Paul Goodman Changed My Life

About The Film

In this engrossing and eminently watchable biography, director Jonathan Lee rediscovers one of the most influential American thinkers of the latter half of the 20th century who inspired the 1960s New Left. A seminal and multifaceted figure that defied portfolio, Paul Goodman was a social critic and writer, an openly bisexual family man, and a heavyweight among a circle of literary New York Jewish intellectuals. His most famous work, Growing Up Absurd, influenced a generation raging against a culture of moral arrogance. A striking treasure trove of archival materials, plentiful footage of Goodman himself, plus testimonials of family and peers offer invaluable perspective on a larger-than-life, often cantankerous personality. In an age where activism and revolution are on the rise again, PAUL GOODMAN CHANGED MY LIFE is a reminder of the dangers of complacency and the power of ideas.