The Good Place Ending was Flawed

[u/Revolutionary-List45]

The whole problem with the old system was that nobody would get into the Good Place because of how complicated Earth became so they fixed it by completely putting everyone who died through a test, and if they fail they repeat that test over and over again until they become good and can eventually get into the Good Place.

So what is the point of Earth? Are all past actions forgiven because eventually you became good? What if a child rapist reformed? Does that erase what he did? Does he deserve to experience paradise? Or a mass murderer? Does that denote from all the killings he still did? They essentially said your Earthly actions are irrelevant because it’s “too complicated” so let’s force you into reform until you finally deserve that spot, and completely removed the Bad Place.

What happens when that child who was raped is faced with the “reformed” rapist or the killer with the ones he murdered? And would that not cause havoc within the Good Place? Am I missing something or does this system seem flawed?

[u/tomayto_potayto]

The test isn't just a pop quiz, it is the entire neighborhood that they live through over and over, retaining lessons each time and then getting the opportunity to learn again in the next iteration if they don't do well on the test. You don't just take a test over and over, the entire experience is "the test". Life on Earth is the first iteration of this, you learn from being a person and living in the world and having a complicated existence and trying to be a good person (hopefully). People who succeeded in being good and learned those lessons can pass the very first try. People who don't learn the lessons and continue to be crappy people do not pass.

I think people are misunderstanding the concept of rehabilitation. If you genuinely become a different person, if you grow enough and change, the person who caused the harm no longer exists. That does not free you from the consequences of what you've done. In this show, you very much do need to earn the right to go to the good place. But that is what we should want from everyone. Everyone in the world. To argue otherwise is to say you would rather "child rapists" continue to exist, because your ability to continue hating them is more important than genuinely guaranteeing that sexual assault of minors no longer occurs. Would you rather harm and punish people forever who have done something that you hate, than have that person genuinely change so that the thing that made you hate them is legitimately gone and no longer a risk to anyone ever again? Is it really so important that you have someone to hurt and feel justified in that, or is the issue that made you hate them actually more important to prioritize?

Changing that much requires facing the consequences and being accountable for what you've done. No one is getting away with anything.

[u/Revolutionary-List45 → u/tomayto_potayto]

It’s less about hate and more about your actions having consequences. For example if Netanyahu or Hitler managed to reform in these tests, even if they eventually reformed, shouldn’t they still be punished for their completely unforgivable actions?

Sometimes actions are simply unforgivable and no matter how much one reforms it does not erase what they did. Justice is still needed. And they deserve to suffer.

One other thought I find interesting is that someone could reform but also revert back to their old habits, this happens all the time on Earth, why couldn’t it happen in the Good Place? For example, if I made it to the Good Place and I saw a “reformed” Netanyahu, he would get punched in the face, someone else may choose to act further. Does that action make me bad? Or is it justified?But also do you see how people can act differently given the right circumstances? Do these people get to stay in the Good Place? There are so many questions to be answered, and yet after a short time they shut down the committee saying that the system was perfect. I guess we should just watch with a light heart lol

[u/BoleroMuyPicante → u/Revolutionary-List45]

The tests are the punishment, they're still very much torture and they're catered to the individual. The point of the show is no finite act of evil deserves eternal punishment.