Paul Goodman Changed My Life
He wrote frequently for the New York Review of Books, championed gay rights before there was a gay rights movement, and wrote one of the seminal book of the anti-war era, Growing Up Absurd. His influence on the New Left is undeniable—he has been cited by the likes of Susan Sontag, Noam Chomsky, and John Judis—and for all we know he is responsible for everyone wearing those half-frame glasses. And yet, we’ve never heard of him. (Unless you have, then in that case, this movie is still probably for you!)
Through talking head interviews with intellectuals, family members, and friends, interwoven with archival footage, Jonathan Lee’s Paul Goodman Changed My Life is an autobiographical account of a man whose life has largely been forgotten—despite the fact that Susan Sontag said: “There is no living American writer for whom I have felt the same simple curiosity to read as quickly as possible anything he wrote, on any subject.” (Though his views on women complicated their relationship, as her writings on Goodman indicate.) Focusing largely on his time in New York during the 1950s and ’60s, the film is a labour of love to Goodman, who passed away in 1972. It is the first feature by Jonathan Lee who, having grown up reading Goodman, years later revisited his connection trying to determine his (nameless) legacy.
Formally, this documentary won’t change your life, but Goodman’s story is one that merits being told.