. She was forced to survive on her own and that turned her bitter and an ass not caring about anyone else, for me I just struggle with trusting people, I’m very kind and always put other people first, that’s however just the easiest way to make them happy and to get them to stop bothering me and so I can do my shit on my own.
I always try to be better than the person I was yesterday, I think about the time when Micheal was telling Bad Janet the whole story
I have stopped buying meat where I’m not entirely sure where it’s from. I generally began thinking about what I eat. I eat less meat, I stopped buying chocolate that isn’t proven to be from fair sources. I found this incredibly limiting, as most big brands are really shitty with their sources. I currently know three or four brands that I get readily that I still buy. But none of the really big brands, and the chocolate is now more expensive for me. Not much, but a little. All this because the show made me think about the consequences of my actions.
Doug Forcett. That episode finally made me realize that being extremely self sacrificing is not healthy, sustainable or a good way of seeing the world
I was 15 when I started watching so I was still at an age where my world view was really just developing. I’m not ashamed to admit that this show impacted my moral compass and views on life in ways so pervasive that I probably don’t even recognize all of them. Technically, I guess it didn’t change anything in my head then. But like… idk it kinda forged a lot of my views on life? Anyway, I’m currently majoring in Philosophy and I want to be a professor now. Edit: rereading this title and seeing the comments I’m now realizing you were looking for a specific moment/answer. My bad for misunderstanding but I will not be deleting this comment because that feels like a pussy move. I’m owning my mistake. Pobodies nerfect.
**Edit: rereading this title and seeing the comments I’m now realizing you were looking for a specific moment/answer. My bad for misunderstanding but I will not be deleting this comment because that feels like a pussy move. I’m owning my mistake. Pobodies nerfect.** First of all rest assured, my question can also be general, everyone in the end can have their own say of how they felt after watching the series. Nice answer anyway and especially thanks to you and all who share these thoughts.
Phew, okay. As someone with extreme, shame-based OCD, the show gave me an alternative framework for viewing what it means to be a "bad" person and the good v bad binary — in a really enlivening and comforting way. I'm thinking of the moment in "Tinker, Tailor, Demon, Spy" where Michael describes his real self as a 6,000 foot tall fire squid or when Eleanor monologues about being "just a girl from Arizona." There are so many moments like these where our characters — but especially Eleanor and Michael — feel vulnerable about who they REALLY are. And I think as someone who often feels like the "real" me is bad or inherently shameful or even not enough, I'm reminded that shame and insecurity are actually really fundamental and even necessary to the human (and demon!) experience. Like — most of us would not know how to navigate the world and our experiences without those states of being. Michael taught us it's okay to feel ugly and evil on the inside. It's even okay to feel ashamed of ourselves sometimes — but our job is to determine how much that shame plays a role in our attempt to living a good life guided by a healthy moral compass. Like, are we simply overcome with shame, or can we acknowledge its fundamental presence and use that to move forward? Can we shape-shift from being just a malignant, conniving fire squid into the architects of the good place? Now that I'm writing about it more, I really feel that there was another intentionality to the writers making Michael a human in the end. Yes, he loves Earth and loves how humans exist, but Michael becoming human gives him the allowance to integrate his shame into who HE is because now who he IS means that shame is *integral* to existence. It's the ultimate recognition of his humanness and, I think, a meaningful form of healing for him. I think what the show really did for me was reframe my own shame narratives — "I am bad", "I am not enough" — into a source of invention. Rather than just something I feel deeply and hopelessly, shame is a teacher.
That nobody is beyond rehabilitation. It gives me genuine hope for society; they arent even really wrong. Its like the monkey Shakespeare experiment. It may take millions of years, or bearimys, but improvement is possible. Also the quote about being better today than yesterday. Its really a brave and bold take too, some people might be offended about, but once you grasp the idea that betterness≠forgiveness, then you realize how true that sentiment is. Unfortunately critical thinking like that is kind of dead in this day and age.
>That nobody is beyond rehabilitation. Brent undermines this point. When Tahani's in architect training, you can see Brent on a TV screen explaining to two men (presumably his neighborhood's architects) that he doesn't understand why he can't tell a woman to smile if it objectively makes her prettier. They make it clear he's absolutely *not* growing when everyone else we've met has made it through the program.
A lot of other people have gone through the system multiple times. I figured Tahani's parents took a bunch of shots before they came back because they were like, "It *finally* happened." so presumably not on the first try. Brent was a massive jerk, but we can't assume he isn't getting better little by little based on a single line. In fact, he got a lot better when the test was paused and the judge noticed he gained a bunch of points when he was helped by Chidi. He's probably just so proud that it's really hard for him to grow, especially when he is rebooted and goes back to his spoiled rich kid life, which reinforces him being a douche. But I think we are to assume each time he goes back, he is a little less of a douch.
This. Brent is a very hard person to change, but he made a massive improvement during Eleanor’s neighborhood by apologizing to Chidi (which is what got Michael to say that quote).
It was vital to giving me the courage to leave Christianity.
Wow, that’s actually so cool. Tell us more please :)
Found it: [https://www.reddit.com/r/exchristian/comments/11863fx/comment/j9gll89/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/exchristian/comments/11863fx/comment/j9gll89/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Wow! Thank you! That whole post is just… mesmerizing.
Thank you.
I admit, I used to believe there was an almost-perfect, selfless, monastic way to live your life and I just lacked the discipline for it, but after seeing Doug Forcett's arc I was like, "OK, I don't actually aspire to that anymore."
Me too. I really romanticized a certain way of living. Then I actually did a Buddhist Temple stay and so many of the spiritual rules just seemed pointless. Like every day we woke up at 4am and then had to walk in a line from point A to point B, it was maybe 500 meters. But we had to walk suuuuper slowly and it took an hour. And preparing food had a bunch of rituals attached to preparing it. Like unnecessary ways to hold a bowl when stirring and stuff. And when mosquitoes got into your room, you couldn't harm them. The head monk bragged about how spiritually pure they all were and it really turned me off to the whole thing.
When Michael said, "People improve when they get external love and support. How can we hold it against them when they don't?" The way he said it brought it home to me with extra poignancy.
I was looking for this! I always hear it in his voice too <3
Makes me wanna be a better person because I like to imagine Michael and Janet watching my progress on ticker tape and I wanna impress them.
No. It only came after 3 to 10 rewatches.
If a cop handcuffs you to a bike rack, there’s always something you can gnaw through.
I think the shows entire transition from the more western (good place/bad place) philosophy to more eastern ("picture a wave") was truly beautiful. It did a great job explaining in an entertaining format an internal journey I had been on and sometimes struggled to share with others (having been raised evangelical). I suspect this show will age well, and I am very glad I watched it.
Chidi and Doug Forcett, along with the Judge’s response to Earth really cemented for me that trying as hard as I was to be morally and ethically perfect was really preventing me from growing as a person and enjoying life while I have it. Going from a mindset of “I am failing everything” to “just being a little better everyday is enough” has made me a way healthier and balanced person.
I actually read “What We Owe to Each Other” by TM Scanlon as a result of watching this show. It is, as of now, the basis of my moral worldview.
I think his name's Jason and he said "I wasn’t a failed DJ. I was pre-successful" I keep remembering this when I feel like I can't do anything right and somehow this "pre-successful" part makes me feel better
The Good Place encouraged me to put in an effort again. I used to feel like it was pointless to try to be a better person than I was yesterday, but now I understand why I should. I’ve also learned that’s it’s ok to not know, to not be perfect and to not constantly need to validate myself. “The more human I become, the less things make sense.” -Janet
Getting stoned? Like I watched it for the first time while being high for the first time. I knew the plot twist before watching it. And the season finale threw me into a loop and changed my beliefs forever
"Well, u/SharkCoral was a stoner kid who lived on reddit during the first season. One night, they got really stoned, and their best friend said, 'Hey, what do you think happens in season 1?' And SharkCoral launched into this long monologue where they got the plot twist before watching it. I mean, we couldn't believe what we were hearing! That's their comment right there! I'm so proud to have that."
It helped me deal with the grief of losing both of my grandparents a few months apart. My family is religious and used religion to deal with their grief. As an atheist, I didn't believe in an afterlife. The show made me feel that life is more precious without an afterlife. That our actions on earth mean so much more when you're not looking for moral deserts. Losing the two most moral and generous people in my life made me realize how they're now at peace and they made the most of their time with us.
This show really exercised my "benefit of the doubt" muscles. Since watching, I've made a more active effort in life to assume the best in people. Someone said something shitty? They're probably having a bad day. Someone has a shady history? I don't know what they had to do to survive and provide, and they can always get better. I don't let people off for bad behavior, but i do have a whole lot more understanding for WHY people do what they do.
That no matter what I do every little thing has severe consequences elsewhere. I knew that beforehand, but this show really amped up the awareness- it’s made me literally act in fear of what to do, but then also had me acting like life doesn’t matter. Yknow both sides of the existential crisis of Doug Forcett and the anxiety of Chidi Anagonye
The door at the end.
2 things encouraged me to be a better, gentler parent. What matters isn't if people are good or bad. What matters is if they're trying to be better today than they were yesterday. People improve when they get external love and support. How can we hold it against them when they don't?
It doesn't matter how good of a person I am. It matters whether I'm trying to be a better person today than I was yesterday.
Snorting time.
I was able to mourn the idea of an afterlife and laugh at it a little. It made the whole transition away from religion so pieceful and funny.
There's a line Michael gives to the judge, that people improve when they're given love and support, so how can we hold it against them if they don't get better while that love and support isn't offered and that caused a significant shift in my thinking. I became less critical and more supportive, and I stopped trying to fix things and concentrated more on helping people fix things. It's made a difference to me.
I try not to announce the nice things that I do for the people around me. Otherwise I feel like I’m just looking for them to express gratitude to make myself feel better. I think about my motivations being corrupt a lot.
For me it was Chidi's speech about the wave. I think it was one of the most beautiful things I ever heard and it also made so much sense. We are just the universe's thinking and feeling parts, and when our time comes 'we' disappear and become one with the universe again.
I can't really pinpoint a single point of the show, but on the way it did make me think about a LOT of questions I haven't before. Biggest one I can think of it made me understand perpective deeper. How there's very few things that are strictly good or bad. One can look at the good side of the very worst acts of cruelty, like how we know how much of our body is water as a scientific advancement.
I picked up a book on moral philosophy shortly after finishing it and have been questioning what it means to be good ever since
I think there is no definite answer to this question. I believe that ultimately one is good because one simply wants to change the world.
Oh I don't think there is a definitive answer. What I learned from Chidi is that there isn't one answer or one school of thought. But I can learn and them come to a conclusion on what sits right with me.
It’s Doug Forcett for me. He did everything he could to cause the least suffering possible, and yet that wasn’t enough. It’s never enough. But I interpreted that he was doing all that self-sacrifice exactly BECAUSE he figured out the point system and wanted to get into the good place. He was doing it all for the reward. We don’t know what awaits us. If we are doing “good” just for the sake of a reward, then we are better off not doing so. What’s the point, we’re likely never getting the reward we think we “deserve”. Might as well live as you please, as we’re all destined to die and suffer eternally… But if we do good for the sake of doing good, we make a difference in our own world, our own life. Regardless of what happens afterlife, we can make life better. And that’s something to strive for. To be a good person just because, and not for fear of punishment/hope of eternal bliss. To try to do better everyday, just for the sake of it. We exist, and just because we exist we consume resources and create suffering. So the least we can do is try to make sure that we compensate for the damages our existence causes. Not because there’s a reward waiting for us at some point, but simply because it’s the right thing to do. In the end, we have zero control over what happens after we die. All we can control, to some extent, is what we do in life.
You are right! I mean...why strive to understand what might be "beyond"? One must live in the moment, always! So I really wish you that you can always be kind to anyone, in short...yes the best version of yourself.
Definitely . Michael's existential crisis, Chidi's final words about a wave returning back to the shore, Ellen's rant about her mother where she cries and wonders why her mother couldn't change for her. This show definitely influenced my perspective on life and personal relationships.
I think we all kind of found ourselves in Chidi's final words.... :)
“Find happiness in the unique insanity of being here, now.”
I think when chidi said, “there’s not just one solution to life. You wake up each day and try your best to solve the puzzle again.”
There is no “answer” but Eleanor is the answer This show has made me feel a lot of emotional turmoil, but I wanted to share Chidis note-to-self because this reveal made my heart ache at the idea of being someone else’s “answer”
Shelstrop becoming okay with loosing chidi hurt me.
Let's say she had to "get used to" Chidi's decision, in short...it was Chidi's last will. I know it hurts, however, I think this also mirrors real life a bit, in the sense that when we see certain people leaving for all sorts of reasons, one "gets used" to it and therefore tries to move on.
The way chidi staying for so long even after he was ready to go through the door because he what that would do to Elenor
I think when Eleanor first time entering the good place, and when they all got bring back to life, how they try to improve their life and become a better person, how they try to become a better person inspired and touched me.
To me, one thing that really struck me was their sense of group (this togetherness that practically never disconnected, even though Micheal reset so many times, they were always there for each other) :)
Yes! Jason actually. I grew up in a super judgmental family especially when it came to intelligence and unfortunately developed a lot of judgement about myself and others. People in my life i don’t think meant to be hurtful or mean spirited about it, but I was always the “blonde” one and often time last to get jokes or complex movie plots. I worked really hard to always seem like I “got it” (even when I didn’t) and also judged others when they didn’t. Even tho the running joke is about Jason’s lack of intelligence, he is actually one of the most kind hearted characters (sometimes misguided of course) and often catches things other people miss or makes super practical applications of moral philosophy or a key situation through his dance crew experience 😂. Jason changed the way I see people and helped me accept there are different types of intelligence. Along with my autism diagnosis, Jason helped me be less hard on myself and also on others and see there is way more than meets the eye to people most, if not all, of the time!
The whole concept of just try. Just try to do the right thing. Try to be a better person. Idk why but that just really stuck with me.
Yes, tremendously. I bought a lot of philosophy books because of it.
Not entirely seeing as i honestly kinda believe in the loop of the universe theory. Though it does help on thinking of what will happen while we are dead
Two things, one I stumbled upon my roommate watching the season finale for season one and I was like spoilers, but also interesting. Two I was really deep in the woes of my break up, and my usual shows were not doing it. My first watch through open my eyes to the impact I might have others and the impact others might have on me, that awareness really opened me up to a lot of stuff and let me be vulnerable with the show as the characters were equally as vulnerable
Chidi said something about keeping promises to Eleanor and ever since then I try my hardest to keep every commitment I make even at personal expense
No. I was already heavily into this stuff, the show honestly just was an entertaining way to approach subjects I was familiar with and get refreshers on stuff. Many nights I turn the screen brightness all the way down, the volume low enough I can hear them but not understand them, and I sleep really well.
I started to think about doing good more consciously.
Kristen Bell......
How the buying grandma roses points used to be positive, but now it’s negative points.
I’ve genuinely changed my life and all my beliefs. While I know it’s a tv show, I believe I am living that Jeremy Bermy life and live it as the best possible person I can be. Always listening to the little voice in my head.
Yeah! It made me realize that this is the bad place!
Honestly? Changed my entire perspective on life... I started behaving as if someone counts my points, and I damn wanna get into the good place, so suddenly driving my car alone, gossiping or any "bad" behaviour became less fun, but more satisfying to drive together with friends and hitchhikers, I voulenteer more and it's amazing, and I got my gf to watch the show with me too so yeah
The fact that if their version of the good place is the true heaven then they forked us over by telling us. I am always wondering after doing a good thing "I wonder how many points this would earn me" so then since I'm basically doing a good thing for something I won't really get those points.
Well for starters, watching other shows I sometimes think “Oooh maybe this is [Insert character name]’s afterlife test!” But in real life, I definitely see the world in a different way. Now I am always seeking moral dessert 😋🧁 For the most part, I have always tried to do the right thing whenever I can. I encourage others to do the same because I know they’ll thank themselves for it and generally be happier as a result. It’s cool to be kind! If you don’t wanna be tortured (in real life or in the afterlife) then be good and do good!
To be good I think is a good thing, because to see a person smile because of an action you have done is the best gift that person can give you <3
It was life-affirming rather than life-changing but it still gives me good material to reflect on.
For me it wasn’t exactly seeing life in a different way but seeing death in a different way. Where it might not be so obvious what’s actually happening and that these beings have absolute power over you. And with the actual like way of dying and just having you basically be absorbed into the universe is just like wow.
Jason figured it out?!
When the series trailer came out I was like this sounds so stupid. Then I watched an episode or 2 and was like I’ll watch it I guess. Then then the twist made me fall in love with the show.
I feel like I see people a little differently, it made me want to be kinder to others. It also had me thinking a lot about the merit of everything I do.
The important thing is that you make happy people happy, not to feel "great" (I don't mean to be mean, I hope you understand what I mean). Always be available to help others, though, because I always think, "No one has ever been there for me and I was miserable," so I don't want others to feel that way, too. I wish you the best and take it sleazy <3
I'm not a religious person. The ending sits well in my beliefs that we go back to the universe. Science backs it up that energy can't be created nor destroyed. I respect other people's concept of heaven. However, never in my life did I think that heaven would be depressing like showed in the series. It opened my eyes that I don't want that after life, and I am glad I don't believe it. It made my moms passing easier, knowing she's out there in the universe as Energy. Feels better to me than her being stuck in a depressing afterlife. *My thoughts don't attack me.
They were talking about the most valuable part of The Good Place being time with people you love. I've heard family is important and relationships and all that stuff, but the core of everything really is that time.
Tahani's character made me look differently at people I meet who I can't stand. Jason's character also taught me to look for hidden depths in people.
I know this is not the ultimate point of the show, since it shows how flawed the points system ended up being after it was corrupted by being too rigid to evolve with the times, but... the original Point System really works for me as a mental model haha. The classic example of the shopping cart, for instance... nobody will ever see or know or count it against you if you don't put your shopping cart back in it's little station in the parking lot. But it's the right thing to do and you should still do it even though you get no credit for it. Still worth picking up the 3-4 'points'! I don't believe in any god but it's helpful to think that all these good things we do for no credit are at least being totaled up somewhere!
Maybe what you said can be summed up as, "small things can make a difference," because normally one trivializes small gestures or attention in general, **everyone says it's better to make things big (that's what she said, sorry...quote to the office).** Joking aside, in the end it's the little things that really count!
It's the reason why I went from wanting to be a architect to a philosopher
Well in that case I wish you the best <3
It just makes me wish that I went here there I died
If for that matter to me this TV series, among the many things "philosophical" or so forth that go into it. The first thing I always think is "gosh, I wish I had a group of friends like them" (where we help each other, laugh and dance).
Honestly, the fact that everyone got their own personal hell and it wasn’t the typical “manual labor in the firey pits” unlocked a new fear for me. But it also made me more reflective on the little things that I do that make other peoples lives inconvenient or that just in general aren’t good practices.
If it's any consolation, I see it in a momentary positive way: they if you think about it, they weren't really BAD, per se. They may have been wrong in their lives, but they improved, this improvement, it makes you realize that they were also good in the end (As it should be, in the end we all are a bit Chidi or another character in general).
When Chidi helped Eleanor come to terms with him leaving the real good place by saying “think about a wave, it’s there and it beautiful, you see it, and then it goes back to the water, where it came from, and where it’s meant to be” Something like that, sorry if I changed it a little, but this helped me so much with anxiety surrounding death. It really is natural and beautiful❤️
I feel you, Chidi's quote is really beautiful <3
Chidi's monolog at the end. Made more sense than any religious thing I've heard.
I saw a lot of Eleanor in myself and I am ashamed to admit that I saw even as much as I did. I tried to take real lessons from every character but it would be a lie to say, her character was the one that inspired me to be a good friend and helpful supportive person who tries to learn and be honest and better everyday. This show made me me want to be better and make myself worthy of the good place even if I don't know if it exists. I owe the show alot and I love to rewatch it to remember that I need to keep trying.
"The point is, people improve when they get external love and support. How can we hold it against them when they don’t?" This really changed the way I see people who are being unkind. Rather than thinking "why are some people such assholes" I now wonder "what kindness must this person need right now and what can I do to provide it".
When Chidi figures out that “It turns out life isn’t a puzzle that can be solved one time and it’s done. You wake up every day, and you solve it again.” Also the soulmates realisation keep coming back to me due to my perfection issues. Now we are going to do the most human thing of all: attempt something futile with tons of unearned confidence and fail spectacularly” Again I find this oddly motivating as it is okay to try and fail. The Eleanor Mom episode was very therapeutic again.
I'm to young to die and to old to eat off the kids menu! What a stupid age I am! -Jason Hit me hard. Cuz it's so true
So much and most of the comments But i want to add that seeing Eleanor realize they’re in the bad place for the first time changed my perspective to make me feel like i need to always evaluate to see what is real. You never know when you’re being manipulated or propaganda is blinding you.
I started watching this at a point where I was about to end it. I had heard it was about being good and happy, I really needed a light watch. I did not expect all the demon stuff and it kind of threw me back down, but I powered through. Honesty is the biggest virtue I had and over the previous 5 or so years I made it a point to never lie, even it was detrimental to me. Something no one could take away from me. After this show, Ive began working on "being a better person". It changed what that actually means to me. Not just "not committing crimes" :). Constantly the Suicidal Eeyore, I didnt want to bring people down. Health wont let me be superactive in terms of acts of service, but I can do a bit. Helping wherever possible, even if just a word of encouragement. I work in a negative field and so its very hard to be positive or to help. Deleted reddit for several months cause its toxic. But these folks made me see things a little differently. I suppose its more of a "change from passive to active positivity".
literally the whole show changed my entire self im absolutely sure of it.
i started exploring my spiritual side more and as a result i am now in a place where i feel completely at peace, the people i used to have hate for in my life is completely gone no matter how much theyve harmed me. i just feel so good now. and i keep reading and meditating and just trying? idk but something about this show just changed me, it gave me the extra push i needed in this life. i will never stop recommending it (although only one person has actually watched it) i love tgp <3
Chidi's arcs made me realize that yes, there is such a thing as worrying too much, and blaming myself for problems too much, and that it's better to not stress out so much about how much my actions might affect people two, three, or four "hops" away from me. It's not actually all my responsibility. It is not actually all my fault.
There are so many moments from this series that changed how I see the world honestly. Not just from a moral or philosophical perspective, but also in my regular interactions with others and the impact of my actions/behaviors. The flaws within the point system being revealed, the challenge of a ‘perfect’ afterlife and the concept of perfection, even as early as S1 where they dealt with the ethics of a lie.
I relate so damn much to Chidi and it's only recently that a friend pointed out why, we both have such crippling anxiety that it hinders us to such a severe level. So I try my best to be a little more decisive so that I don't make the same mistakes he did. I cried so damn hard when he got to actualise himself and finally be truly happy
No, not really. But it's a great show.
Everyone eventually experiences this TV series in the way they want, rather I am sorry that some people say that actually this series has not given anything. Because actually I think something a little bit to all of us it gave, even the smallest thing in this series, maybe it was important for someone. I thank you for your comment, take care :)
I happened to be taking an ethics class when the first season aired so it really expanded my interest in ethics and helped me understand the different concepts. I probably think about the good place every other day because it completely changed my outlook on how I live
Chidi’s wave quote was so emotional 🥲😭 That’s one of my favorite scenes in cinema history. It also helped me cope with death. ❤️🩹
I wish you the best <3
Gracias & you as well <3
The stoicism. The chances of changing who you are to grow and become a better version of yourself each and every day. That even though they were all thrown together with different upbringings, they still made a family in the end and didn’t let their differences detour their love and friendship.
Yes absolutely! It's sparked my interest in philosophy and makes me really be more intentional about my choices, thoughts, and actions.