They call themselves “goopers.” The Goop Lab with Gwyneth Paltrow is a Netflix series that features actress Gwyneth Paltrow and her team, the aforementioned goopers, participating in trials that range from energy healing, to mushroom psychedelics, to vaginal masturbation, and even to psychic healing. This show would likely appeal to proponents of MLMs (multi-level marketing), anti-vaxxers, and anyone fascinated by cults.
The topics covered become increasingly controversial, the sort of reactionary content that will unfold on Twitter threads and Reddit forums. If there’s one key takeaway from her Netflix docuseries, it’s that Paltrow is a clever businesswoman who isn’t afraid to muddy her name in headlines, so long as her company, Goop, is the forefront of discussion. Since its conception in 2008, Goop has expanded into a $250-million industry.
With the magical effects of editing and the ability to manipulate a narrative of the healing properties of alternative medicine, The Goop Lab still fails to dissuade skeptics, but begs the questions: why is pseudoscience so prevalent today? Why are so many anti-vaxxers also proponents of alternative medicine?
Each episode contains testimonials from patients who participated in trials, workshops, or treatments with an alternative medical practitioner. The patients are often presented as people who were initially skeptical of the pseudo-medicine, only to have their minds changed by the end. One of the patients in “The Energy Experience,” the most offending episode I endured, found that the first session with a chiropractor in which no physical contact occurred still helped alleviate the pain in his back caused by cancer.
Halfway through the episode, when discussing an absurd concept of how our body extends two feet out from our physical body into the interdimensional realm, this quote appears on screen: “‘The body and mind are not separate, and we cannot treat one without the other.’ ?— Dr. Candace Pert, PhD”
Anyone who’s ever spoken to their general physician about a mental illness has likely received a similar remark, as studies recognize a correlation between exercise and improved mental health. This doesn’t mean that therapy and medication should be discarded in place of exercise, but that it’s another useful tool for treating the disease. However, the late Pert was a neuroscientist and pharmacologist who was developing separate drug treatments for dementia and AIDS up until her death — for Paltrow to misconstrue her quote by suggesting that our energy is a living entity within us that can be healed by a chiropractor is pretty tasteless.
This is where holistic medicine has room to burgeon. Terminally ill patients, chronically ill people, or anyone who’s had a poor experience with a doctor in a busy clinic might explore other remedies when their interactions with modern medicine are less than satisfactory, regardless of the lack of scientific research behind it. Anxiety toward unpronounceable ingredients and misunderstanding of chemical elements also creates distrust when it comes to using pharmaceuticals or vaccines. This paranoia surrounding modern medicine instead gives praise to digestible information that forgoes scientific merit in order to appeal to your average Joe. Afterall, it’s more cost-effective to get certified at a yoga retreat and spend a weekend in Jamaica drinking psychedelic tea than it is to spend eight years studying in med school.
Paltrow attempts to give herself a pat on the back with an advisory that states: “The following series is designed to entertain and inform — not provide medical advice. You should always consult your doctor when it comes to your personal health, or before you start any treatment.” This seems more like an effort to avoid another lawsuit than a sincere caution, as episodes follow a formulaic show of Paltrow remarking slight skepticism and doubt about the healing merits before the goopers take part in the treatments and regale the life-changing effects of them. Oscar-Emmy-Globe winner Paltrow never stumbles in her performance, yet I’m still unconvinced. The Goop Lab takes medical information out of context or omits it altogether; be prepared to have Google on hand if you choose to brave this new series.
