Since it’s acknowledged by Noam Chomsky in the trailer that today he’s very nearly a forgotten figure, I don’t feel that ashamed over my admittedly near total lack of awareness of Paul Goodman. Having said that, I saw posters for Paul Goodman Changed My Life at Occupy Wall Street, dialed up the trailer online and now I can’t wait to see it:

Paul Goodman’s 1960 best-seller, Growing Up Absurd, became a cornerstone of countercultural thinking, alongside books like The Medium Is The Message, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, and The Feminine Mystique. Goodman was a polymath: a poet, essayist, playwright, and psychotherapist. He was candid about his bisexuality while maintaining a marriage and raising two children. Jonathan Lee weaves together old and new footage of those who extol Goodman’s virtues, as well as his adamant detractors (often one and the same), including Grace Paley, Ned Rorem, Deborah Meier, William F. Buckley, Susan Sontag, and Judith Malina. An abrasive and contradictory figure, Goodman’s influence was nonetheless immense. Today, much of what passes as common knowledge in the fields of education, politics, psychology, urban planning, civil rights, and sexual politics was first posited by him nearly half a century ago.

Paul Goodman Changed My Life directed by Jonathan Lee is screening currently at Film Forum in New York. Check here for upcoming screenings across the country.