TV Review – Paul T. Goldman

Paul T. Goldman (Peacock)
Written by Paul T. Goldman
Directed by Jason Woliner

The “reality television” genre has never been anywhere close to reality. The place you find reality on screen will always be in the documentary form, and even then, a director or editor can shape things to fit the narrative they want. We do the same in our lives every single day. We mentally emphasize & ignore various things because of how they make us, curating a perspective on the world that suits us. There is always a tension, though, between the perception & the real, cracks forming in our psyche as unpleasant things burrow their way in, eventually becoming undeniable. How you handle those unpleasant things defines you, whether you sink into despair or try to connect with others to process them. Paul T. Goldman, in the guise of a true crime series, is actually the exploration of these themes. How do we handle a lifetime of hurt and keep living? Do we hurt others? Do we invent stories that make us the hero? 

The series begins one way but ends very differently. Paul T. Goldman (the pen name of Paul Finkelman) was an unremarkable man in his 40s who decided to look for love in the 2000s as the online dating scene was blooming. Through a Jewish singles site, he meets Audrey (names have been changed), and after a short courtship, the two are married. Almost right away, there are problems, and Paul becomes suspicious of Audrey’s insistence on checks for her health insurance. Paul eventually comes to believe his wife is part of an international sex trafficking ring run by her pimp, Royce Rocco (also an altered name). Through re-enactments and Paul’s to-camera interviews, the story of his investigation unfolds. However, throughout the telling, something seems off; some gaps raise questions. By the end, the show becomes something wholly different.

It’s tricky to talk about this show without spoilers. I will attempt to do so, but at specific points, I may need to share details. By the end of these six episodes, my feelings about Paul could not be more complicated. There is a part of me with great sympathy & empathy for him. I also feel revulsion in part because of how cringingly embarrassing he is at times & also because he did some really horrible things based on delusional presumptions he had. That’s the intent of the series, though, to make things appear complicated but digestible and slowly introduce more wrinkles until the audience has significant doubts about Paul’s entire story. Around the halfway mark, we see Paul suggesting better directions for scenes that go in the opposite direction of the “truth” he’s told so far.

There have been myriad reactions to the show from people praising it as something akin to Nathan Fielder’s work (I agree with those takes), that Paul is actually an actor pretending to be a real person, and that director Jason Woliner was being unnecessarily cruel to someone who appears to be neurodivergent. As a neurodivergent person, I will admit I felt tension when the series began to probe Paul’s upbringing. His father seems to be a cold, judgmental man, and Paul clearly feels distance from him. There’s a profound lack of self-awareness on the surface, which is peeled back by the end. Paul does see himself in a very negative light; he dislikes his own emotions and seeks to suppress them. This leads to him projecting a hollow, happy-go-lucky persona. The truth begins to emerge as Paul is enthralled in this Hollywood reproduction of his story.

While Paul and Woliner collaborated for a decade in developing this project, Paul sees himself as the one in the director’s chair. It’s not uncommon for him to suggest changes to a scene and then coerce Woliner into doing it. Woliner is no airhead, though; he’s intentionally giving Paul a sense of freedom to coax more of the authentic person out. Our protagonist is desperate to make the world of his imagination material so he can live in it to some extent. Paul knows this is just a TV show, but he’s giddy that the fantasies that played out in his mind are things he’s living through. However, he lacks awareness of his acting ability, one of the chief comic elements of the show. His reactions are forced & exaggerated, and it’s a credit to the other actors in the show that they could keep a straight face as well as they did.

Much of what happens in Paul’s mind directly relates to the political ideas I frequently discuss on this site. He emphasizes how much he hates the drudgery of a typical 9 to 5 job. His former cubicle in an insurance office is referenced several times as an example of how down and out he felt. It’s also not uncommon for neurodivergent people to not be able to mesh with the standard style of Western capitalist labor. We need more frequent breaks, and we work erratically – sometimes hyper-focused and others unable to lock into the task; the social aspects of an office workplace can be particularly overwhelming. I was a primary school teacher, so most of my day consisted of interactions with children who were very direct in their communication. It was the adults who gave me the biggest headaches, implying they wanted something but never being explicit about it. So, I can empathize with Paul in this area.

Paul has made himself buy into the delusion of American escapist media, though. The escape route from the slog of office labor comes in the form of comforting lies and an inflated ego. Paul imagines himself as a globe-trotting agent of justice. In these delusions, he’s also desired by every woman he crosses paths with. Nothing Paul has written exhibits love, though. The relationships with these women are about having a family or getting sex. He mentions early on that the mail-order bride he met while on a trip to Russia wasn’t a supermodel and essentially that she would do. We eventually saw this woman, and I thought she was lovely; maybe not a “supermodel,” but that’s such a distorted, gross standard. Paul is no great beauty based on the same superficial standards he uses, and in this way, he plays into the continued chauvinist narratives. Paul authentically loves his son, whom he has with this same mail-order bride during their brief marriage. That was the one aspect of love that felt real, but even then, his son left to go live with his mom once he reached adolescence. 

There is an effort to determine who the ‘hero’ of this story is. I don’t think anyone meets that criteria, but neither is anyone the villain here. What we have in the final episode are the stories of disparate, sad, lonely, broken people. They hurt each other because they never saw any other way of living in this world modeled for them. Everyone wants to be “happy,” but they can’t really articulate what that is beyond superficial hedonism. Money. Sex. Being liked. The approach to get these things is rooted in failure because it comes from an individualistic mindset. Paul doesn’t speak about these women with an iota of respect. Audrey certainly used him for the easy money, but we learn he wasn’t unique in that regard. 

Perhaps creating a society of solipsistic people whose greatest passions were directed into consumerism wasn’t a good idea, hm? That will never lead to a world where people look out for each other and are good at listening & supporting people through difficult times. When a person becomes “too difficult,” our penchant is so often to discard them because, in the end, they are “ruining the vibe.” Paul T. Goldman is a natural outcome of a shallow culture, one where our heroes are fiction on the big screen, toxic masculine nonsense. But, being honest, I have to say I felt sorry for Paul because I, too, have been like that at some point in my life. I’m thankful I chanced upon the right people and had a mind open to read texts that challenged my presumptions. I’m better for it. I don’t imagine Paul will be changing like that anytime soon.