Goop update
I’ve seen it– have YOU???
Hello and good afternoon, New Day!
You may recall that I sent out a message and a blog a couple of weeks ago about an impending Netflix documentary episode about the type of care we offer, Network Spinal.
Many of us practitioners had caught wind that this was happening, and despite some excitement were mainly bracing ourselves to potentially feel upset or disappointed by the way the work was likely to be presented and sensationalized for a mainstream audience.
I got the chance to watch– it’s episode 5 of Gwyneth Paltrow’s “The goop Lab”– about a week ago.
I have been happy to report to many of you that I was very pleasantly surprised and happy with the episode!
Network Spinal was represented well, and fairly accurately by practitioner Dr. John Amaral. Sure, Gwyneth Paltrow was a bit annoying in the episode, but that was to be expected and really did not detract from the overall quality. I am SO EXCITED for more people in Chicago and all over the world to find out about the work from watching this documentary.
Now as you might imagine, there have of course been some negative reviews and commentary on the documentary.
Donny Epstein, who as you might imagine is quite particular when it comes to how Network is presented and described, has given the episode his endorsement, with the caveat that the work Dr. Amaral is doing doesn’t necessarily represent exactly what Donny has been teaching most recently.
Gwyneth Paltrow, as we know, is a bit of an easy target for ridicule.
Even some of you have shared that you were left feeling that there needs to be more evidence to support holistic healing (and I am excited to share with you the article I link to below!)
But for the most part, I have viewed criticism from the public as mainly a “haters gonna hate” type of situation, where basically no matter how good of a job was done presenting the work, the people who are going to have a negative reaction to this WILL have a negative reaction basically no matter what.
We live in a very medical society, where traditionally anything that hasn’t been “proven” has to be coated in warnings and caveats, as though the viewer and potential consumer can’t be trusted to make up their own minds (and as though mainstream medicine has SUCH a great track record of safe and efficacious treatments!)
Today though, in the New York Times, there was an opinion article on the series that was a wonderful, refreshing, breath of fresh air. I am so thankful I saw this today (thank you Carla D.)!
The article, in the February 3rd 2020 New York Times Opinion section, is called “Who’s Afraid of Gwyneth Paltrow and Goop; The Long History of Hating on Woo” argues persuasively that these knee-jerk, negative reactions come from a long history, and a big business, of dismissive, and often sexist, characterizations of what we now call alternative healing.
You can read the article in it’s entirety by clicking here.
If that doesn’t work, this is the web address: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/03/opinion/goop-gwyneth-paltrow-netflix.html
The authors write, “Throughout history, women in particular have been mocked, reviled, and murdered for maintaining knowledge and practices that frightened, confused, and confounded “the authorities.” (Namely the church, and later, medicine). Criticism of Goop is founded, at least in part, upon deeply ingrained reserves of fear, loathing, and ignorance about things we cannot see, touch, authenticate, prove, own, or quantify. It is emblematic of a cultural insistence that we quash intuitive measures and “other” ways of knowing — the sort handed down via oral tradition, which, for most women throughout history, was the only way of knowing. In other words, it’s classic patriarchal devaluation.”
This is a thought provoking critique of the critiquers, and one I truly appreciate!
If you read the article, I would love your feedback, especially on how this makes you feel about your care at New Day. Click here to tell us what you think!
