The Good Place (Seasons 1-2; 2016+ )
This show deviates from your typical offering of American comedy where canned laughter spliced with unimaginative jokes weaved with sexual innuendoes rule the day. Interestingly, this show deals with something out-of-the-world, literally, that is.
It delves into the meaning of life and talks a lot about philosophers who gave their input trying to explain our existence, the purpose of it all and the way one should live it. Questions like mortality, morality, telling white lies, mindfulness and inter-human relationships are dealt in a playful yet profound way.
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| Bartender, at your service! |
The first episode starts with a group of misfits dying and landing on the other side. The place is 'The Good Place' (vs 'The Bad Place') where people enjoy eternity in bliss after earning their brownie points on Earth. Michael (Ted Danson) is the Architect who masterminded the genesis of the area and is on-site to run the place as well. He is assisted by an A.I. being called Jenny.
The four main characters in the show are Eleanor, a frustrated delinquent with deprived childhood, who is mistakenly taken in for an environmentalist; Chidi, an indecisive and 'too intelligent for his own good' professor of Ethics and Philosophy; Tahani, a haughty, name dropping and narcissistic Pakistani-British socialite with overt sibling rivalry issues and a drug-dealing social outcast and an amateur DJ, Jason Mendoza, who is mistaken for a Buddhist monk.
Eleanor and Jason know that there must be a glitch in the system for being there as they know they do not deserve that heaven! Chidi, at first he thought that his admission was due to his knowledge and his deed on Earth. He soon discovers that his indecisiveness and procrastination brought harm to others. (His death was due to it too!) Tahani thought her philanthropic work did the trick but was made to realise that she did it for self-interest, not altruism.
With many psychological tests and examples, the series takes us to the end of the first season when the story takes a twist. (No spoilers). It becomes more interesting towards the second season when 'The Good Place' goes through a turmoil.
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The trolley problem: should you pull
the lever to divert the runaway trolley
onto the side track? (Phillipa Foot,1967)
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We do good because it is the right thing to do as we, humans, set it to be; not because so and so said so. The inquisitive nature of Man is the one which would carry our race through time. Even though on the surface, we appear disjointed and in packs, in time of adversities, we join forces to combat a common enemy. The thinkers amongst us spur us to come up with answers and justifications for our action.
In many psychological dilemmas, there is no one 'correct' answer. Sometimes, there are no answers, but we still seek them with our nimble minds.
In the trolley conundrum, the answer is not so straightforward. Other parameters play a role too. The quandary of sacrificing a sole individual over five may seem easy enough. What if the one is a professor or a scientist who is the verge of a breakthrough discovery or a national leader or someone known to you and so on. This issue is also dealt with when it comes to self-driving cars.
Can self-sacrifice be accepted as another form of solution to this enigma? Like God giving His Son, which is actually a part of Him, to die on the Cross to wash Man of his original sin and save him?
Can self-sacrifice be accepted as another form of solution to this enigma? Like God giving His Son, which is actually a part of Him, to die on the Cross to wash Man of his original sin and save him?
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