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.

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.