LOUIS THEROUX S/D

Louis Theroux is awesome, the one when he goes to the US and talks to this incredibly racist and homophobic dude, and he starts raving about how good Are You Being Served was? Louis starts asking him if he likes the John Inman character and he gets very uncomfortable indeed.

he also hangs with Marshall Sylver, a Las Vegas-based self-help 'guru' who is obviously bilking people...

...meets some paedophiles.

A very interesting programme I thought.

very interesting... i only caught the end of it. you found yourself (as is the case with a lot of louis' docs in that they do at least try to show two sides) somehow actually sympathising with the odd pedo. i thought the guy who castrated himself really was reformed to all extents and purposes. then again there were some pretty deluded pedos on there, like the glasses/ponytail guy (and what's with all these pedos going round looking like pedos anyway? i think the first rule in that place should be "no big glasses, pontails or pointy goatees") towards the end was in complete denial about what he'd done.

yeah it was good but he seemed reluctant to get as close to his subjects as he has in most of the others.

(and what's with all these pedos going round looking like pedos anyway?)

^^otm

what a clusterfuck the whole place/situation is.

Even the castrated paedo was fairly suspect, notice every time he talks about his crimes he is as circumspect as possible, using third person and passive voicing.

His badgering of the guy at the end to reveal the gory details about his crimes was shocking - the man has already been found guilty of them and served his time and undergone therapy etc etc but he's somehow "not facing up to what he did" unless he goes into the details on TV?

Some of the things going on were frankly bizarre - "we're going to show you a wee girl in a bikini playing with a water hose and see if your dick gets any bigger" WTF?

Is it possible to "reform" someone who likes fucking little children into someone you want living in your street? I don't want to get all tabloidy "lynch the paediatricians!" about it but I think I'd struggle to convince myself that someone with that sort of history could ever be 100% safe around kids.

(and what's with all these pedos going round looking like pedos anyway?)

Yeah a shave and a set of contact lenses would help with the "I'm a reformed character!" appeals :)

I guess I can sort of understand that though, assuming that castration does remove paedo impulses completely it must seem to him almost like it was a different person doing those things?

xpost that arousalometer was really fucking weird yeah

i can imagine opening up to a uk camera crew about commiting one of the most inexcusable crimes that a human can carry out would involve a certain amount of detachment. the castrated guy seems fairly open but he's probably had to have removed himself from his past life in order to come to terms with what he is and how he wants to be. the ponytail paedo otoh was verging on the arrogant really, completely in denial about his crimes.

xpost

I think I've read in the past that castration does not necessarily reform a child abuser. Would make sense since part of what they get off on is the power/abuse part of it and not necessarily the purely sexual aspect.

Yeah I wasn't sure about that, are there cases of castrated paedophiles reoffending? In fact how many paedophiles are castrated, it's not something that's normally done is it? Does it have to be voluntary?

Sorry to be all 20 paedo questions.

my favourite bit was the paedo-choir in which about 15 peados and a paedo pianist (paedo-nist?) sang this awkward meandering tune that didn't seem to have any repeating sections or memorable bits. classic paedo-viewing. also the addams family theme.

Taking my vast experience from some tv show I half-watched once castration is voluntary, extremely rare, and there have been re-offenders after voluntary castration. In the show they only mentioned chemical castration however, and not actual castration as in the case of the guy on this show.

i thought his special on the maximum security prison in the states was pretty good too, didn't catch the one last night.

I thought one of the most interesting things was that it at least had a go at looking at the problem of what you actually do with people like this if you don't string 'em up or keep them in prison for ever. As someone who opposes the death penalty and who also doesn't think it's a good idea to have huge prisons full of peadophiles locked up until they die, it's something I haven't really thought through because..erm...it's someone elses problem. So it was good, one, to have to face the reality of my liberal sensibilities and two, to see the people whose problem it actually is (not the offenders, although, obviously, it's their problem as well).

Heh, I've just thought anyone opening this thread and skipping to the end may think we're talking about what's to be done about Louis Theroux...

my gf worked for two summers in a secure unit (in or around watford i think, not sure) that held a lot of convicted child abusers- it was a constant struggle to keep them in, as there were constant legal challenges etc to justify their continued incarceration- every now and again there'd be a successful appeal, but most of them were back in within a few weeks after being caught hanging round schools and the like. most of the staff were certainly in favour of life terms.

you found yourself (as is the case with a lot of louis' docs in that they do at least try to show two sides) somehow actually sympathising with the odd pedo

I think at one point in the programme Louis said that one the thing's that made him uncomfortable was that some the behavior he was seeing was typical of some paedophiles when 'grooming' their victims.

There was a really weird moment were Louis asked a guy what he was in for and he said, 'date rape'. The guy in question was mixing some kind of punch for their Halloween party and then was all, 'Hey Louis, wanna try some?'

this was a bit boring, generally. i liked the the doctor woman with the glasses and therapy-speak, nearly as creepy as some of the paedos, on such a power trip.

louis should have played it for lols a bit more.

There was a really weird moment were Louis asked a guy what he was in for and he said, 'date rape'. The guy in question was mixing some kind of punch for their Halloween party and then was all, 'Hey Louis, wanna try some?'

― Mr Raif, Monday, 20 April 2009 17:39 (1 hour ago) Bookmark

"there's no rohypnol in it, is there? just kidding!"

this was a bit boring, generally.

I think, possibly, that this was how it should be. Not great entertainment maybe.

I mean I didn't really find it boring but I then I'm slightly obsessed with crime and punishment.

I prefer The Idiot

i just watched the pedophile one. i liked it except the awkward shit at the end where he's badgering the "reformed" guy but there are always those weird parts in his shows. loved the pedo-choir & the halloween party. wtf @ the penis measuring thing though.

also that fucking guy with the long hair, ew. pedophiles.

I've never seen any of this guy's stuff, would really love to after reading that interview re: the Phelps family.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42745000/jpg/_42745223_family_bbc203.jpg

^^^!!!!LOL

I sat behind LT on a plane to Vegas once. He was v nice!

Was he goign to make this programme I wonder?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007957z

what do you mean?

Erm...I mean if he was on a plane going to Vegas maybe he was on his way to film the programme mentioned in that link.

hahaha

When was that episode made? This was in 2004 so I don't know.

first TX June 2007, it says on that webpage

Probably was just going for the hookers and gambling then.

Louis Theroux: The City Addicted to Crystal Meth - tonight on BBC2 (and then on iplayer presumably).

There was a really weird moment were Louis asked a guy what he was in for and he said, 'date rape'. The guy in question was mixing some kind of punch for their Halloween party and then was all, 'Hey Louis, wanna try some?'

― Mr Raif, Monday, 20 April 2009 17:39 (1 hour ago) Bookmark

"there's no rohypnol in it, is there? just kidding!"

― max arrrrrgh, Monday, 20 April 2009 18:07 (3 months ago)

i honestly can't remember if louis said that or i just made it up.

i love that there's a feature in the radio times explaining what crystal meth is

uh, this is depressing. might have to wall-e instead tbh.

*watch

that was his best doc in years

Great but depressing bit of work. Normally with these documentaries there's usually the hint of something more hopeful in the future, just didn't get it with this. Even Louis looked shocked and uncomfortable at some of the squalor he encountered.

Couldn't believe how much that long time user looked and sounded like George Bush.

I was thinking, when he was at that BBQ with the dealers, what a dangerous situation it was that he'd put himself in. I don't know how these programmes are made, but presumably it was just Louis with a cameraman and a soundman?

I'm not sure his style/personality really works for documentaries like this, he always seems ironised or removed and a bit emotionless which works with the kooks and freaks of wrestling or gambling but seems a bit off with something as sad as this

Just watching the Dirty South episode. Theroux and Master P is certainly a meeting of the minds.

Louis meets America's Medicated Kids

Thought this one was pretty good and suited his style a lot better than paedophiles and people addicted to crystal meth. He has another one airing soon, 'Law and Disorder in Lagos'.

Just watching the Dirty South episode. Theroux and Master P is certainly a meeting of the minds.

― "i find your antics mirthful and infectious" (King Boy Pato), Wednesday, October 14, 2009

fans of this ep may wanna check out

http://themartorialist.blogspot.com/2010/03/odyssey-to-find-mello-t.html

http://themartorialist.blogspot.com/2010/04/odyssey-to-find-mello-t-part-2.html

I need a picture of Louis' gangsta album cover with him regally stroking a cat.

I was on the bus yesterday, reading a newspaper over someone's shoulder, and there was an article by Theroux where he revealed that he was Nick Clegg's fag at public school. "When you say 'I want you to clean my shoes' what exactly do you mean by that? (awkward pause)"

xp
http://cdn.static.ovimg.com/episode/362934.jpg

props to you sir! that is fantastic

6ft 2 in the compact, no slack
luckily the seats go back

Westboro Baptist Church - big Lady Gaga fans

another good show I thought, but I always end up with more questions than answers

Enjoyed LT descending into openly mocking the crazed filmmaker convert guy by the end - "well the Bible would say that wouldn't it"

The little gay Asian guy coulda been a documentary of his own, poor guy was so uncomfortable in his own skin

I know. Our Joel was all righteous teenage anger but I said to him "these people are just really deluded, not evil". I like it when Louis is upfront with his hosts and avoids that non-committal doubletalk thing.

Their justification for Obama being the Antichrist was pretty solid

Popular guy, powerful, doing the work of the Devil. Could be Charlie Sheen I guess.

he's done a second Westboro episode? did they welcome him back into the house again or?

Yeah, follow-up show cos several members have left since the first one. Relations were cordial but suspicious, for the most part.

cousin of the oirish villain in charlie's angels 2, which surprised me

Cool, look forward to it hitting the youtubes.

not Charlie's Angels 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ticxD0GfewA&feature=player_embedded

u crazy charlie's angels 2 is the best

ty #0

This is worth watching with a thumb on the pause button, to catch the rival protesters signs. The best ones I managed to catch were "Tits or GTFO" and "Magnets: how do they work?"

The handiwork of Anonymous going by the Guy Fawkes mask

it's a shame they didn't spend more time interviewing the two girls who had left the church. Lauren, particularly, seemed like she had a lot more to say.

Yeah, she was pretty eloquent, but I did pessimistically wonder if they'd kept it sneakily short because leaving her on for ten minutes might have led to the depressing revelation that she'd only dialed back to a less batshit brand of bigotry - was possibly thinking of the similar recent non-Louis Amish doc where the family basically defected/got excommunicated and just went out and found different (in that case actually worse) ways of expressing their fanaticism

The time constraints led to it being framed as a debate between Humanist Louis and blinded-by-rage liberal students on one side and a cult of radge quasi-Christians on the other, and he had to frequently acknowledge the minimal chance of them ever having enough common ground to not argue past each other - when he first went in 06 did he involve any marginally less mental Christians as a comparison? The kicker with the Westboro people is that they're the people even right wing fundamentalist Christians think are nuts, right??

neone watching him on bbc2 now in some american jail

i am and i'm just glad i ain't there.
That poor lad with the glasses :(

I take it back about poor lad o_O

theroux always asks several more questions than most ppl would

little lad w/ glasses 'i'm not a violent person but what happened was an overtly violent thing' (!)

"Eat it up or right it up" classic!

"write" even

'hey harry potter i know you'

http://www.whosarrested.com/florida/miami-dade-county/miami/tgkcc/122704-nianthony-martinez

that was his best programme yet i think, terrifying and heartbreaking and enraging in equal measures.

I saw that and wondered why it said 1st Degree Murder - wasn't it only attempted murder? Reading about the case makes him seem less Harry Potter-ish.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2008/05/friends-charged.html

Also, on the same site, is an explanation (I think) for why he was accused of trying to escape. Seems he was released accidentally and instead of saying "surely some mistake", he walked out and was free for 3 days before being re-arrested.
http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2008/05/two-accused-in.html

good programme

Louis always asks several more q's, granted, but imo he's getting better dealing with these guys? Questions more relaxed/direct, gets better response

xp - yes, and I felt all those things often as he talked to one inmate.

Interesting times for the US penal system.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13508182

that was his best programme yet i think, terrifying and heartbreaking and enraging in equal measures.

― Deeez Nuuults (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 24 May 2011 11:26 (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this.

yeah, there was no discernible snark. whether that was the subject matter or the very real possibility of getting a doing i don't know.

xpz And, of course, the same (to a lesser degree) can be said about the UK system.

http://miamiherald.typepad.com/gaysouthflorida/2008/05/friends-charged.html

I did a double take when I opened that link as Steve Rothaus is the double of Louis Theroux.

Louis and friends get down -- in 1990:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taUqt_E0aOs

He looks like Where's Wally in that clip when he has his hat on.

good stuff.

Buxton/Cornish/Theroux OTM

look like the beastie boys

mysterious organ

this gonzo dude is SO MUCH LIKE richard lewis on curb yr enthusiasm

except with more of an emphasis on pornography

It's unbelievable how much that guy aged in between the two movies. I literally didn't know people actually went to prison on obscenity charges!

he was pretty crazily coked up in the modern-day interview, right?

that would be the less worrying possibility

monte and his gf kagney/cagney (?) were quite touching tho

yeah, definitely. Louis makes excellent documentaries, his interview technique always yields much sharp material.

Favourite bit was the haggard cokefiend calling him "Louis Thorax"

Louis Thorax is not a bad pornstar name tbh

Louis Shag-her

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGnws3TAkSw

Foods chimpanzees eat:

• Mexican
• Chinese
• Ro-Tel dip
• hot dip
• spicy things
• pork rinds
• hot pork rinds
• Doritos

^^^ needs to be a poll

always loved louis but he's stepped it up massively with the more recent specials

some of tonight's was really difficult to watch

What was the new one about?

BBC Two @BBCTwo · 29 mrt.
Louis Theroux continues his examination of the grey area between criminal actions & medical symptoms at 9pm tonight.
Saw the announcement, didn't see the episode :-/

Trevor MacDonald's definitely got into Louis' are(n)a thesedays, with his "Mafia" series, that's on tonight episode 2 btw.

Thought last night's one about transgender kids was really good, with the caveat that I know nothing about trans issues so maybe there were glaring problems with it that I missed. He was v good with the kids and parents I thought.

That surgeon's hair though...

Found the "By Reason of Insanity" two-parter to be simultaneously fascinating and maybe his most exploitative thing yet. Long, torturous discussions of shocking crimes as told by the perpetrators for no reason good enough to justify them.

There's a surprising, uncomfortably funny moment in the first part where a delusional schizophrenic describes some hallucination involving Martin Luther King and Obama and his role in their lives and it's so matter of fact and absurd that Louis openly laughs at the guy.

i had some issues with the transgender children one - how everyone seemed to happily accept a lot of aspects of gender normativity, the strong preoccupation with bodies, biology, surgery etc, that surgeon's hair - but i did think it was good, quite moving.

the part where louis coaxed the mother into describing what he son did, despite her seeming unwilling to talk about it, was pretty unpleasant

(in pt2 of the insanity docs)

A new difficult to watch episode today - this time covering alcoholism in South London.

I wish some of his stuff would make it to American streaming.

Think it made it to torrent sites last night.

Available on Usenet too

Well worth hunting out wherever you find it. I thought it could have stood a longer treatment, like the multi-part prison ones, but even so it was very good. Difficult, emotional viewing, but not without some funny moments too.

Difficult to watch, but at the same time compelling and emotionally involving and draining. (I should have said above)

I watched about half of Rain In My Heart the other day, talk about harrowing.

after a whole weekend of drinking on a stag do, we got back to our canalboat, switched on the TV and this was playing.. I'm detoxing for at least a month.

Yes this was difficult. Really good. Joe's story was particularly affecting because he seemed like he might be one of us, like someone on here or be a friend. I drink far too much and I drink almost every night.

Yeah I read a review of this in the Graun and I'm not sure I want to see it, might be a little too close to home.

this was p harrowing.

particularly the relationship between aurelie and her bf.

That relationship was the most enlightening & original thing about the show. The medical effects of alcoholism have been covered many times before but that relationship is the sort of thing I've observed from a distance in park bench drunks dozens of times and wondered about what the dynamic might be like.

it is p weird and raw as far as the human condition goes

I like Louis a lot but I thought it was quite clumsy the way he brought up in the kitchen that the girlfriend was considering leaving her boyfriend.

I recognised one of the parks they were in in Brixton. Wondered if I'd ever passed by Aurelie on the street, most likely have at some point, been there so many times over the years.

Also the way he asked the guy about his father dying seemed tactless. I really don't like to think he tries to provoke these emotional reactions in people. Especially towards someone whose anxiety is ruining their life.

Actually yeah I just remembered what you're talking about. I also felt that was overstepping a bit to tell the guy she was thinking of leaving him but I guess if he didn't mention it then she said it on camera so he'd see it eventually.

Isn't that par for the course with Louis though - using a veneer of kindly naivety to say or ask something that most people wouldn't?

I think this was a bit too much though.

Yes, thinking back to it a bit more, you're right that it felt clumsily done in that instance (about her thinking of leaving him).

WAs this the first of a series of him or a complete one off? I'm not seeing any further programmes listed.

There's another one on Brain Injuries coming up, but I don't think it's been scheduled yet

Tonight at 9. A Different Brain.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIyJOp-tK0k

lol and also wow

Wow the ending of the clip is awesome. Does it have a release date?

No, but it just got US and UK Distribution

fantastic. i wonder why the trailer has dutch subtitles?

http://entertainment.ie/cinema/news/It-looks-like-Louis-Therouxs-My-Scientology-Movie-wont-get-an-Irish-release-due-to-blasphemy-laws/385722.htm

Man, that Louis Theroux scientology documentation is some epic sensationalistic trash.

Yeah, I guess it was inevitable when a guy whose documentaries are always about himself investigates an organisation who never participate in documentaries. I thought the brief glimpses into the hollywood casting routine were as intriguing as an of the Scientology stuff. 'David Miscavige' was great, hope he gets more work off the back of this. 'Tom Cruise' had potential but was underused.

I thought the Saville follow-up was awful, quite tone-deaf. I used to love his docs back in the day, too.

loved the Scientology doc, personally

Going back to the 90s stuff. An odd feeling, people that wd have been on Weird Weekends in the 90s now in the white house and downing street

The Grounded Podcast has reappeared timed with the current UK lockdown.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0arolGdyR8wkSGaawcKHkD?si=lpw5TyQqQtyA2Nhnxw4CYw
is the first in teh 2nd series , Louis in conversation with Michaela Coel largely about I May Destroy You as well as her career to date.

The first series was all pretty good too. Pretty revealing interview with several people including lenny Henry on his time on teh black and White Minstrel show and rest of his early career. 10 in first series, 1 so far in teh new one. I think they all link to from the link I've given you.
May be available on other streaming services but I've been using Spotify since being on a radi ostation a coupl eof years ago.