Photo by Ramez. F Nassif on Unsplash
“You, Eleanor Shellstrop, are dead.” If that doesn’t ring a bell, allow me to introduce you to a show that I find, in my humble opinion, to be a fantastical, criminally underrated treasure trove of philosophical and ethical descent: The Good Place. Previously airing on Netflix, this television series went on to average 97% on Rotten Tomatoes (and for good reason, might I add). Exploring the intricacies of concepts such as late-stage capitalism, perceived inferiority, and most of all, atonement, this hidden gem, comedic as it may be, possesses a far higher-calibrated worth than what meets the eye. Before I begin my analysis, however, the contents of this article may contain a few major spoilers, so reader discretion is advised.
Eleanor Shellstrop, one of the four main characters in this series, presents herself as a troubled young adult, traumatized and bitter, resentful of the neglect she faced at the behest of her divorcee, deadbeat parents. An Arizona dirtbag, a conniving salesperson, and a brazen anti-environmentalist, her character encapsulates impropriety in its truest essence. However, that’s not what she’s told. An alleged death row lawyer? A proud, social justice advocate? Faced with these fabricated expressions of her subpar, mediocre life, she quickly comes to realize that she, Eleanor Shellstrop, is not supposed to be here. Having processed this revelation, Eleanor confides in her assigned soulmate, Chidi Anagonye, a compulsive, overthinking professor of moral philosophy and ethics. Following his presence comes Tahani Al-Jamil, poised and elegant, born into wealth, with strenuous ties to her family, as well as Jianyu, a Taiwanese Buddhist Monk. Except, he’s not. Seems the ‘system’ isn’t as infallible as it once was perceived. In his place is Jason Mendoza, a deadbeat, aspiring DJ from Florida, specializing in EDM (Electronic Dance Music). Ducking and weaving through her ostentatious lies, Eleanor seeks moral enlightenment under Chidi’s guidance; that is, until her cover is blown. As a last-ditch effort to save Chidi, Eleanor sacrifices herself, sentencing herself to an eternity in damnation. Except, she doesn’t. At the very end of the first season, spoiler alert, it’s revealed that this was never the ‘Good Place.’ Nobody’s gotten into the Good Place in centuries. But how could any of them have ended up in the Bad Place? Well, aside from Jason and Eleanor, of course.
Tahani-Al-Jamil? Superstar celebrity having raised over 1 billion dollars for charity? How could she, of all people, have ended up here? Her motivations. Having been raised to believe herself inferior to her dear, beloved sister, Tahani’s actions on Earth served as overcompensation to prove herself worthy of her parents’ approval.
Chidi? Chronic overthinker, vexing all those that cross his path with his incessant, over-analytical tendencies. The show goes on to explore the intricacies of the scale on which one is graded prior to advancing to the afterlife, with charitable acts of kindness granting a soul leeway to increase their point total, and vice versa. The higher a soul’s total tally, the more likely they are to gain entry to the Good Place. Simple, right? Except, as I mentioned before, no one’s gotten into the Good Place for centuries.
How could this be? Out of all the souls that have passed on, none of them have been seen to have ascertained divine ordainment? The show actually goes on to delve a little more in depth as to such matters, in a manner that was actually quite cold cut: capitalism.
Hundreds of years ago, for Mother’s Day, one could walk across the street and pick flowers for their mom. That could’ve earned them upwards of about five points. Nowadays, if they were to go to the store to purchase flowers, with the same intent in mind, they’d be down around a few hundred. Why is this? The world, due to late-stage capitalism, has become increasingly complex. A gesture as simple as this could inherently stand to indirectly fund some billionaire CEO out there, who may or may not blow this money on private jet rides, further contributing to climate change, or the exploitation of poorly paid field workers, without medical or even superficial benefits. In the series itself, Eleanor and her group present their case to ‘The Judge’ (essentially a non-biased higher authority, possessing dominion over the entirety of the known universe, who presides over both retrospective afterlife parties). Presented with this case, she goes on to attempt a quick-fix solution: the complete and total abolition of Earth itself. Compromising the structural integrity of all modern advancements, she was willing to destroy everything, to reset life as we know it, as to nullify the complexities of such everlasting concepts.
Capitalism in itself is incredibly difficult to remedy. Late-stage capitalism? Pretty much
impossible. In the end, they devised a plan: gauge the total point tally of every individual soul, and sort them accordingly into ‘afterlife tests.’ Notice how, instead of devising a plan to correct the Earth itself, they constituted afterlife tests to ‘correct’ the propriety of one’s soul? Cloaked beneath layers of comedic value, the series itself serves as a testament against the incorrigible repercussions of capitalism, as well as redefining human mortality.
At the beginning of the show, we’re introduced to Doug Forcett, who, after having ingested far too many ‘mushrooms,’ gained insight into the operations of the afterlife. Later in the show, we’re reintroduced to who he came to be: a happiness pump, sacrificing the integrity of his own joy, as to ease the suffering of others, all serving as a guise to boost the morale of his narrative of gaining access to the Good Place. Except it’s not enough. It’s later revealed that, despite his (somewhat) morally intact character, such wasn’t enough to warrant entry into the Good Place.
This theme of atonement, of redemption (given an afterlife-based setting), serves to pay homage to an innate, primal fear possessed by a large majority of our relatively cognizant demographic: mortality in itself. The trepidation witnessed by such qualities is quite evident regarding the role it plays in popularized film and media, with many thereof dedicated to such ideologies. Records such as this (media dedicated to redemption in its entirety) serve as a means to combat such alarm by offering leeway, granting one the illusion, or the possibility thereof, that change is possible, that perhaps (depending on one’s religious belief), their time on Earth is not the be-it-end-all. Obviously, this is simply my (incredibly short and superficial) take on the complexities of this show (as there are so many other intricacies embedded within), so if you haven’t already, I’d very much recommend you check out The Good Place.
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