Netflix recently produced a reprehensible documentary series on “The Goop Lab”. It amounted to an advertisement for Gwyneth Paltrow’s unscientific approach to wellness and a paean to gullibility. It takes on psychedelic mushrooms, breathing techniques to develop cold tolerance, achieving orgasm, anti-aging claims, energy healing, and intuition (including communicating with the dead). All are presented in a “gee whiz” fashion with no discussion of actual evidence and no input from skeptics. When I heard that another new Netflix documentary, (Un)Well would feature both pros and cons for various alternative medicine modalities, I hoped for something more balanced. As I watched it, my hopes were promptly crushed. I’m sure they meant well, and they made an effort to follow the journalistic mantra of fairly presenting both sides of controversial issues, but they failed miserably.
Each episode begins with the message that it is designed to entertain and inform, not to provide medical advice. They ask, “Wellness: does it bring health and healing, or are we falling victim to false promises?” But they don’t answer that question. The “evidence” for health and healing is purely anecdotal, presented by credulous patients and practitioners, often charismatic individuals whose beliefs are presented through emotional stories that tug at the heartstrings. These hopeful stories alternate with more sober statements by experts saying that the evidence for effectiveness just isn’t there and the treatments are often harmful, but these segments are shorter and mostly presented by less charismatic individuals. I think the average viewer is likely to remember the enthusiasm of the believers, discount the warnings, and want to try the treatment for themselves, “just in case”.
