In A Good Place

Are you in a good place in your life?

Thanks to psychology, we know that it's not a question about location (America is not at war, we're at the mall) or position (on the corporate ladder, perhaps.) Being "in a good place" is anywhere/anyhow you are barely aware of yourself (your safety, security, sexuality.)

One of the best movies I've seen involved the master. No, not the Master, though Jesus fled popularity and messianic acclaim also. The master (Peter Sellers) of this movie is content just "Being There" (in a good place) as the gardener of an estate no longer inhabited.

Soon, however, the hopes and dreams of the world are projected (to continue with psychology) onto Seller's barely aware character. His simple manner and innocuous words are given profound/prophetic significance by people hungry for a genius/savior.

These people in the movie do not understand that, while doubting themselves, they are bestowing added significance onto someone who doesn't want it. In effect, the gardener is made a scapegoat in reverse -  having virtues, not sins, ascribed to his person.

Lest we miss the correlation, Seller's character is finally shown walking on water. Yet it is what we're shown of the idol-happy other characters that is most revealing. For them (us?), being "in a good place" is being "there" to experience someone more significant than themselves.

"There" is the TV studio, the concert hall or the sports stadium - anywhere, it seems, other than the ordinary, everyday experience of home. Until, that is, "here at home" somehow gets taken away or foreclosed upon. Then, not only are we not in a good place, we're lost.