If you think a $27 bottle of “Psychic Vampire Repellent” sounds like something out of a “Twilight” movie, you would not be alone, but you would be wrong. Vampire repellent is just one of the many bizarre products for sale from Gwyneth Paltrow’s company: Goop.
The Goop Lab is a new documentary series on Netflix that fits right alongside the likes of “What The Health” and “The Magic Pill.” All three of these health-oriented documentaries give viewers medical advice that is questionable at best. Some doctors have indeed questioned them, with more than one doctor asking that “The Magic Pill” be removed from Netflix for claiming that a ketogenic diet could potentially cure cancer.
“What The Health” has received similar criticism, notably for saying that eating one egg is equivalent to smoking five cigarettes. Both “What The Health” and “The Magic Pill” have been discredited in the two years following their releases, but what about “The Goop Lab”, which is airing right now?
Goop’s current project, “The Goop Lab” on Netflix, is just as problematic as their previous ventures. On the show, a range of health professionals and doctors help Paltrow explore homeopathic solutions to real problems that are available for purchase on the Goop website. Before the show starts, a disclaimer appears saying, “The following is designed to entertain and inform —not provide medical advice.” Despite this disclaimer, the show is full of medical advice. One of the apparently real doctors on the show says, “Just because something isn’t proven doesn’t mean it doesn’t work.”
In one episode of “The Goop Lab”, a chiropractor named John Amaral administers a healing session to two Goop staff members. Amaral claims that this healing is supported by science and is able to affect physical health through one’s consciousness. Throughout the episode people claim to have let go of past trauma, or understood things like the divorce of their parents after having Amaral wave his hands around them. Amaral and his colleagues give off the impression that it is easy to overcome these complex mental health issues through some simple healing. If only it really were that easy.
“The Goop Lab” trivializes the struggle of those who actually face these issues, and it gives false hope to people who feel helpless to their situation.
The most disturbing part about “The Goop Lab” is that college students may be the group that is most influenced by the false information the show puts out. Though we are being taught to be skeptical of pseudoscience, we are also learning about healthy habits and how to deal with personal issues. One sophomore named Peter Wogan said, “I think it’s pretty obvious when something is completely wrong, but it is annoying that Netflix is just okay with lies on their service. I think people who are maybe less educated could be convinced to spend money on things that don’t work or change their habits in a bad way.”
Gwyneth Paltrow might not be intentionally deceiving people, but telling people their lifelong trauma can be cured in only a few moments is disingenuous. Netflix is also at fault for allowing “The Goop Lab”, “The Magic Pill”and “What The Health” to present false information as science on their platform. In the end, it is up to the viewer to stay informed and skeptical, but we should also let Netflix know we do not support this kind of false pseudoscience.
