How I Met Your Mother's Marshall - The Truth About Being The 'Good One'

On paper, How I Met Your Mother's Marshall Eriksen is the perfect man — but is he, really? Marshall gets to be the moral center of the show, and part of his moral superiority stems from the fact that he’s been with Lily for his entire adult life, and is a doting boyfriend, husband, and father — something that insulates him from the many horrible and manipulative dating decisions made by Barney and Ted. He’s committed to being a good husband, father, and he wants to improve the world. But, upon further inspection, Marshall seems to be just as self-serving and morally limited as the rest of the cast, and he displays How I Met Your Mother’s inherently limited moral outlook...

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CHAPTERS
00:00 Is Marshall the good guy?
00:56 The supposed "moral anchor" of HIMYM
03:45 Working to destroy the world
07:14 How should we judge Marshall?
09:50 HIMYM's ethical map

CREDITS
Executive Producers: Debra Minoff & Susannah Mccullough
Chief Creative Director: Susannah Mccullough
Associate Producer: Tyler Browner
Writers: Eric Thurm and Kathy DiStefano
Narrator: Alani Waters
Video Editor: Julian Holmes

[ginao]

I think that you’re forgetting that Marshall finished law school as the 07/08 financial crisis hit. As someone who graduated at the same time I can tell you getting ANY job in your chosen field was damn near impossible.

He got his corporate job through Barney. He had the choice between working with Barney or perpetually working for free. He has bills to pay. Any experience is crucial at that stage of your career.

And as he gets more experience, he pivots back to a job more aligned to his beliefs

[scottibrown]

Marshall took the corporate law job because Lily had massive credit card debt. Even though he hated himself for working for the bad guys, Marshall knew that it was also taking care of his family. And is it just me or do we not see a lot of Marshall’s on tv today…

[jordanloux]

I didn't finish the series, but I saw Marshall as the guy who knows what right and wrong are, but is still human enough to make the wrong choices and be aware that he's doing it, and continues even when he knows that it can't be justified. It makes him a lot more realistic than Ted and Barney...

[myosotismalva]

He's not perfect but he possesses redeeming qualities. Marshall is by far the most relatable out of all of them.

[appouhal]

Marshall is a tall, handsome Ivy League educated attorney with strong family values and is so loyal to his wife that he can’t even fantasize of being with other women without having to imagine her passing away first. He’s literally the most amazing guy on the show!

[sonia]

I think Marshall's quite a realistic person. Lots of idealistic people bend their views as they mature and have different pressures. Don't most people prioritise their family and friends? I'm really struggling to see how he's a bad person 🤷🏾‍♀️

[Beanhill_]

I think he is a good guy. And yes he has some issues because that’s how being a person works.

He’s definitely better than the other 4.

[mariaskabardonis]

I think he’s a good guy. As for career when your a adult you have to make sacrifices they live in the most expensive city and needed to buy an apartment and Lily was a shopoholic later kids came. His choices were realistic

[East_blue]

It feels like this episode was written by someone who hasn't had to choose between paying and electric bill or their mortgage, while at the same time wondering how far that last loaf of bread will last and hoping daycare won't send a reminder that fees are to be paid a week in advance.

[acisner]

Nah. This is a pretty thin argument. In context, his values kept him focused on what he was taught, which was to be a good person. Even though he compromised, he did it for his future family. Ultimately, he did choose to do both.

[allysiren]

The point of this and The Good Place, is that it is almost impossible to be a good person AND live a decent life. Also yes, you can not worry about stuff you can't change, so you do the best you can in your small circle and as you get bigger influence, you then can effect bigger change but how is that bad? He does his best with the tools/abilities he has.

[roh]

He IS a good person. We all want to feel good about ourselves but at least Marshall tries to improve the world in the process. The arguments you gave are so hollow. He's human, of course he is going to make mistakes and he's going to look out for himself and his loved ones, like all of us.

[alishanr]

Missed the mark on this one, The Take. No person is ideal and perfect. You can be a really good person with the right outlook and all that. But it doesn’t mean you do not make mistakes. And yes you have to be self centered at times, most of the times actually especially with the way the world is going at. If making mistakes and putting yourself first makes you a bad person or “self centered” then we’re all bad people. Marshall is the most realistic character on HIMYM. And I do think he’s genuinely a nice guy.

[gracexcon]

This is the only take I've seen that I disagree with. Marshall took that corporate job because Lily hamstrung their financial situation with massive credit card debt, so he took a job he didn't to support his wife. Also it's human to want to do bigger things for the world, but get stuck in corporate drudgery. Barney didn't choose the other building design because he thought it was better for the company, he chose it because he thought it was cool, even though it was impractical and frankly ridiculous. Marshall knew he chose it for childish and selfish reasons, so he told him. When Lily wanted to go to Italy, Marshall had just gotten his dream job, of course there was conflict. Conflicting jobs is an incredibly common obstacle that many married couples face (also, he ended up going with Lily to follow her dream and put his own on hold for her). I'm sorry, but Marshall is consistently a good guy, who genuinely tries to make the right choice for himself, his family, his friends and the world as often as he can. He's the farthest thing from the fake 'nice guy'. He's the only non-problematic character on that show, and honestly we need more Marshalls on TV.

[whatdidclaysay]

We all have competing ideals and sometimes have to choose one set over the other. Marshall choosing job that allows him to more fully care for the well-being of his family over his environmentalism is a realistic choice that many people have to make. Many people choose to stay a job they don't fully believe in because they care more about their loved ones than their own total fulfillment.

Also, part of Marshall's arc on the show is literally finding a way to balance those ideals. As he leaves corporate law and eventually recognizes that the best way to both care for his family and make a difference is to become a judge. So criticizing him for working for GNB over his ideals when you know the way the story ends is a strange and disingenuous criticism of him as a character.

[dimanvoltair]

He either put his family first or the environment never himself. dreams are great but they can't feed or house you. he truly is heartbroken about working there. he is as good as it gets. I don't know how they could have made him better without making him unrealistic.

[bbrbbr-ongd]

Marshall literally has to take the Corporate job to pay off Lilly's massive debt.

[jakubklein]

That's quite a tall order to call marshal selfish for his constat struggle. His moral compass putting family and people close to him before abstract concept of saving the environment is fundamentally moral...

[MusicFreak]

Marshall is the best, and the most realistic character in the group. The other characters rarely see past their tunnel vision, and don't stray too much or often for growth. But Marshall is aware of what he is doing and why he is doing it, even if it is personally the wrong choice for him.

[folkloreuh]

I feel like this was written by a middle school student who never had to deal with adult struggles. Marshall’s story even shows how even when he does have his dream job it’s not as idealistic as he thought it would be & he can’t make much of a difference as an environmental lawyer. If you’ve never had to do work you don’t believe in to get by just count your blessings rather than shading those of us who live in the real world.