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.

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.