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Film: Paul Goodman Changed My Life (2011)

Cast includes: Paul Goodman, William F Buckley, Susan Sontag, Noam Chomsky, Judith Malina
Director: Jonathan Lee (first feature film)
Genre: Documentary (90 minutes)
DVD Release: Mid April 2012

William F. Buckley tells his viewers, “Paul Goodman is everything, except… as far as I know… a basketball player.” “The great unrecognized genius of our time,” says The Living Theatre's Judith Malina. Those of us who have never heard of Paul Goodman need to start with some labels… poet, philosopher, pacifist, activist, psychotherapist, environmentalist, anarchist…. Some, however, would start by labeling his personality and lifestyle… homosexual, bisexual, rumpled, funny, difficult, generous, brave, infuriating…. Goodman was a hugely prolific writer, and many who say he changed their lives know him only through his published works.

In 1960, Goodman’s book, Growing Up Absurd: Problems of Youth in the Organized Society, became the college students' bible and made him “the guru of the new left.” Goodman was known among intellectual thinkers as far back as the late 1930s. Many of those interviewed in the film comment on his bravery… even his often stupid bravery. Never afraid of going out on a limb… unapologetically living as a bisexual in the 1940s, for example… Goodman seemed to resist all pressure to conform. So when a publisher approached Goodman to write a book about the problem of juvenile delinquency in America, Goodman instead wrote a book about the problem of America trying to impose social norms on its youth. Growing Up Absurd put Goodman on the map for those beyond the "New York intellectual" inner circle. Again and again, people say “Paul Goodman changed my life,” yet today, Paul Goodman is largely unheard of.

First-time filmmaker, Jonathan Lee, wants to introduce us to a man who changed his life through his writings. So by combining interviews of Goodman’s friends/family with archival footage, Lee gives us a sense of Goodman’s impact on people who knew him personally and those who knew him by reading him. We’re not likely to come away from the film feeling we really know Paul Goodman… the film only whets our appetite to read and discuss Goodman. Random House is planning to republish Growing Up Absurd, so that may be a good starting place. A lot has changed since Goodman died  in 1972, but many of his issues are just as relevant. As we watch in dismay what’s going on in America, Goodman’s utopian view resonates… “restore sustentative democracy rather than formal democracy.”

2 popped kernels

An intriguing invitation to learn about the most influential man you’ve never heard of

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