It started with pizza. Frozen pizza from Costco, to be exact.
Several years ago, I was making a grocery list, and I asked my kids for suggestions on frozen meal solutions. One of them requested, “The good bad frozen pizzas from Costco.”
I replied, “What do you mean, ‘the good bad pizzas’?”
“Well, all frozen pizza is bad when compared to the real thing, but there's something about those Kirkland frozen cheese pizzas that tastes good, but in a bad way. It's not bad bad. It's good bad.”
From there, The Good Bad has become a regular point of reference in our home.
The Good Bad describes something that is admittedly bad, and yet, is liked and appreciated in spite of being otherwise bad. For example…
- Yearbook pictures are The Good Bad portraits.
- America's Next Top Model is Good Bad TV (as are most reality-based shows like).
- Disney Channel (or Hallmark Channel) movies are Good Bad Movies.
- Kraft Macaroni and Cheese is Good Bad mac-n-cheese.
- Mmm-Bop is a Good Bad Song (or maybe it is Good Good depending on the day?).
- Taco Bell is Good Bad fast food.
You get the idea.
The Good Bad is a fun way to identify something that you know is bad, but you love it anyways. It's a way to welcome terrible things and create space for them by finding joy in how ridiculously awful they are. It's a way to create space for simple, remembered tastes, knowing full well quality doesn't matter when it comes to nostalgia. It's also a way to laugh and connect with others over shared loathing slash loving of certain items.
Where do you see The Good Bad in your own life? What would your list of things you love to hate look like? I encourage you to look for The Good Bad this coming week and see what you can find!
