The Good Place
Michelle Kies

The Good Place is a series that originally aired its first season in September of 2016, but can now be found on many major streaming platforms, such as Hulu and Netflix. The show is set in the afterlife, where instead of a typical heaven setting one may know, the place where people who earn enough points from their time on earth may reap the benefits for eternity is the so-called “good place.” While the show takes place in a futuristic setting, it reinforces stereotypes that we see in our modern day society. In The Good Place’s episode titled “Jason Mendoza,” one can see the reinforcement of the idea that whites are superior to other races.
To start, the person who created the whole neighborhood and has control over the residents is Michael, a white male. His white partner, Janet, is like a walking Google who holds all the knowledge in the world and can answer any question asked of her in a matter of seconds. These two people hold the most power and influence in the neighborhood, and all the residents run to them if there are any problems. Also, it is important that it is known that Michael and Janet are not true human beings, but are “angels” that have chosen a human body to reside in. The fact that Michael and Janet had a choice of how they looked and the color of their skin, but chose to both be white shows that white people are seen as more authoritative and important than people of other races. This further reinforces the idea that whites are seen as superior to other races because it is a cultural norm to see white people as the most powerful and successful of all races.
Furthermore, many other white characters in this episode reinforce that same stereotype of a successful, white person. Eleanor, the main character, is a white female who realizes that there was a mix up and she really belongs in “the bad place.” Nevertheless, she works hard to become a better person and makes immense progress to earn a spot in the good place. Additionally, Chef Patricia is also seen as someone who has perseverance and obtains her dreams. It is shown in the episode that Chef Patricia is the first person to fulfill her destiny in the good place, and she does so by opening her own restaurant as head chef. Both of these characters uphold the belief that white people can do anything, and are even more hardworking than other races. The fact that it is seen time after time in this episode that a person reaching their goal is also white creates a link between their accomplishments and the color of their skin.
While this show does send some positive message, such as sending a cultural transmission that women can be successful by allowing many female characters to achieve their endeavors, it also favors white people as the successful, hardworking, can accomplish anything race. Throughout the show, there is little to no representation of people from other races who are successful or have power over others. On one hand, the show sends positive messages if the viewer is a white person, because then one can see that they can accomplish anything they set their minds to. On the other hand, if the viewer is not white, the show sends harmful messages that their race will prevent them from obtaining success, and even makes them inferior to whites.
