Louis Theroux: A Confusing Genius

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Honestly i do not blame him at all for becoming a bit more jaded over the years, the man has spent time with some of the cruest and most hateful people on the planet and gave them a lot patience and empathy. Anyone who has done as much as he did for as long as he has would be the same

I think one thing Louis also struggles with in the newer docs is that he's known. It's impossible to get the same disarming vibes with people he had in the 90s because back then he was an unknown quantity. Now, we have media savvy neo nazis deep researching every journalist that comes their way and it's a lot harder to penetrate the groups like he used to.

We need more of Louis' style of journalism... Not less. Letting people talk and discussing things, even those controversial topics. This is how people learn and grow. If we don't do this, then we end up in the situation we are now... Where everyone just stays in their own echo chamber and the minute they hear an opinion that differs from their own they just can't handle it. If we don't engage in these difficult conversations it just pushes these types of people underground. That's leads to extremist groups forming, as they feel they can't express themselves and don't have a voice. To truly have freedom of speech, we have to have it for everyone... Not matter how uncomfortable that is.

On Saville: the idea that Theroux humanised Jimmy is ridiculous. Until after his death, Saville was a widely loved and hugely high profile figure in the UK. He appeared all over the BBC for years and years; kids like me grew up watching him on "Jim'll Fix It". Hell, I had multiple friends who wrote to him on that show. He didn't need to be made a sympathetic and humanised figure by Theroux.

It’s such a shame that we can’t even put clips into documentaries without them been heavily obfuscated to avoid copyright.

I did not expect this to be such a good breakdown. You can't fight "us vs them" with "us vs them", these are deeply flawed people, but they are people, it's not "humanising" them, they are humans. When we see other people being horrible, we like to say, that's not us, we're better, but it is us, unfortunately, its what we're capable of. There has to be a line, 100%, but if you always just push people away, you push them further into the fringes. It's why WW2 germany is so fascinating/perplexing (in a morbid curiosity kind of way), did a whole country go mad over night?

I don't care what anybody says, Louis is a national treasure.

Louis can see the hate he's spread more than the hate he's halted because of the negativity bias innate in all humans, it's easier to recognise a negative than a positive. He may have lead one Birt to the Westboro Baptist Church but who knows how great an effect he had in the other direction. If you need an example of the real good that can come from treating the hateful with empathy you need look no further than Daryl Davis. It's a shame to see him turn away from it.

Just going to mention that i am absolutely here for jimmy expanding his content

louis really makes people comfortable enough to bring out their worst side, to me that's his best talent.

In forbidden america it's very obvious the subjects know who louis is, they are aware of his work so they are somewhat defensive to his documentary technique. In his earlier work he comes across as some unknown curious british man who seems genuinely eager to learn so people are more willing to open up. Due to the success of his work and how well known he has become he can no longer play the role of the ignorant foreign journalist. He's also older now. In his early career the people he was talking to were the same age or older which changes the interviewing dynamic. People know who he is and people know what he does so he can't get away with doing it anymore.

I read his book about lockdown taking a toll on his mental health, so I think the change of persona could be linked to his alcoholism, or stress from being a father

I watched his first TV nation at the age of 12, I'm now 38. He's by far the best documentary journalist out there with the biggest and broadest subjects. I honestly can't name anyone close that has delved into so many sub cultures. Long live the king

I love Louis Theroux. He's one of the main reasons for my own view of the world today. Being born -90, I grew up with his documentaries and programs. He shaped me, in so many ways. Great video, as always Jimmy!

I do feel with hia forbidden america documentary a lot of his lack of enthusiasm and the sound of depresion in his voice came from being berated for most of the documentary rather than having a 2 sided conversation. If I remember rightly there was a point in the doc where the subject was doing a live stream and his fans were donating to have abusive comments yelled out of a speaker at louis as he tried to interview the man

i think it's important to show both sides of every story. straight up disallowing to tell a group's background yet telling people the group is just evil can cloud people's judgement. people deserve to know why that is the case in the first place

Louis has the exceptional knack of making any topic really interesting. He's up there with the best British documentarians in my humble opinion. He can hook you into whatever he is talking about/investigating and you find yourself glued to the screen, even if the subject matter isnt something you would usually find very engaging. He has a style all of his own.

Grew up watching Louis, and in hindsight he gave me a passion for learning about people in the same way that David Attenborough gave me a passion for learning about nature. He's a rare bird. He taught me that it's okay to be "awkward" but confident in yourself at the same time. That it's okay to be curious about people, and that everyone has a story. And no matter how guarded a person is, no matter how hard they try to build walls around their beliefs and attitudes and behaviours.... a calm but firm and compassionate approach will always eventually win out by sheer attrition. Curiosity is a golden virtue, compassion is a flaming sword, and patience is a diamond shield. The mask always drops eventually...

His style is genius, he puts on an act of naivety and goofiness in order to make people lower their guards around him. People take him under their wing and show them their reality and they really open up to him. This leads to some great content. This is the reason his documentaries are the greatest.