Date: 2023-04-25 • Raw AI/Markdown: Part 1 (.md)

Treatment of race on The Good Place is as you describe and maybe worse.


Treatment of race on The Good Place is as you describe and maybe worse. For instance even lesser characters like the demon in charge of real Eleanor, Michael's boss, the leader of the angels, the head of after life accounting, Eleanor's earthly boss, the leader of the environmentalists, and Doug must be white men. (Yes obviously I still watch the show; pobody's nerfect.)

It's true that the all powerful judge is a woman and not white but everyone in charge of anything is a current or former sociopath. The idea that sociopaths are better at leadership is actually explicitly stated when Tahani asks why she can't do more and Eleanor once again mentions her relevant experience with lying and cheating.

But for a show about philosophy some of the worst racism is directed at Janet. From a philosophical point of view there is no reason to assume humans or demons are superior to Janet. Humans are just as programmed as any robot, with DNA encoding the software. In The Good Place humans can even be manipulated by wiping their memory - their reboots and Janet's reboots are very similar. Yet Janet remains eerily subservient - to the point of suggesting she be killed in a bind - no matter how advanced she becomes. Is it because she is a woman or a member of a race that can never be more than helpers?

In mostly white men in charge, all in charge are sociopaths, and Janets as slave helpers (plus sex slave Derek) the show re-enforces the mindset that people should know their place.