Behind the Gwyneth Paltrow backlash

Gwyneth Paltrow's new lifestyle/advice website, Goop.com, went up yesterday in preview form, but the backlash is already well underway. The site will be a collection of recommendations and musings from Gwyneth herself about things that make her life special.... but the road ahead looks bumpy for this little operation! It's not just that apparently no one wants to take life direction from the girl who has it all -- though that's a powerful thread in the criticism of the site. There are also some more basic technical problems, starting with the layout of the two-page site. It's not clear why she bothered to put it up with so little content on it. It feels like something that won an award for Web design in 1998.

We're given little but mottoes and flourishes. "Nourish the inner aspect," we're entreated. Er, but  "aspect" means "appearance to the eye or mind." Meaning, I think we're being told to nourish our inner superficiality.

The home page of Goop is bare and white, listing just a few categories in which Paltrow will offer said nourishment: Make, Go, Get, Do, Be, and See. Each has a little pastel-colored icon (a bike, a butterfly, etc.). Lots of people appreciate a clean-looking home page. But there's pared-down, and there's undernourished, and Gwyneth's page is just undernourished.

(Photo credit: AP/Peter Kramer.)

Strangely, each of the categories links to the same note from Gwyneth herself.

"GOOP, a collection of experiences," that note reads across the top, again striking a shallow note. Experiences don't seem meant to be collected, like bottles of perfume or vintage posters.

Then comes Gwyneth's own voice:

"My life is good because I am not passive about it. I want to nourish what is real, and I want to do it without wasting time. I love to travel, to cook, to take care of my body and mind, to work hard..."

One wants to give Paltrow the benefit of the doubt as she works out the kinks, but this website will involve a lot of writing, and in this little note she has not found a winning tone. She hits us with too many "I's," and she sounds preachy and rigid. It's great that she wants to "nourish what's real" -- but why follow that with "without wasting time?" Just figuring out what's real takes some people a lifetime. 

She ends with a rather demanding list of things we should do to get started making our own lives better:

"Invest in what's real. Cook a meal for someone you love. Pause before reacting. Clean out your space. Read something beautiful. Treat yourself to something.Go to a city you've never been to. Learn something new. Don't be lazy. Workout [sic] and stick with it. Goop. Make it great."

Maybe that "pause before reacting" was a nod to her critics, to give her site time to develop. Sadly for Paltrow, this is the web. Gawker rushed right in to make fun of the unlovely name "Goop," and Popeater whipped up a photo gallery of names Paltrow must have passed on (yes, including the obvious  scatological rhyme.) E! Online let it fly from sentence one: "Good news everyone, Gwyneth Paltrow is launching a lifestyle website -- because when life is as amazing as hers obviously is, it's selfish to keep all those fabulous secrets to yourself." Granted, says the blog fadedyouth, "being a rich actress with an equally rich rock star husband makes it a lot easier to spend your days reading novels, shopping at fancy stores, and traveling to exotic places."

That brings us back to the life-advice-from-a-star issue. Women are unlikely to line up to hear Paltrow explain how she has perfected the art of living. It's a tricky line you have to walk, if you want to advise the fair sex. You really ought to have suffered some sort of great hardship and loss. It also helps if you struggle ceaselessly with your weight, and it's a bonus if  your domestic arrangements are on the freakish side. As evidence, I offer this list of successful, beloved female advice purveyors: Oprah. Martha. Suze. Rosie. Tyra.

Not a rock star husband among them. Come to think of it, not a husband among them.

-- Maria Russo

Comments

[anon]

All Flash site? Yeah 1998.

[sickitten]

Congrats! A well written, astute article. Loved, just loved the ending sentence.

[Jim]

Goop -noun Informal.

a bad-mannered or inconsiderate person; clod; boor.

[Laura M.]

Apparently, the site isn't open, and this is intended to just be a "teaser." When you click on the option to sign up for the newsletter, there's a blurb that informs the reader they'll be notified when the site actually opens up.

[Howard]

I honestly don't understand why she doesn't have an editor read her stupid musings before she puts them up and makes herself look ignorant. As for the name, I think it's just her initials with two Os in the middle.

Here's what came in her newsletter:

Thanks for signing up for GOOP.

This website has been a long time in the making. I have thought about it for years and have been recording information and making notes for this very moment {This VERY moment! WOW!}, when I can begin to share it all with you. {You're too kind.}

This week we begin with MAKE. Cooking and food have become my main ancillary passion {"Main ancillary"? Can you sound more pretentious?} in life. This may strike some of you as odd, {PERIOD. Next sentence. "As"} as my friend Mark Bittman of the New York Times once told me, “you {Captial Y. "You"} have a terrible food reputation, {PERIOD. New sentence.} everyone thinks you eat some dry seaweed and a little brown rice.” How did this come to be? I suppose it was my rather strict {Put more "rathers" in there. It makes you sound smart.} four-year foray into macrobiotics. I am no longer so restrictive with my diet,{PERIOD. NEW SENTENCE!!} far from it. But some of the tenets {Is this a religion or philosophy? How freaky!} of macrobiotics have stayed with me and they always will. I try to eat locally, seasonally and always organically. I don’t eat processed foods or red meat and I try to stay away from sugar and dairy but I have a major cheese weakness and, well, you only live once. {God, this sentence terrible.}

These first two recipes are ones that I make all the time. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. {Don't count on it, sister.}

[Joanna]

I think the only thing that really comes out of this, and similar articles on the topic, is pure green envy. Nobody is forcing you to sign up. Why shouldn't Gwyneth get to have her own website? Goodness knows there's enough trash on millions of blogs out there, but because she's famous people just have to comment negatively despite the fact that the content is just fun and light. The author of this article seems to have really gone through the site with a comb to find enough that she disliked to actually make a full article. Come on, get over it, and find something more worthwhile to write about! And maybe even something that doesn't make you come out sounding so bitter and mean-spirited.

[Rosa]

Yes, Joanna, I too think the author above sounds bitter and frustrated. Why else should especially women envy Gwyneth Paltrow for her integrity, beauty, intelligence and healthy lifestyle? Even for her marriage? - The GOOP-website clearly is just a teaser so far, but last week I received the first newsletter with lots of inspiration for people who like to ponder different world views and think about making the world a better place!

[Alexis]

I don't see what's so bad about it. Goop seemed cute to me at first glance, and I automatically thought it was just a "teaser" before it actually opened up. I'm always interested in learning more, and if Paltrow has ideas and tips for Making, Going, Getting, Doing, Being, and Seeing, I'm all for it! There should be more websites like that, with a classy (to me, at least) and simple appearance, that can offer activities for people.

[Lulis]

GP or ¨GooP¨ is such an attention seeker that I am not surprised that she has her own lifestyle website. I just dont understand why some people suggest that women are jealous of her: She is a terrible actress who won the most undeserved Oscar ever (ask anyone who knows a little bit about cinema), she is totally incoherent...one day she suggests that she is too good for blockbusters, the next day she is on ironman...give me a break!!! On top of it, she is now training her kids to be obsessed about fashion just like she is... (the kids are like 2 y. old and already wear sunglasses)....
Anyway, I think she is pathetic and I hate those gossip magazines but I do stop when I see that there is something about her, because it amuses me.... For me she is a living joke!!!

[erika]

Why is there so much negativity towards someone who is sharing information openly? Isn't that what the internet and life is about? It is unfortunate that when someone who has accomplished and learned so much tries to share it, enthusiastically and unpretentiously, others attack this as condescending or out of touch. No wonder most people who accomplish so much tend to gate themselves off, to avoid the resentment and jealous attacks. Good for Gwyneth for not removing herself from the conversation and staying involved and interested in life, and for sharing a part of her good fortune, ideas, and wisdom. If others are not wise enough to recognize this, then they won't gain from it anyway. I admire her for trying new things in life outside of acting and staying inside a gated community. Just because her approach is not done for sensational attention for her personal life and problems does not make her any less relatable than anyone else. Good for her for not using her private life, and not letting it be used, for publicity. She draws the line in a healthy way, and we should all have the utmost respect, instead of clawing at her for negative revelations and ugly press!!!!!!! I have always admired her acting and public comportment, and her strong values. Do not mess with a great public role model, who is putting herself out there voluntarily. Have some respect!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Allison Gayle]

I just read a few of the news letters... in the words of Jack Nicholson from "As Good as it Gets"... "Good times and noodle salad.... good times and noodle salad".

[Otto]

Should be called PooP! Who wants to listen to a spoiled woman talking about what a great Socialist contry France is. Stay over there Ms. Paltrow

[Erin]

I thought the site was very nice to read without all the clutter that distracts like most websites have. Refreshing and easy to look at. I'm perfectly willing to read the thoughts and musings of someone even if they are thinner, prettier, and richer that me. As far as her being happily married, that is a good thing remember? Everyone has something to share and we all can learn from anyone's experiences. If you don't like what she has to present to you never have to visit her website again. Why take all this time to criticize it so harshly when it really boils down to the eye of the beholder and said eye can simply look elsewhere if it is displeased. I enjoy the opportunity to learn something from a person who lives a life very different from my own, giving her a perspective I can only read about.

[Greta]

The problem with "Goop" (or a dumbed down version of "Beet") is that the world is experiencing a horrible economic situation right now. It is not the best time to launch a site that praises luxury items or superficial lifestyles, especially when related with such cloying (in)sincerity and *no* sense of humour! That is why this woman goes over with many women like a lead balloon, not because she has a husband. The thing connecting Oprah, Rosie, et al, is that they all came from "regular backgrounds" and thus can make comparisons. When you have had very little contact with the great unwashed masses your *entire* existence how can you interact with them, even online? Or, in the case of this woman, why does she want to based on her track record?

And to address the default comment of everyone....why would anyone want this woman's life or be jealous, really? I can't imagine that void, and if it was so wonderful she would keep it a secret, right, people? With this website she also has made apparent the paucity of contact she really does have. Sad.

[Wade]

I, for one, have never liked her because she seems to take herself too seriously, or at least that is her public image. She really needs to watch what she posts on her site in order not to perpetuate that image, especially now that the rich and entitled are in the doghouse. Kathy Griffin has turned mocking the self-important GooP into an art form.