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@ -64,12 +64,12 @@ that there is no such thing as a "bad person", and that everybody |
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could go to the "good place", if they accepted that they have flaws, |
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and worked on them. |
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They also mildly restructure the "good place" to have "an end" which |
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They also mildly restructure the "good place" to have "an end", which |
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is death. Isn't that nice, everybody gets to live their perfect life |
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in heaven, then they die. |
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## Good people, bad people |
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## Good people & bad people? |
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So that was the plot. As I said, I'm not gonna criticise the show for |
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it's scene-to-scene writing, or even the overarching plot. It mostly |
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@ -159,13 +159,12 @@ Maybe this is controvertial, but there are bad people. If it is your |
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job to harass homeless people, you are a bad person. If it is your |
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job to enforce the "war on drugs" that overwealmingly affects black |
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people, you are a bad person. If you are a billionaire, you are a bad |
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person. I'm sorry, but you are. You are in a position where you |
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_could_ change society for the better. You _could_ give all your |
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wealth away, and actually help people. But you don't. And no, I |
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don't mean the fake philanthropy that rich people indulge in because |
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those are usually just schemes to pay less takes and work on their |
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public image. No billionaire ever gives away so much money that they |
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stop being a billionaire. Because why would they? |
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person. You are in a position where you _could_ change society for |
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the better. You _could_ give all your wealth away, and actually help |
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people. But you don't. And no, I don't mean the fake philanthropy |
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that rich people indulge in because those are usually just schemes to |
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pay less taxes and massage on their public image. No billionaire ever |
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gives away so much money that they stop being a billionaire. |
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The ending of the good place is framed as a beautiful thing where |
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everybody gets to live a life in heaven in the end, if they manage to |
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@ -176,17 +175,59 @@ It doesn't matter how much suffering you've caused others, you get to |
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go to the good place if you manage to accept that you were bad. |
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## There could be heaven on earth |
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## Why an afterlife? |
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I mentioned earlier that the system of the afterlife isn't called into |
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question in this show. Well, I want to call it into question. The |
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ending is framed in a way that is meant to make you feel happy and |
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hopeful, but all it makes me feel is wonder why we needed to wait |
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until the afterlife for people to deserve happyness. |
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So I mentioned that in the show, the existence of an afterlife is |
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never explained, rationalised or called into question. It exists in a |
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vacuum, the same way that people in it live in a vacuum. |
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The ending of "the good place" is framed in a way that is meant to |
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make you feel happy and hopeful, but all it makes me feel is wonder |
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why we needed to wait until the afterlife for people to deserve |
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happiness. |
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The world is an awful place because of people, sure, but it's the |
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system that makes people into monsters. Not only will it corrupt |
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people going in with good intentions, it will turn people with bad |
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intentions into powerful rulers. |
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"The good place" fails to or refuses to understand that society exists. |
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"The good place" fails to or refuses to understand that society |
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exists, and portrays a moral system in which all actions are |
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unconnected from the bigger picture. If you were a nice person to |
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people in person, and generally tried to be `g o o d` then it doesn't |
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matter if your employees need to pee into bottles, or if your company |
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is burning the rainforest to ash. |
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Hell, the ruthless business lady in the "medium place" was sent there |
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because she saved someone in her _last_ moment. But the "bad things" |
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she did??? SHE WAS RUDE TO PEOPLE. Don't worry the exploitation |
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through the capitalist machine, that's all fine. |
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## The shape of art & paradise |
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To wrap up this article I want to at least mention why I'm writing |
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about this. Because I said earlier that I didn't find the show |
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special, funny, or intentionally bad enough to really engage with it. |
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And now here I am, writing upwards of 2000 words about it :) |
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The media we consume as people shapes us, and influences us in quite |
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profound ways. The way we tell stories is symptomatic of how society |
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perceives itself, and how people see themselves in society. Media |
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that doesn't aknowledge the existence of society then and the |
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suffering it brings will inevitably white-wash reality, and push this |
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influence on anyone consuming it. |
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At this point I would have liked to mention a better show or movie, or |
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even book, but none really come to mind. I guess it's hard to point |
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to any text and demand it delivers a coherent world philosophy, while |
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also being a story with characters and plot. |
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As a society we need to grow the fuck up. The stories we tell each |
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other of heroes and villains, the balance between good and evil |
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hanging in the balance, all while these actors exist outside of |
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anything that could be called a power hierarchy, needs to end. Only |
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when we grow up from this world view can we realise that paradise is |
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within us, and that collectively we can create it here on earth. |
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Not gonna lie though, trains that go through space are pretty cool. |
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