This Is the Bad Place

About

This Is The Bad Place is a memorable quote from the first season of The Good Place spoken by the character Eleanor Shellstrop (played by Kristen Bell) upon finding out she and her friends are in "the bad place." The quote is often used online as a reaction to show disapproval or disdain. A captioned screenshot of the scene became a reaction image and the subject of image macros as early as 2018.

Origin

On January 19th, 2017, seasons one episode 13 of The Good Place aired. In the episode, Eleanor Shellstrop realizes that she and others are in an experimental version of "the bad place," a realm that is portrayed as the show's version of hell (shown below).

Spread

On December 25th, 2017, the official Tenor^[1] account for The Good Place uploaded a GIF version of the clip (shown below). In 2018 a captioned screenshot of the scene was added to Imgflip.^[2]

On January 15th, 2018, Instagram^[3] user memez4dayz posted an image macro using a captioned image of the scene joking about the end of the world in 2012, gaining over 3,100 likes in four years (shown below). Another version of the same meme was posted by Instagram^[4] user uncreativeseaurchin on April 29th, gaining over 30,000 likes in a similar span of time.

On May 26th, 2021, Tumblr^[5] user walcraftart posted the GIF in reaction to a page of the script for the Power Puff Girls CW Reboot, gaining over 1,700 notes in a year (shown below, left). On October 15th, Facebook^[6] page Young America's Foundation used the meme in response to a New York Post headline about people quitting their jobs, gaining over 2,700 shares and 8,200 reactions in eight months (shown below, right).

On January 11th, 2022, Instagram^[7] user jameelajamil posted a photo of a store branded "COVID-19 Basics," captioned "Omg. Covid has developed its brand… this is the bad place," gaining over 100,000 likes in five months (shown below). The quote "this is the bad place" is also used on its own as a reaction to disagreeable or worrying content. For example, on May 25th, Twitter^[8] user @barbraras posted several screenshot reacting to the Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard trial writing, "this is the bad place," gaining over 30,000 likes in a week.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References