74
“Thefollowingseriesis designedtoentertainandinform—
notprovidemedicaladvice.Youshouldalwaysconsultyour
doctorwhenit comestoyourpersonalhealth,orbeforeyou
startanytreatment.”Everyhalf-hourepisodeofTheGoopLab
WithGwynethPaltrowonNetflixbeginswiththiswarning,a
reminderthatscientists(andlawyers)viewtheactress-turned-
lifestyleguru’sbrainchildasproblematic
atbestanddangerousatworst.
Thesix-episodeseries,availablefor
bingeingonJan. 24, turnsPaltrow’s
staff,andoccasionallythestarherself,
intolabratstotesta slewof“wellness”
techniquesthatthetrailerwarnscanbe
“outthereortooscary.”Somearescien-
tificallysoundandevenbland.(Eating
wellandexercisingare keytoaging
gracefully,it turnsout.)Somearecomi-
callyentertaining,suchassynchronized
groupyogainthesnow,or“snowga.”
Otherscomeoffaspurequackery:
Likewhenan“energyhealer”sends
Goop’s chief content officer, Elise
Loehnen,writhingina self-described
“exorcism”byholdinghishandsinches
fromherbody.
Goopers, as they’re called, treat
alltheexperimentsandtheexperts
asequals,regardlessoftheirproven
legitimacy.“Just’causesomethingisn’t
provendoesn’tmeanit doesn’twork,”
saysoneguest,whichmayaswellbe
theshow’smotto.IvyLeaguedoctor-
atespresentfindingsalongsidea manwhosayshecanusea
breathingtechniquetotemperthebody’sresponsetoE.coli.
Scientificlanguageis usedonlyasconvenient:Luxurytrips
towellnessretreatsare“goingoutintothefield,”andpeo-
pleexplainingtheirpersonalexperiencesare“casestudies.”
Ineachformulaicepisode,perkyGoopersteamupandgo
abouttheirless-than-rigorousresearch.Some“labs”prove
particularlypopular:Almosteveryonevolunteerstogoto PHOTOILLUSTRATIONBYJACIKESSLERLUBLINER;KAMONSAEJUENG/EYEEM/GETTYIMAGESCRITIC BloombergPursuits January 27, 2020Jamaica to try psychedelics in a therapeutic setting. Cue
group hugging, laughing, chatter about how cool clouds are.
Then sobbing. Tears are a constant in the Goop tests. Be
it magic mushrooms, a workshop on female sexuality, or a
psychic medium relaying messages from “the other side,”
someone is always crying or about to. The sobs are some-
times legit—one workshop required the Goopers to swim in a
frigid, 38F Lake Tahoe after doing a set of breathing exercises
that were supposed to dull pain and make them feel warmer.
A three-hour-long pseudoscience marathon, The Goop Lab
is ultimately an infomercial. Most of the guests have previ-
ously appeared on its podcast, which is monetized. Goop Lab
is also a store, online and in Manhattan and in Santa Monica,
Calif., where the website is based. The shop’s best-selling
product is a $90 who’s who of vitamins called High School
Genes, which fits into an episode about aging gracefully (“The
Health-Span Plan”). You could buy access to a session with
psychic medium Laura Lynne Jackson, the star of Episode 6
(“Are You Intuit?”), by attending a Goop conference for the
low price of $1,000.
Western medicine, except when it makes the Goopers
feel and look their best, is diminished.
Paltrow and Loehnen celebrate when
pharmaceuticals are fought off. Kate
Wolfson, the executive editor of Goop,
announces she can wean herself off her
anxiety drug after a weekend course
with Wim Hof, the E. coli guy. She’s met
with congratulations, proof that Goop’s
wildest claims outdo medical expertise.
(Wolfson did consult a doctor after the
experience.) In an effort to legitimize the
show, there are a few skeptics, but they
magically come around to the Goop way
by the end of each episode.
In a country where vaccination rates
are falling and public health emergen-
cies are increasingly common, praising
untested theories to millions of view-
ers is irresponsible, even if Goop claims
it’s just fulfilling a curiosity. “Medical
ideas should be studied before [they]
are offered to people as an option,” says
Dr. Jennifer Gunter, a gynecologist who’s
fought a digital campaign against the dis-
information she says Goop publishes.
Paltrow at least seems in on the joke
this go-around, unlike in Goop’s great jade-egg debacle of- (That resulted in a $145,000 fine for making false or
misleading claims about the benefits of inserting one into
the body.) The show’s poster features Paltrow standing in a
very vagina-like pink space. She acknowledges that surgery
is necessary when energy healing fails. And reacting to her
colleague’s exorcism, she turns their brand into an adjective:
“Could you, like, get any Goop-ier?”
A Netflix reality show turns
Gwyneth’s squad into guinea pigs
By Polly MosendzThe Goop
Troop