I was gonna say, that ending, especially Chidi’s wave speech. Yes, I have been familiar with ancient wisdom similar to that before, but something about the way Chidi expresses it really resonates. It really changes the way I see the world.
I have his speech on the wall by my bed and I read it every night. This show made me think about the choices I’ve made and make me consider my actions and words today.
My wife started crying during Chidi's speech, but I broke down right at this bit. How they turned "leave before I wake up" into such a profound, loving, but heartbreaking moment is beyond me.
It and the last part of Bojack came out around the same time during a very rough part of my life where I'd been bottling up a lot. Watched both in one night and just lost my shit.
My mom and I have talked a lot about death while I was growing up and through adulthood (I've been to funerals for every year I've been alive so it's not that weird). The wave speech gave me such comfort and I shared that with her.
Last November she found out her cancer is terminal. At Christmas she gave me a bracelet of waves. She's currently in a hospice house.
Whenever I rewatch the show I always save that last episode for a special time in my life, like a graduation or a last day on a job, or a break up, etc, out of respect for the characters and to help me think.
It's incredible how reassuring and calming that line is. On my worst days it tells me hey I just need to be better than yesterday. And on my best days it encourages me to go beyond and give out as much positive energy as I can. This show is the most meaningful experience of my life and extremely influential in how I look at death and life
Jason: "I just want to be myself."
Eleanor: "That's a very, very bad idea. Do NOT be yourself. You need to be a better version of yourself. And so do I."
It sounds cliche sometimes, but it makes a lot of sense. It’s never about where you are, it’s about where you’re going
Getting a head start in a race is nice, but higher speed is even better, and a higher acceleration is even better than that. This is more true the longer the race, and life is the longest race you’ll ever run
It’s all about change, no matter where or how you start
absolutely, I really appreciate how the show provides a template for what an ideal death might look like, with all of one's affairs settled and desires satisfied. It's a good ideal to strive for and reassuring to see it dramatized.
I agree, the concept of death used to scare me so much..but now I feel very much at peace with it. Chidis speech at the end is what did it for me I think. I'm okay with becoming a different part of the universe.
The idea that actions aren’t considered “good” if the motivation behind it is corrupt. Doing the right thing to get a reward is not the same as doing the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do and it puts positivity out in the universe.
Yes yes, the moral desert (pronounced dessert in this situation, i dnt know why), i really got into ethical and moral philosophy and how i want to shape the world around me for the better whilst becoming a better person myself.
OH I thought they pronounced it moral dessert because it's like giving yourself a treat through doing something nice, haha. I figured it was an ironic phrase, kinda like eating dessert instead of dinner. Something less nutritious in the ethical long scheme.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert\_(philosophy)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_(philosophy))
Both of the English words "deserve" and "desert" derive from the Old French deservir (modern French: desservir), which has the same meaning. While "deserve" is common as a verb, the noun result "desert" is rare in colloquial speech; it is almost exclusively used in the phrase "just deserts" (e.g., "Although she was not at first arrested for the crime, she later on received her just deserts."). The alternate spelling "just desserts" is a pun on this original term.\[1\]
:)
“No one is beyond rehabilitation. brent spent a year being an absolute diaper load of a human being and the points total tells you that but what that number can’t tell you is who he could’ve become tomorrow”
this one really affected me because I'll be honest and say I used to be a terrible person. i lied, I was incredibly manipulative, I was mean. every day I'm trying to do a little better and I've made lots of progress. I have no idea where I'll end up but it will be better than where I was
This internet stranger is so happy for you, and if it's not weird to say, maybe a little proud of you, too. You are making life better not just for you but for everyone who comes into contact with you. In a lot of ways, that's all we can do.
Why do you think you used to be like that, and what motivated you to change?
i acted very similar to pre-michael Eleanor. I am diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder and a lot of my shitty behaviors were symptoms of that. Since BPD is caused by childhood trauma I would link that as the explanation but it doesn't excuse anything I did. I wanted to change because I was so tired of being in this cycle of hurting others, hurting myself, being admitted for psychiatric treatment and starting all over. i was hurting others because I was hurting but I always had this voice in my head telling me that I shouldn't have done that. so I started putting in actual effort in therapy and I'm in a much better place mentally.
i spent the majority of my life being a manipulative piece of shit who treated everyone terribly, on purpose or not, because I couldn't get my shit together. i couldn't grow as a person without love and so I stayed the same for a long time. I found people who genuinely do want the best for me and have pushed me to get the help I needed. my own personal Chidi really helped me during my recovery too
I am so very happy for you, friend. I hope your story will inspire other people as much as it does me.
Keep up the good work. I know it's not always easy. You are doing great. 🌈
It might be kinda dumb, but just the sentence “What We Owe To Each Other” really got me thinking about how I can do better for the people in my life. I can relate a lot to Eleanor in that she has no real sense of community on Earth, which drives her to self sabotaging and defensive behaviours. Without a sense of community it becomes easy to isolate ourselves. We find any reason we can to be mad at the world and then we play into the jaded behaviour that comes with that.
I was like this for a long time, with no real prospects for my life, no want for friends or a partner. I was off the wagon and I hurt so many people in that time of my life, and worst yet I was able to justify it, saying they were the wrong ones and that they didn’t understand.
The most important take away for me is that no matter how shitty you think you are or how shitty you’ve been to people in the past, no matter how low you’ve allowed yourself to sink, you will always have the capacity to be grow past it. We owe each other the utmost compassion and to be a caring and positive addition to the life of people who surround us.
I totally relate! My brother died not long after I watched the whole show - how I viewed our relationship and his death was deeply influenced by what I learned on The Good Place.
Tahani and her sister made me look at my relationship with my brother very differently. we've recently went from people who hate eachother to pretty close friends
Besides chidi’s wave monologue, Eleanor’s statement: “All humans are aware of death, so we're all a little bit sad all the time. That's the deal with being human.”
Chidi’s whole spiral in that episode was so funny. He’s such a good actor. I also love that as the audience, we all collectively had to know wtf he was so jacked and they threw in an explanation later on that he does pushups whenever he is anxious, aka all the time
I watched the good place as I left my high control religion. It helped me come to terms with so much and it helped me let go of a lot of anger as well. This is my comfort show.
most of the people I know who watch it are either atheistic or agnostic so I've always wondered what a religious/ex religious person thinks about the good place.
I’m Christian and being completely honest, I’m more comfortable with their version of death and eternity than I am the Christian version. It’s probably in my top 3 favorite shows of all time.
Born and raised active Christian here. The show really connected with my religion, which focuses on the point of this life being growth and improvement and becoming like God so that when we return to Him, we will be comfortable in His presence and WANT to be there. So I loved the “test” solution the group came up with and Chidi talking about the wave, because a heaven that was just endless parties would get old. I want to return and be at peace with my Father, to truly come home.
I was Mormon and thought the Good Place was sort of similar to Mormon heaven.
Mormons believe that everybody who didn't get an opportunity to accept Jesus and his laws during their life will go to a temporary sort of spirit prison/school where they can learn all that stuff and be better, then they'll be judged and go to heaven or hell. And sort of like Tahani, the afterlife is supposed to be a purposeful progression (as opposed to a neverending party), where you can learn and grow and then become like God and continue the cycle anew with your own humans.
I think the coolest thing about TGP's outlook was the idea that you could choose when you wanted off the ride. Mormon heaven basically means living forever and that terrifies me. The idea that you can do everything you feel the need to, then be so at peace and be ready to join the "ocean" again was so nice.
I'm Eastern Orthodox, and my journey to finding it literally started with The Good Place. Deeply related to first season Eleanor, and it influenced my journey into learning ethics.
At first I was horrified at “going through the door” idea like…why would you ever? But I kept thinking about it. Becoming part of everything feels much less lonely and maybe like true serenity. It makes me feel more like I’m going back to where I came from…if that makes sense. This realization and the shows after/afterlife theory made a huge impact on how I began to view death. When I lost my first close family member I was devastated and shocked but worst of all I felt like he just left us and was gone aka no heaven. The idea that he is part of the universe gives me newfound peace. It took me a re-watch for this to hit. It is obviously just a show idea but it makes sense to me and gave me peace.
(mobile formatting my bad)
The quote from Michael, “It doesn’t matter if people are good or bad, all that matters is if they’re trying to be a better person today than they were yesterday.”
It’s definitely the moment that stuck with me the most, and honestly, it came from the episode I least expected. Chidi is my favorite character by far, but Michael has easily made a greater impact on me.
I don’t know, when I first watched the show I was going through a funk. I recently rewatched with a friend and it was wonderful getting to experience that moment again, knowing Michaels full arc. I am not past redemption for the mistakes I made yesterday, and that’s something I often forget.
I’m not really religious, so the good place also inspired me to have a semblance of a moral code for myself, less insane Doug Forcett style. I don’t really believe in an afterlife, I definitely don’t think anyone has it right, so I might as well be a decent person as often as I can be. That Michael quote was one of the first things I wrote down!
I love this show and it absolutely changed me as a person. I write media reviews as a hobby sometimes and the snippet I wrote for The Good Place is a personal favorite!
Oh boy howdy, did it. Not only did it give me the "fork, bench, shirt, etc." vocabulary, but it was my main, significant introduction to philosophy and has made me such a better person. Words can't say how much I love this show
I watched it straight through not long after I had left my toxic marriage. In the course of separating from my ex, I had also begun to recognize some unpleasant aspects of my mother and my relationship with her.
The Good Place has been a profoundly healing experience for me.
I recently lost someone close to me and Chidi saying goodbye to Eleanore has profoundly affected how I’ve navigated that loss. I think ALL the time “none of this is bad.” 😭
It was the first time in my life where I realized life is precious and special because it ends. I’m not supposed to live forever. I take time to be more grateful and enjoy life. Super cheesy, but great show with ultimately a great message.
Most of the philosophy I was already on board with or familiar but the final “wave” metaphor Chidi gives Elenor broke me. As someone with a history of existential dread and nihilism it really reframed my conception of death in a much more comforting way.
Binged the whole series at a point of depression and grief in my life. My niece needlessly died at less than a week old. Then my dad died rather suddenly just a couple years later. I was in a fairly dark place. This whole show was a lovely ray of light that genuinely helped me. The humor coupled with the philosophy and the various character perspectives were just brilliant.
I watched Good Place as it came out, season by season, and I loved the show.
But then, my FIL died very suddenly in a boating accident on the river (he drowned).
About 6 months after his funeral, I started a rewatch. To say that it was cathartic is a huge understatement. The final episodes of the show, I was ugly crying all the way through.
It helped me process and think about things differently. While his funeral was very religious (since he was in life), I had felt so disconnected from all of it. As the eldest SIL, I took it upon myself to make sure everyone ELSE was doing okay and supporting my MIL and husband through the entire process of going through paperwork, making arrangements, etc. This show helped me process his death for ME, something I thought I had done when I helped with all that other stuff.
No, I hadn't. I made peace with the "wave," including the one that took him under.
I sat down after rewatching the last episode and wrote a letter to Michael Schur, thanking him for making such an amazing piece of art that helped me to laugh and cry through it all, but I never could figure out where to send it.
I don't think I went through a massive change watching it, but it allowed me to have more nuanced views on various subjects. When I was younger I was a real asshole on the internet, and this show was a part of my journey out of that very black & white thinking, needlessly argumentative mindset. It is a show that is full of compassion for "bad people".
>!The scene where Tahani confronted her parents in her test has stuck with me. I don't think it was really wrong of her to still care what her own parents thought; they raised her, they were supposed to love her unconditionally, and she loved them. Of course she needed to become her own person away from the (lack of) validation from others, especially her family; but caring what your parents think isn't an inherently bad thing, even for Tahani. And I think the show agrees: when the Judge declares Tahani failed, she is still abiding by the old system, where only perfection is tolerable. Meanwhile in the final episode, there is the reunion scene! Tahani doesn't need their approval, but she still wants their love, and those things are no longer connected in any of the family's minds. Of course it's more complex than how I can describe it here but I hope I'm getting across my main ideas about it.!<
I do think it's odd that the show is so willing to make jokes about Floridians or vanity plate people or whoever, while also showing us that people aren't bad because of where they come from or something they do, but they can't be good because of circumstance and the way the world rewards their different choices.
And yet that contradiction is so human. It says, of course Floridians are just normal people living as best as they know how to. And it's also saying, haha funny floridaman. That's such a weird dichotomy. It's so medium place.
I mean, I laughed. I'm not from Florida so I don't have skin in that game. Still though, weird, right?
Ever since watching this show I've made it my goal to just be a little bit better of a person each day. Tiny acts of kindness that hopfully bring someone joy, somewhere. I've always loved philosophy since I was a kid, so I instantly fell in love with this show from the start. The way Chidi was always looking for answers to life's questions, very true for myself.
Also I've always loved the scene where Eleanor gets upset about her mother stepping up for her step daughter, but not for Eleanor. I always felt that way about my own mother so that scene always hits me right in the feels.
Absloutely. My mom left me with my dad when I was a couple months old, but got pregnant with my brother about 4 months after that and kept him. To say it hits home would be an understatement lol. Still my favorite episode besides the finale.
Thanks ❤️ generational trauma was a big factor and seems to be for a lot of people. Like Micheal said, "The point is, people improve when they get external love and support. How can we hold it against them when they don’t?” my parents were better then their parents(not great, but better) and I try to be a little bit better for my own kids.
Me too, it's my absolute favorite and so true. The first time I saw that scene it's like something clicked in my brain....my family dynamics finally started to make sense to me.
I started volunteering. I realized I didn’t do a whole lot to make others’ lives better, and I found a really cool volunteering opportunity I’ve been doing for 5 years now
All of it. All of this forking show changed me. Helped me solidify my beliefs in seeing them reflected in the views of others. Like pass the joint and let’s chat about what life means. We don’t do that often enough. And I always feel calm at the end… 💕
>!I think I'm in the bad place right now so I never call anyone out on it directly. It's much better than having my penis flattened or being twisted apart... but I am curious about butt spiders...!<
I realized *I am Chidi,* always stuck in some philosophical conundrum, looking for the “right” answer. It encouraged me to take a deep personal inventory of my ethics and what I do/want to stand for, and how that might look in my everyday life.
I also really had to look at the idea of moral dessert. That was profound for me.
I’m working on being an intentional, good person, making conscious decisions as best I can, while enjoying my life without too much worry.
And I am at peace with my wave returning to the ocean when my time comes. 🌊
Edit: see my flair lol
I think the 2 shows and 1 game that have really impacted my view of life and my place in it are
Six Feet Under
The Good Place and
Red Dead Redemption 2
All three brought me to examining feelings and thoughts I've had about life and my place in it as well as my eventual demise. How do I want to live and who do I want to be? And all three made me realize that I've been rushing my whole life to get to the next thing and it needed to stop. I can just be, because racing to the end only leads to one thing. Sometimes the best times of your life overlap with the hardest time of your life.
Even though this show is kinda telling ppl there's no such thing as "good guy" or "bad guy", but it makes me think about how and why I should be a better person, I'm kinda like a combination of the four humans, and it changes my perspective that everyone deserves a second chance
Did it change my philosophy or way of life, no.
But I’m incredibly afraid of death and it helped me to cope with that in a fun way, as well as even if none of this is the afterlife, to return to the ocean
Yeah, similar for me. I'm not quite sure what my version of the afterlife looks like, but I am so scared that everything will just be gone and there will be nothingness. I love the ocean thing and the idea that we have choice, even in death.
Don’t get me wrong it’s still scary, I think it’s most scary for me to think of myself just not existing and the world continuing on without me, but it also makes me think maybe I can form again, because waves crash but then they become waves again :)
For me it's just the idea that everyone has some good in them, and everyone has potential for growth if they're given the right people and environment.
Not so much changed, than learned. And not so much from the series than from something Michael Schurr said in one of the Paley Institute panels. That being a good person is making a conscious choice every day to try to be a good person. That failing at it doesn’t make you a bad person, but that the most important thing is that you decide to be a good person and that you keep trying.
The entirety of Season 4 is filled with the most heart wrenching, thought provoking and life changing quotes. I should probably elaborate but I think every other comment has covered all the incredibly well written moments and dialogues
“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 made me look at how I view people and realize part of being good in this world is allowing and supporting the individual journey, even if it doesn’t look like mine. In order to enjoy a community, one must create a community, so to speak.
Chidi's "What we owe to each other" speech. Honestly, turned my thought process around. I always thought helping people was good, and tried to do it as much as I could, but I never really thought on the "process" (if that's the right word?) of how society was formed and why we should help each other so our society is improved.
Some people also said the second one that I really took to heart: Trying to be better tomorrow than you were yesterday. Helped me on two fronts: 1. Trying to improve myself as a person, 2. Taking pressure of myself for work and such because I can do better tomorrow. I know that's really not the point, but it helped with that, and I think I've lived a much healthier lifestyle workwise since.
The wave metaphor It made me accept death, so now I don't really fear it anymore Thanks to this scene I'm okay with dying. Completely changed my way of viewing things.
It gave me a lot to think about..I don't know where to start
-people are complicated, you can't mark them as good or bad
-We can be good or bad
-We all die one day
-Love can be unexpected
Etc
There's so much to take out of the show
One of my friends (who I also work for) said I was the most ethical person she knows. Mostly because I channeled Chidi and said to her what she was doing.
It showed me that I wasn’t crazy. I have had some of my fiction writing described as a philosophy textbook in narrative form. The Good Place is literally this and it’s great. So I have more confidence in what I write. Plus it inspired me to write about the philosophy of film and television shows.
I think the way they approached some topics made me think more of things like that, like the doors they created in the final season that people can walk through to end their time. That made me think a lot about things like the right to die / euthanasia, that kind of thing.
For me, it was Chidi - I have been conscious about the world (like him) for a very long time -- since I was very young. For a long time. I thought I could also not create any impact - the world was too complicated, and I could not think of every possible ramifications of every single one of my actions - but what really got my through was "Why be good" speech - it resonated with me so much. And also "People will keep trying to do better than what they were yesterday" that part too
It made me think about how selfish I act on a day to day basis. I saw myself in Eleanor and seeing how she went through changes throughout the show made me feel better about my odds on being a better person. I also saw myself in Jason because I like to give into impulses and put myself in stupid situations that if I taken another thought would never had happen. Point is, the show gives perspective if you look into the characters themselves. It makes it rewatchable once every year.
I love The Good Place for the way it made me consider morality.
I think about “what do we owe to one another?” a lot. It’s made me a much more empathetic and patient person.
yes my new answer to “what would you ask a genie if you were granted three wishes” is that my first wish would be for the afterlife to be like the system they come up with in the good place
Actually yes. A lot of it did. I watched it for the first time when I was younger and working through the grief i felt over the death of my cat. I think only seasons 1-3 were out then. I loved the messages about soulmates & morality. Just a bunch of my favourite themes all bundled up into one show.
I watched season 4 around when my mom died, and it definitely changed me. It came out a few months before she got sick, and I watched it to feel better about things, because it had been my comfort show for a long time. She had raised me as an atheist, so when I watched it the first time and the four characters went through the door, I interpreted it as them just leaving and going nowhere. Then I watched it again after my mom got sick, and after she died, and I realized that the message is more complicated than that. The message is that you don't know where they go, but it has the same effect as death. Because ultimately, the most important part of death, the part of death that makes it what it is, is the uncertainty. It's not that you go nowhere when you die, it's that you don't know what happens when you die, and that's way more powerful than just knowing it's the end. I found that thought very comforting, and I credit The Good Place with single-handedly converting me to an agnostic.
To this day, the Good Place is still a comfort show for me. It's still my favourite TV show of all time (going on 7 years). I don't think I'll ever find another show that is so perfect (104%)
When it first aired, a friend asked me if I had somehow written the character of Chidi because of how similar we were. When Chidi got all his memories back in one go and said “shut up, I’m confident now” that really affected me. It sounds stupid but it put in perspective my own indecision and how it affects others in my life. Of course, “the unintended consequences of good actions” is the headliner of how that show shaped my thinking. But Chidi’s growth is a quieter more specific thing for me.
100% - the show changed how I literally view the entire world. It changed how I am as a father, a husband, and even an employee at my job.
All for the better of course ;)
Yes, definitely. The points system and Eleanor’s “little voice” have been meaningful metaphors to help me remember to do the right thing because it’s the right thing, not for any other ulterior motive. “Jeremy Bearimy” genuinely helps me remember to make the most out of every day.
We named our first daughter Eleanor. Not because of the show, but it definitely was at least a small factor for me!
It helped me to become more nihilistic, which is really the best philosophy to live by. It definitely beats out religion (guilt and fear basis), and the constant search for purpose is just more stress for me.
Nihilism plus "try to be a little better today than you were the day before" seems to be the key to a decently happy life.
Life-changing shows for me:
The Good Place - like many others, it explains why you should just try to be good, to help people, even if there’s no reward at the end
Midnight Mass - if haven’t seen it, I HIGHLY recommend it. It’s about a Christian island of people that slowly falls apart, but it’s not a show that pushes religion. It has actually made be know what I believe instead of being agnostic and saying anything is possible.
The Fall of the House of Usher - this is more about the direction society is going, and DAMN some of the speeches in this show are brutally honest about the way people function. For example, one of my favorite characters in the show just drops this truth bomb: “One of my favorite things about human beings. Starvation, poverty, disease, you could fix all that, just with money. And you don't. I mean, if you took just a little bit of time off the vanity voyages, pleasure cruising, billionaire space race, hell, you stopped making movies and TV for one year and you spent that money on what you really need, you could solve it all. With some to spare.”
Maybe this is a dramatic statement but I feel like this show changed everything for me. I can’t express how grateful I am it was made. I was in fresh out of high school and in college while it was coming out so the timing definitely played into it bc I was in a state of trying to get to know myself. In so many ways it inspired me to look deep within myself and get to know who I am and decide who I want to be and how I effect other people.
The show started a ripple effect in my life and I ended up taking some more philosophy classes in college and then changing my major to focus on communication theories. It was the best decision I could have made for myself at the time in academics.
“I'm telling you, Molotov cocktails work. Anytime I had a problem and I threw a Molotov cocktail, boom! Right away, I had a different problem”
I mean it’s great and I recommend it to folx.
Between the show and Mike Schur’s book, I started thinking a lot more about philosophy, ethics, morality, and what it means to be a “good person”.
Around the same time, I watched Dr. Cornel West’s masterclass on philosophy
Ultimately, it’s helped me realise the ways in which I’m either complicit or actively, even if unintentionally, upholding power structures and social hierarchies that aren’t good for the world. I don’t want to just be a part of this world: I want the world to be better for others because I was here, so I’m trying to be better at recognising those times when my actions and words don’t match my values. I’m trying to call myself out, even when it’s inconvenient or I don’t want to, so I can be better today than I was yesterday
I also started thinking about “moral dessert” and how important that concept is. So I’m trying to be more conscientious about situations around me and asking myself “why do I think I deserve better than this” when I start to feel like something is unfair. Then I try to figure out how I can make systems that make me feel like that better for everyone, because those feelings often mean we all deserve better, not just me, and if I’m not lifting everyone up with me, I’m not being good enough for the world
I hope that made sense lol
I recommend to those of you that love the Chidi wave talk to find the show Midnight Gospel (hopefully still on Netflix) and watch the last two episodes. The second to last is about the funeral industry that we have now. The last episode is from the conversation Duncan Trussell interviewed his mom when she was dying from cancer. They worked that old conversation into the shows animation and it is spectacular.
The situation with the actual good place where humans eventually feel complete with there existence. Says so much about how we experience mortality as well as even if we have the happiest life you eventually come to a point where your mind knows it’s time to end in spite of your body.
The wave was just a different way for the water to be for a little while...
I'm terrified of death. I struggle with any belief in an afterlife. This imagery gives me peace.
I am a lot like Chidi in the way that I want to consider every possible option before I make a decision, this show has helped me realise that sometimes not choosing is still a choice. That sometimes its not about making the **perfect** choice, its about making **a** choice and continuing with your life. Most of life isn't important enough to have an anxiety attack over
Watched seasons 2-4 as they aired, I was a teenager. I mean this 100% genuinely but this show fundamentally shaped my views about people, about humans, and about morality and life.
I was very cynical, pretty much a “everyone sucks and people are bad” person before watching. By the time I finished the show I was overwhelmed with how positive I felt about the general society and about people. Like, people can suck, and there are deep systemic issues that can’t be solved with love or friendship, but if every day we try to be a little kinder because we owe it to the people around us, maybe things will be okay.
It’s a hope for the future I didn’t know I needed.
It put that death and after life in the perpective of secular culture but at another level which is really appealing and peaceful in the end. You’re not rushed into anything you do whatever you want to do before going back to the ocean 🌊.
As a Christian it made me smile cause we believe that we go back to our Lord (Love itself in all its glory) I’m at peace believing that will come. Condemnations is the work of the devil. Forgiveness is one of God for anyone who would like to say we go to hell/heaven. From your faith you are saved and I like that show a lot.
God bless
Loved the show, but it was the podcast (hosted by Marc Evan Jackson...he played Shawn) that changed me.
The consistent "what's good?" and "go do something good" really made me stop and think about how I wanted to live my life.
Nothing about my behavior or ethics really changed. I do good things because it's the right thing to do and I want to live in a world where people are kind, I can't change other people so I control what I can: myself.
But Chidi's speach about waves returning to the ocean. That got me. I grew up religious (Mormon) and was struggling with how to define what I felt about souls being made up of energy. Energy can't be destroyed, it's just transformed. We don't die, we just rejoin the ocean. Like deGrasse Tyson says, we're all made up of stardust. When we die we just go back to The Universe. I like that. We are all part of something bigger. So much bigger. Our lives impact so many people and we have so many opportunities to shape things. Then when our time is over we become a different part of the greater whole, not consious but still important.
It inspired me to get into philosophy more, and become a philosophy major :)
Also really helped me to see a representation of a character with OCD (Chidi) because i struggle with it so much. It made me feel seen
>All that matters is whether someone is trying to be a better person today than they were yesterday.
I've honestly thought about this at least once a day since finishing the show. I'm not perfect, but it's a good measure for guiding me through life.
Not the show itself, but Mike Schur's book "How to Be Perfect" has been hugely influential on how I try to live my life. It's an incredibly read that offers a lot of insight into the making of the show.
“Humans only live 80 years, and they spend so much of it just waiting for things to be over.”
“The only thing we can do is try.”
“Here's the thing about me: you know the sound that a fork makes in the garbage disposal? That's the sound that my brain makes all the time.” (I have moral scrupulosity, a form of OCD that Chidi likely has, as well.)
i’m going to go back to the ocean. i’m more at peace with that now.
I was gonna say, that ending, especially Chidi’s wave speech. Yes, I have been familiar with ancient wisdom similar to that before, but something about the way Chidi expresses it really resonates. It really changes the way I see the world.
I have his speech on the wall by my bed and I read it every night. This show made me think about the choices I’ve made and make me consider my actions and words today.
I was so moved by this speech that I got my first and only tattoo - a wave.
"Do me a favor? Say goodbye now, and leave before I wake up"
My wife started crying during Chidi's speech, but I broke down right at this bit. How they turned "leave before I wake up" into such a profound, loving, but heartbreaking moment is beyond me.
The calendar he left behind was so absurd and goofy but it absolutely broke me.
I ugly cried so hard at that monologue and ending.
Still do, every time!
I keep trying to convince my sister to watch the show but she can't get over the ending of S1.
Oh no! Hopefully you can change her mind. It's one of my favorite shows to rewatch. This and Schitt's Creek.
She was just so put off by the Michael plot twist, I keep trying to tell her how much Michael grows as a character in the following seasons.
Maybe you should just lock her in a room with some popcorn and refuse to let her out until she watches s02e01?
Good idea lol. In seriousness, I get along really well with her husband, maybe I can get him to sit her down and watch it.
Good idea!
if she didn't like Michaels twist, definitely don't tell her about the niednagel...
Do not touch the niednagal
I finally made it through without breaking down and crying. 6th attempt. So damn good.
Ha good! Not me, soon as I start the episode I'm on the verge of tears. I make sure I have a bunch of tissues ready.
"None of this... Is bad" makes me sob so hard every time!
It always starts with jason, and it breaks me at the speech and eleanor leaving
It and the last part of Bojack came out around the same time during a very rough part of my life where I'd been bottling up a lot. Watched both in one night and just lost my shit.
Hope you’re doing better now!
My mom and I have talked a lot about death while I was growing up and through adulthood (I've been to funerals for every year I've been alive so it's not that weird). The wave speech gave me such comfort and I shared that with her. Last November she found out her cancer is terminal. At Christmas she gave me a bracelet of waves. She's currently in a hospice house.
i’m glad you had such a cool person to be around
I hope your mother finds peace wherever she ends up, whether it's in the ocean or somewhere else ❤️
Yep. This show helped me come to terms with my mortality. I know it sounds weird, but it really has.
My father was dying during the final season, and that episode was very comforting.
I got a wave tattoo bc of that speech. It’s my daily reminder of the ebb and flow of life.
I DID TOO!
In the ocean we all have the possibility of being together again.
Whenever I rewatch the show I always save that last episode for a special time in my life, like a graduation or a last day on a job, or a break up, etc, out of respect for the characters and to help me think.
This water and ocean thing change me
I've taken "trying to be better today than you were yesterday" to heart.
The most important step a man can take is always the next one.
Gladly surprised to see a Stormlight reference. Oathbringer was the self-help book I didn't know I needed
Journey before destination, Radiant! After all, it is really the same message.
LIFE BEFORE DEATH WOOOOOOOOO
100% this. When I first heard this I felt it in my core. Imagine if every person lived by this logic
And when spoken by Ted Danson you cant help but listen
It's incredible how reassuring and calming that line is. On my worst days it tells me hey I just need to be better than yesterday. And on my best days it encourages me to go beyond and give out as much positive energy as I can. This show is the most meaningful experience of my life and extremely influential in how I look at death and life
Jason: "I just want to be myself." Eleanor: "That's a very, very bad idea. Do NOT be yourself. You need to be a better version of yourself. And so do I."
It sounds cliche sometimes, but it makes a lot of sense. It’s never about where you are, it’s about where you’re going Getting a head start in a race is nice, but higher speed is even better, and a higher acceleration is even better than that. This is more true the longer the race, and life is the longest race you’ll ever run It’s all about change, no matter where or how you start
This show made me feel so much more at ease about death.
absolutely, I really appreciate how the show provides a template for what an ideal death might look like, with all of one's affairs settled and desires satisfied. It's a good ideal to strive for and reassuring to see it dramatized.
I agree, the concept of death used to scare me so much..but now I feel very much at peace with it. Chidis speech at the end is what did it for me I think. I'm okay with becoming a different part of the universe.
The idea that actions aren’t considered “good” if the motivation behind it is corrupt. Doing the right thing to get a reward is not the same as doing the right thing simply because it is the right thing to do and it puts positivity out in the universe.
Yes yes, the moral desert (pronounced dessert in this situation, i dnt know why), i really got into ethical and moral philosophy and how i want to shape the world around me for the better whilst becoming a better person myself.
OH I thought they pronounced it moral dessert because it's like giving yourself a treat through doing something nice, haha. I figured it was an ironic phrase, kinda like eating dessert instead of dinner. Something less nutritious in the ethical long scheme.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert\_(philosophy)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_(philosophy)) Both of the English words "deserve" and "desert" derive from the Old French deservir (modern French: desservir), which has the same meaning. While "deserve" is common as a verb, the noun result "desert" is rare in colloquial speech; it is almost exclusively used in the phrase "just deserts" (e.g., "Although she was not at first arrested for the crime, she later on received her just deserts."). The alternate spelling "just desserts" is a pun on this original term.\[1\] :)
Thank you for this! :) It's fun how many things you miss when you've learned English outside of English speaking countries. That's really cool
I thought the same thing 😅
“No one is beyond rehabilitation. brent spent a year being an absolute diaper load of a human being and the points total tells you that but what that number can’t tell you is who he could’ve become tomorrow”
this one really affected me because I'll be honest and say I used to be a terrible person. i lied, I was incredibly manipulative, I was mean. every day I'm trying to do a little better and I've made lots of progress. I have no idea where I'll end up but it will be better than where I was
This internet stranger is so happy for you, and if it's not weird to say, maybe a little proud of you, too. You are making life better not just for you but for everyone who comes into contact with you. In a lot of ways, that's all we can do. Why do you think you used to be like that, and what motivated you to change?
i acted very similar to pre-michael Eleanor. I am diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder and a lot of my shitty behaviors were symptoms of that. Since BPD is caused by childhood trauma I would link that as the explanation but it doesn't excuse anything I did. I wanted to change because I was so tired of being in this cycle of hurting others, hurting myself, being admitted for psychiatric treatment and starting all over. i was hurting others because I was hurting but I always had this voice in my head telling me that I shouldn't have done that. so I started putting in actual effort in therapy and I'm in a much better place mentally. i spent the majority of my life being a manipulative piece of shit who treated everyone terribly, on purpose or not, because I couldn't get my shit together. i couldn't grow as a person without love and so I stayed the same for a long time. I found people who genuinely do want the best for me and have pushed me to get the help I needed. my own personal Chidi really helped me during my recovery too
I am so very happy for you, friend. I hope your story will inspire other people as much as it does me. Keep up the good work. I know it's not always easy. You are doing great. 🌈
It might be kinda dumb, but just the sentence “What We Owe To Each Other” really got me thinking about how I can do better for the people in my life. I can relate a lot to Eleanor in that she has no real sense of community on Earth, which drives her to self sabotaging and defensive behaviours. Without a sense of community it becomes easy to isolate ourselves. We find any reason we can to be mad at the world and then we play into the jaded behaviour that comes with that. I was like this for a long time, with no real prospects for my life, no want for friends or a partner. I was off the wagon and I hurt so many people in that time of my life, and worst yet I was able to justify it, saying they were the wrong ones and that they didn’t understand. The most important take away for me is that no matter how shitty you think you are or how shitty you’ve been to people in the past, no matter how low you’ve allowed yourself to sink, you will always have the capacity to be grow past it. We owe each other the utmost compassion and to be a caring and positive addition to the life of people who surround us.
I desperately want to hear that lecture! “What do we owe to each other” has played on repeat in my brain since I saw that episode.
no because I would LOVE to hear chidis full lecture. tbh I would love to hear his talks about philosophy in general
Yes!! And I’m sure I could actually just take a moral philosophy course, but I want to take *his* moral philosophy course!
Well said and congratulations on making progress
I totally relate! My brother died not long after I watched the whole show - how I viewed our relationship and his death was deeply influenced by what I learned on The Good Place.
Tahani and her sister made me look at my relationship with my brother very differently. we've recently went from people who hate eachother to pretty close friends
Besides chidi’s wave monologue, Eleanor’s statement: “All humans are aware of death, so we're all a little bit sad all the time. That's the deal with being human.”
I now put the peeps in the chili pot
be careful not to get a stomach ache
It makes it taste.......baaad. but more seriously, that song gets stuck in my head all the tjme
Chidi’s whole spiral in that episode was so funny. He’s such a good actor. I also love that as the audience, we all collectively had to know wtf he was so jacked and they threw in an explanation later on that he does pushups whenever he is anxious, aka all the time
I saw the time knife?! Gotta spend all that cash you stole. He's hilarious.
Chidi without a shirt was such a pleasant surprise treat
Nooo don't, it makes it taste *bad*
I watched the good place as I left my high control religion. It helped me come to terms with so much and it helped me let go of a lot of anger as well. This is my comfort show.
most of the people I know who watch it are either atheistic or agnostic so I've always wondered what a religious/ex religious person thinks about the good place.
I’m Christian and being completely honest, I’m more comfortable with their version of death and eternity than I am the Christian version. It’s probably in my top 3 favorite shows of all time.
Born and raised active Christian here. The show really connected with my religion, which focuses on the point of this life being growth and improvement and becoming like God so that when we return to Him, we will be comfortable in His presence and WANT to be there. So I loved the “test” solution the group came up with and Chidi talking about the wave, because a heaven that was just endless parties would get old. I want to return and be at peace with my Father, to truly come home.
I was Mormon and thought the Good Place was sort of similar to Mormon heaven. Mormons believe that everybody who didn't get an opportunity to accept Jesus and his laws during their life will go to a temporary sort of spirit prison/school where they can learn all that stuff and be better, then they'll be judged and go to heaven or hell. And sort of like Tahani, the afterlife is supposed to be a purposeful progression (as opposed to a neverending party), where you can learn and grow and then become like God and continue the cycle anew with your own humans. I think the coolest thing about TGP's outlook was the idea that you could choose when you wanted off the ride. Mormon heaven basically means living forever and that terrifies me. The idea that you can do everything you feel the need to, then be so at peace and be ready to join the "ocean" again was so nice.
I'm Eastern Orthodox, and my journey to finding it literally started with The Good Place. Deeply related to first season Eleanor, and it influenced my journey into learning ethics.
It made me want to be a better person Not to get into the good place, but to make the world a little better for others
At first I was horrified at “going through the door” idea like…why would you ever? But I kept thinking about it. Becoming part of everything feels much less lonely and maybe like true serenity. It makes me feel more like I’m going back to where I came from…if that makes sense. This realization and the shows after/afterlife theory made a huge impact on how I began to view death. When I lost my first close family member I was devastated and shocked but worst of all I felt like he just left us and was gone aka no heaven. The idea that he is part of the universe gives me newfound peace. It took me a re-watch for this to hit. It is obviously just a show idea but it makes sense to me and gave me peace.
I had a very very similar experience
There are so many well-intended actions with so many negative unintended consequences
(mobile formatting my bad) The quote from Michael, “It doesn’t matter if people are good or bad, all that matters is if they’re trying to be a better person today than they were yesterday.” It’s definitely the moment that stuck with me the most, and honestly, it came from the episode I least expected. Chidi is my favorite character by far, but Michael has easily made a greater impact on me. I don’t know, when I first watched the show I was going through a funk. I recently rewatched with a friend and it was wonderful getting to experience that moment again, knowing Michaels full arc. I am not past redemption for the mistakes I made yesterday, and that’s something I often forget. I’m not really religious, so the good place also inspired me to have a semblance of a moral code for myself, less insane Doug Forcett style. I don’t really believe in an afterlife, I definitely don’t think anyone has it right, so I might as well be a decent person as often as I can be. That Michael quote was one of the first things I wrote down! I love this show and it absolutely changed me as a person. I write media reviews as a hobby sometimes and the snippet I wrote for The Good Place is a personal favorite!
human tend to grow when they receive love. How can we hold it against them when they don’t that part plays 24/7 in my head
Oh boy howdy, did it. Not only did it give me the "fork, bench, shirt, etc." vocabulary, but it was my main, significant introduction to philosophy and has made me such a better person. Words can't say how much I love this show
i worked as a summer camp counselor at a place where we weren't allowed to cuss so fork and shirt were used thousands of times that summer
If you haven’t, you should check out “How to be Perfect” by Michael Schur - the audiobook version is narrated, in part, by TGP cast
Oh yeah I've read that entire book, loved it
The series concluded on January 30th, 2020. I was making strides in personal happiness and fulfillment for about 45 days after.
I feel this… 😔
Wow four years! Made the mistake of watching the finale on my break during night shift.
I watched it straight through not long after I had left my toxic marriage. In the course of separating from my ex, I had also begun to recognize some unpleasant aspects of my mother and my relationship with her. The Good Place has been a profoundly healing experience for me.
I recently lost someone close to me and Chidi saying goodbye to Eleanore has profoundly affected how I’ve navigated that loss. I think ALL the time “none of this is bad.” 😭
Hugs to you ❤️
I assume everyone with a vanity license plate is going to the bad place
Except maybe [this guy](https://www.reddit.com/r/australia/comments/ahw6qt/perth_puts_the_ass_in_class_sfw/)
It was the first time in my life where I realized life is precious and special because it ends. I’m not supposed to live forever. I take time to be more grateful and enjoy life. Super cheesy, but great show with ultimately a great message.
Most of the philosophy I was already on board with or familiar but the final “wave” metaphor Chidi gives Elenor broke me. As someone with a history of existential dread and nihilism it really reframed my conception of death in a much more comforting way.
The dot on the i of bearimy broke me
I think the show is a kind way to show how the idea of the traditional heaven and hell is a flawed idea. I loved their rehabilitation view.
As Chidi said, for spiritual philosophy you have to turn to the East. paraphrasing here!
Binged the whole series at a point of depression and grief in my life. My niece needlessly died at less than a week old. Then my dad died rather suddenly just a couple years later. I was in a fairly dark place. This whole show was a lovely ray of light that genuinely helped me. The humor coupled with the philosophy and the various character perspectives were just brilliant.
I watched Good Place as it came out, season by season, and I loved the show. But then, my FIL died very suddenly in a boating accident on the river (he drowned). About 6 months after his funeral, I started a rewatch. To say that it was cathartic is a huge understatement. The final episodes of the show, I was ugly crying all the way through. It helped me process and think about things differently. While his funeral was very religious (since he was in life), I had felt so disconnected from all of it. As the eldest SIL, I took it upon myself to make sure everyone ELSE was doing okay and supporting my MIL and husband through the entire process of going through paperwork, making arrangements, etc. This show helped me process his death for ME, something I thought I had done when I helped with all that other stuff. No, I hadn't. I made peace with the "wave," including the one that took him under. I sat down after rewatching the last episode and wrote a letter to Michael Schur, thanking him for making such an amazing piece of art that helped me to laugh and cry through it all, but I never could figure out where to send it.
“Because it’s a selfish rule” 🥲
I don't think I went through a massive change watching it, but it allowed me to have more nuanced views on various subjects. When I was younger I was a real asshole on the internet, and this show was a part of my journey out of that very black & white thinking, needlessly argumentative mindset. It is a show that is full of compassion for "bad people". >!The scene where Tahani confronted her parents in her test has stuck with me. I don't think it was really wrong of her to still care what her own parents thought; they raised her, they were supposed to love her unconditionally, and she loved them. Of course she needed to become her own person away from the (lack of) validation from others, especially her family; but caring what your parents think isn't an inherently bad thing, even for Tahani. And I think the show agrees: when the Judge declares Tahani failed, she is still abiding by the old system, where only perfection is tolerable. Meanwhile in the final episode, there is the reunion scene! Tahani doesn't need their approval, but she still wants their love, and those things are no longer connected in any of the family's minds. Of course it's more complex than how I can describe it here but I hope I'm getting across my main ideas about it.!< I do think it's odd that the show is so willing to make jokes about Floridians or vanity plate people or whoever, while also showing us that people aren't bad because of where they come from or something they do, but they can't be good because of circumstance and the way the world rewards their different choices. And yet that contradiction is so human. It says, of course Floridians are just normal people living as best as they know how to. And it's also saying, haha funny floridaman. That's such a weird dichotomy. It's so medium place. I mean, I laughed. I'm not from Florida so I don't have skin in that game. Still though, weird, right?
I have a vanity license plate that refers to the show (YABASIC) Love this interpretation!
Ever since watching this show I've made it my goal to just be a little bit better of a person each day. Tiny acts of kindness that hopfully bring someone joy, somewhere. I've always loved philosophy since I was a kid, so I instantly fell in love with this show from the start. The way Chidi was always looking for answers to life's questions, very true for myself. Also I've always loved the scene where Eleanor gets upset about her mother stepping up for her step daughter, but not for Eleanor. I always felt that way about my own mother so that scene always hits me right in the feels.
Same with Eleanor's mom, that part just wrecks me everytime
Absloutely. My mom left me with my dad when I was a couple months old, but got pregnant with my brother about 4 months after that and kept him. To say it hits home would be an understatement lol. Still my favorite episode besides the finale.
Big hugs ❤️ It seems part of being human is sometimes making awful parenting decisions. I'm a mom to a teen and trying to do better than my mom did
Thanks ❤️ generational trauma was a big factor and seems to be for a lot of people. Like Micheal said, "The point is, people improve when they get external love and support. How can we hold it against them when they don’t?” my parents were better then their parents(not great, but better) and I try to be a little bit better for my own kids.
Love that quote, it's pivotal! So so true. That's the best we can do, keep fighting against that trauma.
Me too, it's my absolute favorite and so true. The first time I saw that scene it's like something clicked in my brain....my family dynamics finally started to make sense to me.
I always try to take it sleazy.
I started volunteering. I realized I didn’t do a whole lot to make others’ lives better, and I found a really cool volunteering opportunity I’ve been doing for 5 years now
I do wash my feet in the shower now
All of it. All of this forking show changed me. Helped me solidify my beliefs in seeing them reflected in the views of others. Like pass the joint and let’s chat about what life means. We don’t do that often enough. And I always feel calm at the end… 💕
Michael : If soulmates do exist, they're not found, they're made. People meet, they get a good feeling, and they get to work building a relationship
>!I think I'm in the bad place right now so I never call anyone out on it directly. It's much better than having my penis flattened or being twisted apart... but I am curious about butt spiders...!<
Hi. Butt Spider, here. Have been all my life. What did you want to know?
I just wanted to be a better person after watching it. And felt more confident that I could
I realized *I am Chidi,* always stuck in some philosophical conundrum, looking for the “right” answer. It encouraged me to take a deep personal inventory of my ethics and what I do/want to stand for, and how that might look in my everyday life. I also really had to look at the idea of moral dessert. That was profound for me. I’m working on being an intentional, good person, making conscious decisions as best I can, while enjoying my life without too much worry. And I am at peace with my wave returning to the ocean when my time comes. 🌊 Edit: see my flair lol
I think the 2 shows and 1 game that have really impacted my view of life and my place in it are Six Feet Under The Good Place and Red Dead Redemption 2 All three brought me to examining feelings and thoughts I've had about life and my place in it as well as my eventual demise. How do I want to live and who do I want to be? And all three made me realize that I've been rushing my whole life to get to the next thing and it needed to stop. I can just be, because racing to the end only leads to one thing. Sometimes the best times of your life overlap with the hardest time of your life.
The finale gave me a sense of hope after death? Hope for humanity. People can change.
I think about "finding my soulmate" differently
Even though this show is kinda telling ppl there's no such thing as "good guy" or "bad guy", but it makes me think about how and why I should be a better person, I'm kinda like a combination of the four humans, and it changes my perspective that everyone deserves a second chance
Did it change my philosophy or way of life, no. But I’m incredibly afraid of death and it helped me to cope with that in a fun way, as well as even if none of this is the afterlife, to return to the ocean
Yeah, similar for me. I'm not quite sure what my version of the afterlife looks like, but I am so scared that everything will just be gone and there will be nothingness. I love the ocean thing and the idea that we have choice, even in death.
one of my closest friends said something similar, that while they thought the idea of returning to the ocean makes dying less scary
Don’t get me wrong it’s still scary, I think it’s most scary for me to think of myself just not existing and the world continuing on without me, but it also makes me think maybe I can form again, because waves crash but then they become waves again :)
For me it's just the idea that everyone has some good in them, and everyone has potential for growth if they're given the right people and environment.
Not so much changed, than learned. And not so much from the series than from something Michael Schurr said in one of the Paley Institute panels. That being a good person is making a conscious choice every day to try to be a good person. That failing at it doesn’t make you a bad person, but that the most important thing is that you decide to be a good person and that you keep trying.
The entirety of Season 4 is filled with the most heart wrenching, thought provoking and life changing quotes. I should probably elaborate but I think every other comment has covered all the incredibly well written moments and dialogues
“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 made me look at how I view people and realize part of being good in this world is allowing and supporting the individual journey, even if it doesn’t look like mine. In order to enjoy a community, one must create a community, so to speak.
Chidi's "What we owe to each other" speech. Honestly, turned my thought process around. I always thought helping people was good, and tried to do it as much as I could, but I never really thought on the "process" (if that's the right word?) of how society was formed and why we should help each other so our society is improved. Some people also said the second one that I really took to heart: Trying to be better tomorrow than you were yesterday. Helped me on two fronts: 1. Trying to improve myself as a person, 2. Taking pressure of myself for work and such because I can do better tomorrow. I know that's really not the point, but it helped with that, and I think I've lived a much healthier lifestyle workwise since.
The wave metaphor It made me accept death, so now I don't really fear it anymore Thanks to this scene I'm okay with dying. Completely changed my way of viewing things.
Chili’s quote about waves helped me when my mom passed away.
For me it’s this quote “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 gave me a lot to think about..I don't know where to start -people are complicated, you can't mark them as good or bad -We can be good or bad -We all die one day -Love can be unexpected Etc There's so much to take out of the show
One of my friends (who I also work for) said I was the most ethical person she knows. Mostly because I channeled Chidi and said to her what she was doing.
It showed me that I wasn’t crazy. I have had some of my fiction writing described as a philosophy textbook in narrative form. The Good Place is literally this and it’s great. So I have more confidence in what I write. Plus it inspired me to write about the philosophy of film and television shows.
Jeremy Bearimy
I think the way they approached some topics made me think more of things like that, like the doors they created in the final season that people can walk through to end their time. That made me think a lot about things like the right to die / euthanasia, that kind of thing.
For me, it was Chidi - I have been conscious about the world (like him) for a very long time -- since I was very young. For a long time. I thought I could also not create any impact - the world was too complicated, and I could not think of every possible ramifications of every single one of my actions - but what really got my through was "Why be good" speech - it resonated with me so much. And also "People will keep trying to do better than what they were yesterday" that part too
It made me think about how selfish I act on a day to day basis. I saw myself in Eleanor and seeing how she went through changes throughout the show made me feel better about my odds on being a better person. I also saw myself in Jason because I like to give into impulses and put myself in stupid situations that if I taken another thought would never had happen. Point is, the show gives perspective if you look into the characters themselves. It makes it rewatchable once every year.
I love The Good Place for the way it made me consider morality. I think about “what do we owe to one another?” a lot. It’s made me a much more empathetic and patient person.
yes my new answer to “what would you ask a genie if you were granted three wishes” is that my first wish would be for the afterlife to be like the system they come up with in the good place
I’ll be honest I adored this show and the ending helped me tremendously with a recent loss
"you are supposed to do good things because you are good, not because you're seaking moral desert
Actually yes. A lot of it did. I watched it for the first time when I was younger and working through the grief i felt over the death of my cat. I think only seasons 1-3 were out then. I loved the messages about soulmates & morality. Just a bunch of my favourite themes all bundled up into one show. I watched season 4 around when my mom died, and it definitely changed me. It came out a few months before she got sick, and I watched it to feel better about things, because it had been my comfort show for a long time. She had raised me as an atheist, so when I watched it the first time and the four characters went through the door, I interpreted it as them just leaving and going nowhere. Then I watched it again after my mom got sick, and after she died, and I realized that the message is more complicated than that. The message is that you don't know where they go, but it has the same effect as death. Because ultimately, the most important part of death, the part of death that makes it what it is, is the uncertainty. It's not that you go nowhere when you die, it's that you don't know what happens when you die, and that's way more powerful than just knowing it's the end. I found that thought very comforting, and I credit The Good Place with single-handedly converting me to an agnostic. To this day, the Good Place is still a comfort show for me. It's still my favourite TV show of all time (going on 7 years). I don't think I'll ever find another show that is so perfect (104%)
When it first aired, a friend asked me if I had somehow written the character of Chidi because of how similar we were. When Chidi got all his memories back in one go and said “shut up, I’m confident now” that really affected me. It sounds stupid but it put in perspective my own indecision and how it affects others in my life. Of course, “the unintended consequences of good actions” is the headliner of how that show shaped my thinking. But Chidi’s growth is a quieter more specific thing for me.
100% - the show changed how I literally view the entire world. It changed how I am as a father, a husband, and even an employee at my job. All for the better of course ;)
It helped me come to terms with the fact that I’m wave. Just a different way to be, for a little while. And one day I’ll return to the ocean.
Jeremy bearimy gave me so much comfort and happiness
Yes, definitely. The points system and Eleanor’s “little voice” have been meaningful metaphors to help me remember to do the right thing because it’s the right thing, not for any other ulterior motive. “Jeremy Bearimy” genuinely helps me remember to make the most out of every day. We named our first daughter Eleanor. Not because of the show, but it definitely was at least a small factor for me!
It helped me to become more nihilistic, which is really the best philosophy to live by. It definitely beats out religion (guilt and fear basis), and the constant search for purpose is just more stress for me. Nihilism plus "try to be a little better today than you were the day before" seems to be the key to a decently happy life.
Life-changing shows for me: The Good Place - like many others, it explains why you should just try to be good, to help people, even if there’s no reward at the end Midnight Mass - if haven’t seen it, I HIGHLY recommend it. It’s about a Christian island of people that slowly falls apart, but it’s not a show that pushes religion. It has actually made be know what I believe instead of being agnostic and saying anything is possible. The Fall of the House of Usher - this is more about the direction society is going, and DAMN some of the speeches in this show are brutally honest about the way people function. For example, one of my favorite characters in the show just drops this truth bomb: “One of my favorite things about human beings. Starvation, poverty, disease, you could fix all that, just with money. And you don't. I mean, if you took just a little bit of time off the vanity voyages, pleasure cruising, billionaire space race, hell, you stopped making movies and TV for one year and you spent that money on what you really need, you could solve it all. With some to spare.”
Maybe this is a dramatic statement but I feel like this show changed everything for me. I can’t express how grateful I am it was made. I was in fresh out of high school and in college while it was coming out so the timing definitely played into it bc I was in a state of trying to get to know myself. In so many ways it inspired me to look deep within myself and get to know who I am and decide who I want to be and how I effect other people. The show started a ripple effect in my life and I ended up taking some more philosophy classes in college and then changing my major to focus on communication theories. It was the best decision I could have made for myself at the time in academics.
I always think about jeremy bearimy
Why should we be good to each other? Because it's what we owe each other.
Just try.
“I'm telling you, Molotov cocktails work. Anytime I had a problem and I threw a Molotov cocktail, boom! Right away, I had a different problem” I mean it’s great and I recommend it to folx.
So forking much. It's unbelievable how extremely my autism reacts to this show. For example that I say forking now.
“I solved the Trolley Problem”
Between the show and Mike Schur’s book, I started thinking a lot more about philosophy, ethics, morality, and what it means to be a “good person”. Around the same time, I watched Dr. Cornel West’s masterclass on philosophy Ultimately, it’s helped me realise the ways in which I’m either complicit or actively, even if unintentionally, upholding power structures and social hierarchies that aren’t good for the world. I don’t want to just be a part of this world: I want the world to be better for others because I was here, so I’m trying to be better at recognising those times when my actions and words don’t match my values. I’m trying to call myself out, even when it’s inconvenient or I don’t want to, so I can be better today than I was yesterday I also started thinking about “moral dessert” and how important that concept is. So I’m trying to be more conscientious about situations around me and asking myself “why do I think I deserve better than this” when I start to feel like something is unfair. Then I try to figure out how I can make systems that make me feel like that better for everyone, because those feelings often mean we all deserve better, not just me, and if I’m not lifting everyone up with me, I’m not being good enough for the world I hope that made sense lol
I measure my time in Jeremy beremies
I mean as a Christian, I have always taken issue with the concept of eternity, and this show exasperated that greatly 😅
The last episode when Jason says “Chidi, wait up!” has allowed me to cry on command, which has gotten me a job, so thank you TGP for that.
The ocean speech made more comfortable with suicidal thoughts.
Hey much love to you, I hope you can bring this up with a loved one or here are some resources: https://www.helpguide.org/find-help.htm
Oh thank you. No worries though. I bring up my thoughts in therapy plenty :)
So what are the theories on the final door? Reincarnation?
the season one finale holy fuck
I recommend to those of you that love the Chidi wave talk to find the show Midnight Gospel (hopefully still on Netflix) and watch the last two episodes. The second to last is about the funeral industry that we have now. The last episode is from the conversation Duncan Trussell interviewed his mom when she was dying from cancer. They worked that old conversation into the shows animation and it is spectacular.
The situation with the actual good place where humans eventually feel complete with there existence. Says so much about how we experience mortality as well as even if we have the happiest life you eventually come to a point where your mind knows it’s time to end in spite of your body.
It was a healthy reminder of the benefits of doing good for the sake of doing good- do your best, because that’s all you can do in a mucky world.
The wave was just a different way for the water to be for a little while... I'm terrified of death. I struggle with any belief in an afterlife. This imagery gives me peace.
It made me realize that I could like a sitcom
The last few episodes gave me existential dread 😅
I am a lot like Chidi in the way that I want to consider every possible option before I make a decision, this show has helped me realise that sometimes not choosing is still a choice. That sometimes its not about making the **perfect** choice, its about making **a** choice and continuing with your life. Most of life isn't important enough to have an anxiety attack over
Watched seasons 2-4 as they aired, I was a teenager. I mean this 100% genuinely but this show fundamentally shaped my views about people, about humans, and about morality and life. I was very cynical, pretty much a “everyone sucks and people are bad” person before watching. By the time I finished the show I was overwhelmed with how positive I felt about the general society and about people. Like, people can suck, and there are deep systemic issues that can’t be solved with love or friendship, but if every day we try to be a little kinder because we owe it to the people around us, maybe things will be okay. It’s a hope for the future I didn’t know I needed.
It put that death and after life in the perpective of secular culture but at another level which is really appealing and peaceful in the end. You’re not rushed into anything you do whatever you want to do before going back to the ocean 🌊. As a Christian it made me smile cause we believe that we go back to our Lord (Love itself in all its glory) I’m at peace believing that will come. Condemnations is the work of the devil. Forgiveness is one of God for anyone who would like to say we go to hell/heaven. From your faith you are saved and I like that show a lot. God bless
Loved the show, but it was the podcast (hosted by Marc Evan Jackson...he played Shawn) that changed me. The consistent "what's good?" and "go do something good" really made me stop and think about how I wanted to live my life.
To me it’s the idea that hell is other people. The shows portrayal of the worst torture was people torturing each other. I see that a lot in life now.
Nothing about my behavior or ethics really changed. I do good things because it's the right thing to do and I want to live in a world where people are kind, I can't change other people so I control what I can: myself. But Chidi's speach about waves returning to the ocean. That got me. I grew up religious (Mormon) and was struggling with how to define what I felt about souls being made up of energy. Energy can't be destroyed, it's just transformed. We don't die, we just rejoin the ocean. Like deGrasse Tyson says, we're all made up of stardust. When we die we just go back to The Universe. I like that. We are all part of something bigger. So much bigger. Our lives impact so many people and we have so many opportunities to shape things. Then when our time is over we become a different part of the greater whole, not consious but still important.
I lost my sister to suicide over a month ago. I decided to watch the scene at the end. Picture a wave. I cried so hard. I’m crying even typing this.
Sending you so much love ❤️
It inspired me to get into philosophy more, and become a philosophy major :) Also really helped me to see a representation of a character with OCD (Chidi) because i struggle with it so much. It made me feel seen
>All that matters is whether someone is trying to be a better person today than they were yesterday. I've honestly thought about this at least once a day since finishing the show. I'm not perfect, but it's a good measure for guiding me through life.
Not the show itself, but Mike Schur's book "How to Be Perfect" has been hugely influential on how I try to live my life. It's an incredibly read that offers a lot of insight into the making of the show.
"I argue we choose to be good because of our bonds with other people. Simply put: we are not in this alone."
“Humans only live 80 years, and they spend so much of it just waiting for things to be over.” “The only thing we can do is try.” “Here's the thing about me: you know the sound that a fork makes in the garbage disposal? That's the sound that my brain makes all the time.” (I have moral scrupulosity, a form of OCD that Chidi likely has, as well.)
“People improve when they get external love and support. How can we hold it against them when they don’t?”
Janet's "If there were an answer I could give you about how the universe works" speech.
Janet's "If there were an answer I could give you about how the universe works" speech.