Someone's probably pointed this out already but like, the joke about Chidi thinking he's in the bad place because of his love of almond milk is actually true in a way. It's like, haha look at this character thinking that he's in basically hell for such a stupid little thing, and then we find out NO, actually, EVERYONE is going to literal hell for stupid little things that's the whole PROBLEM.

Wow I love the story of an individual from a “perfect” society that has a distant (or disdainful) view of humans, until they find themselves in a situation involving humans and the human world. Said situation leads to a realization, possibly an extidtential crisis, about their role in their society and the enticing thought of choosing their own destiny.

They start falling in love with the idiosyncrasies of humanity and championing the innate, yet complicated, goodness within humankind. They love the little things that humans do subconsciously or without noticing, and the small annoyances that humans bemoan, such as burning oneself on TV dinners or making doctors appointments.

Eventually, they find themselves with the opportunity to experience (or bring a new being to experience) humankind for themselves, and take it after reflecting on the human condition and what it means to be human. While funny, the story is an unexpectedly poignant reflection on humankind.

The Good Place Season 1 Episode 13: Michael's Gambit

The many beautiful totally real ladies who definitely are not bots teaming up to seek vengeance on us for blocking them:

A great thing about the good place is how all four of the main crew are actually self-centered

We commonly identify forms of self-centered behavior such as selfishness that is exemplified by Elenor. (aka "a Bad Person"), but then you have Chidi and Tehani. These two are far less classical in their self-centered behavior but are still self-centered, nevertheless.

The show makes Tehani's folly pretty clear, despite all her philanthropic acts she still centers herself in every situation. How she ended up there is actually parallel to Elenor's upbringing, the only real difference is the glitz and the glamour. They both had parents that were withholding for one reason or another, neither felt seen nor wanted and so one shut down to protect herself, the other made her entire existence a performance, either way they are deeply, deeply self-centered people.

But Chidi is my favorite, for the obvious reason that his self-centered behavior is the least obvious. Now of course it's made pretty clear to us as viewers but as a character within the world, for nearly all situations most people would judge Chidi as a good (albeit, sometimes annoying) person. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone who would out right call him self-centered... yet he is!

Chidi acts as though the world rests squarely on his shoulders, that each little choice he makes carries the weight to change the trajectory of humanity. Putting this into words pretty clearly illustrates the ridiculousness of it. It simply isn't reality, and it shows how, even though Chidi is a "good person" (vs Elenor and Jason) he is still susceptible to the very human condition of not looking past yourself. Another way to state it (as I'm sure many have before) he basically suffers from thinking he's a main character. (lol) Now, lucky for him he actually is one but translating this to real life you can see how people fall prey to this way of thinking, convoluting their lives due to the faulty belief that they, and they alone, can make or break the world around them.

This rolls around my brain like a marble because, I did this! For an embarrassingly long time in my youth, I truly felt the grief and horror that comes with thinking you, and you alone, can fix the world's problems. And I think this sort of thing isn't talked about enough because there isn't an obvious red flag of being a "bad person". Chidi is "good" and so there is a smoke screen effect hiding how poor his behavior actually is. (Can you tell I deeply identify with his character? 🤔)

Jason is an interesting case in his own right, because he's self-centered almost in the same way as a small child. I assume Donkey Doug was simply unequipped to help Jason develop past that stage in his upbringing, in tandem with say... other lifestyle choices, Jason's overall mental development is limited. He's an interesting example of how not all self-centered behavior is motivated by innate "selfishness". Jason is very much capable of empathy, generosity, and comradery, as shown by his relationship to Janet, lifelong friendships, and his participation and organization of a 60-person dance crew. This is in opposition to Elenor, a selfishly self-centered person who could not form meaningful or lasting relationships.

Jason Mendoza's behavior is more of a big kid who acts on impulse, this can obviously be perceived as "hurtful" and when done by a grown adult it may be judged as "he's a bad person". But when looking at his overall character it's clear that he doesn't make a single move with any ill intent or malice. You can easily reason with him in nearly all situations, even when he chooses to throw a molotov at a train, all it takes is grabbing him by the arm and telling him to knock it off. He doesn't argue or get defensive, unlike versions of Elenor who would tell you to "go fork yourself". Jason is only self-centered because he struggles to see the big picture, but when it's shown to him, more often than not he accepts it with a little guidance.

I have no end point here other than watching these characters exude self-centeredness in four distinctly different ways, only to then learn and better themselves, is a delight!

Mmm I'm rewatching The Good Place again (while playing SDV) and I wonder when Michael actually started getting attached to the group (is there a name for them?).

Like we see when he starts to really doubt what he's doing and then we see him actually letting himself get attached and letting them change him, but when did part of him really start seeing them as people instead of victims? When did that little seed of attachment start growing in him?

I think it was in that first cycle, when Eleanor took him out to do a bunch of human stuff like karaoke. I think he genuinely enjoyed himself in ways he wasn't prepared for and it completely changed how he views Eleanor especially, even as he continued going forward with the original plan.

This is so low effort but I had. An epiphany.

Just randomly thinking about The Good Place again about how the Soul Squad fundamentally change not only the afterlife but life on earth. Not only do they make it so people become their best selves in the afterlife, but that effort? The good people that they become, contributes to the improvement of life on earth.

When someone leaves they put all that good that got them to the good place back to the world, making it just a little better.

GAH IT MAKES ME TEAR UP

Dead Guy Death Match Round 1: Poll 58

I've spent most of my life pretending to help people. If I were an architect, I could do it for real. Let me at least try. Tahani Al-Jamil | The Good Place | S4E13

ok im aro posting about The Good Place and soulmates again

it's so funny (and by "funny," i mean alienating and kinda painful) how my experiences as an aromantic have so completely re-oriented my worldview to be anti-amatonormative that i forget the world doesn't work like this most of the time. mostly, no one sees a problem with a show posing "soulmates" as an attainable thing in paradise, something we all have and should look forward to as our PURPOSE.

like goddamn, eleanor wasn't fucking kidding about that being the bad place. all i could think during the final episode(s) of Season 1 is that, yeah, if i were in a place so heavily focused on amatonormativity and coupling off and "soulmates," that would be my hell, too!

- how was your weekend?

-Ah, my old bones have warmed up nicely.

yeah im just gonna interpret the "if soulmates exist, theyre not found, theyre made" quote and the fact that soulmates were used as a psychological torture device as INCREDIBLY aroace

SCREECHING ABOUT THE UPDATE!!!!

Leo's finally managed to reconnect with his ninpo! Though how long can he keep it up, still injured and exhausted and no where near at the top of his game. Still more than enough to make things even more difficult and another tool to be used to spite the EPF. And Mikey has found him?!? I hope? Also the teaser for chapter 14 has me a bit worried that he's actually not going to get out, as in he's going to be dragged back from following his family through a portal at the last second...

He did! He did! :D As for how long he can keep it up? Well… let’s maybe just cross our fingers that Leo’s got some help incoming ;)

Lol I forgot that I did a sneak peek for chapter 14. I wonder how that scene will play into things…

I can't believe I'm only articulating this now, but:

The Good Place begins in a fake perfect afterlife, where the characters are trapped in a more complicated spiritual successor to the play No Exit: a setting of which the true essence is that 'hell is other people'.

It ends in a real perfect afterlife, where the characters are all happy, healthy and become totally fulfilled; a setting of which the true essence is defined as “just having enough time with the people you love”: in other words, heaven is other people.