Louis Theroux - A Retrospective 

During this quarantine, I became quite obsessed with the work of documentary filmmaker Louis Theroux and his 30-year career was a delight to really delve into. I think he is a real role model as a filmmaker, his work is so incredibly human that I find myself with immense respect for the man. I was inspired to write this after watching the recent 'Tiger King' documentary and feeling a bit disheartened by modern popular documentaries, there's something very manipulative and insincere about 'Tiger King', which is due to the purpose of entertainment, but I wanted to delve into someone who is very thoughtful about sensitivity. Theroux is known for making documentaries about 'taboo' unknown subjects and sub-cultures, usually, they revolve around a topic or a culture he and most people are unaware of and he delves into the topic personally to gain a perspective on it. It is really fascinating to me how much he is simultaneously a real figure in the documentaries yet his purpose is to reflect the subject's perspective. Throughout most of his work there's a real dedication to educating and interrogating new perspectives, to see a new side of the story but also to really delve into and understand the consequences behind that perspective, he doesn't deal with a series of facts but a series of personalities.

Louis' first real series is the kind of dated and rough 'Weird Weekends'. Nowadays his documentaries are much grittier than his early work, they usually focus on portraying a genuine issue and constant topic in society. But this first series is wonderfully camp and a real attempt at documentary entertainment, 28-year-old Louis Theroux takes on the weirdest subcultures and focuses on creating these pieces of really funny exciting absurd documentary work. They do have a bit of an aged perspective, there is something a bit more playful and less sincere in these works, he often pivots to getting the most out of every situation in an entertaining way, he never openly mocks but he definitely guides the audience's perspective. However I think there's something really quite refreshing about his earlier work, it's all quite honest and refreshingly open-minded for the time. He approaches these unknown situations and delves into them headfirst, any absurdity mostly comes from the people and the situation rather than manipulation and antagonism from Louis himself. I really love this series, it is kind of a British cultural milestone, Louis' awkward personality won the country over and seeing all these bizarre subcultures is something that everyone can absolutely fall in love with. As the series goes on he dips his toes into much more serious topics, he visits Black Nationalists and Afrikaner Separatists in two quite harrowing and uncomfortable documentaries, this becomes his bread and butter throughout his career and it's something I really respect about him.

When you tackle subjects like Louis does you are stepping on eggshells, especially when you make a documentary about them. To openly mock and get angry at people with extreme perspectives only amplifies their perspectives and does more harm than good, it simply strengthens the divide between two perspectives. But when you put yourself as a documentary filmmaker in the position there is this fear of public perspective, if you were to play coy and agree with the extreme perspective you alienate an audience and if you antagonise these perspectives you alienate another side of the coin. Louis is extremely clever, he treats people with respect and has created this fascinating disarming personality that people subscribe to. Often he is underestimated, his kind of awkward and naive personality disarms a lot of people and he manages to somehow unravel and expose the perspectives faults and mistakes inadvertently. I adore how he often responds matter of factly, he will interrogate with quite simple but exposing questions, like when a child keeps asking 'why' and the adult runs out of answers he does that to these extreme perspectives that result in their holes in their arguments being exposed. It is fascinating to me how important himself as a personality is in unfolding the topic in an honest and interesting way. Somehow throughout his 24-year career, people keep underestimating his true intelligence and it results in seeing an honest and fascinating perspective on every single topic.

During his work on 'Weird Weekends', he did several fascinating documentaries in a series called 'When Louis Met...' which revolve around Louis spending a few days with several public figures in all their oddities. The most iconic work is on Jimmy Saville but I am going to get on to that documentary a bit later, my personal favourite is the incredibly unnerving documentary on the 'Hamiltons'. Right-wing disgraced politician Neil Hamilton and his ever-controversial wife Christine promised to be a fascinating subject for a documentary but Louis caught them in the middle of a fascinating sex scandal and the documentary unfolds like an episode of 'The Thick of It' as they navigate their way through this controversy. He once again prides on creating a relationship with the subject, often the people he chooses are eccentric and unusual so the sense of power that comes from having a documentary about them results in this weird power dynamic, You can really tell when they are aware of the camera and when they are performing or when the subject slightly slips and forgets where they are, it's brilliant to watch and exposes all of these people for the bizarre characters they are. 

From this point onwards Louis moved to what I see as the golden age of his career, his series of documentaries on really quite serious tough and taboo subjects. They have that perfect blend of entertainment through the topic's absurdism whilst also being incredibly emotional and really quite compelling. His series on the Westboro Baptist Church, the extreme traditionalist Christian family drenched in homophobia,  is some of his most famous work and is incredible to witness. The Church is by now an infamous part of modern discourse, they are the most extreme perspective and are incredibly offensive and aggravate a large majority of people. But Louis goes to investigate where the perspective comes from and how it is nurtured, the brainwashing and the manipulation creates these depressing scenes of children being brought up in anger without empathy. He slowly becomes an antagonist in the story but he treats all of them openly and with respect, they become angry and frustrated because he manages to expose their faults and prejudices for what they are. It is fascinating and becomes more and more depressing as the documentaries go on, the Church seems to fall down a path of obscurity in this equal parts hopeful yet distressing story. He interviews people who have left and people who seem doomed to be trapped, you can't help but pity them for the brainwashing and anger that is that the core of this organisation and it becomes really quite emotional to watch the children who will be trapped in this life for maybe the rest of their life. 

In 2016 Louis released a documentary called 'Saville' about his relationship with Jimmy Saville and just how such a public figure got away with decades of paedophilia and sexual assault. It is truly a really difficult experience to watch and as it goes on there is this depressing pit in your stomach that forms. It is a reflection and I guess an update to his 'When Louis Met Jimmy' documentary as he tries to work out just how Saville managed to get away with his actions and more specifically how the wool was pulled over the eyes of Louis himself. He interviews several women who were victims and some who were his close friends at the time, the stories are genuinely shocking but so important to get to how extreme and disturbing Saville as a person was. It shines a light on just how obvious it was yet how clever he was in his manipulation, seeing the old footage in this new light creates this disturbing realisation that this man knew exactly what he was doing and fooled a whole country. There are moments where Saville seems to enjoy the mystery around him, he almost seems to revel in people getting close to finding his secrets and taunts and grooms everyone around him. There is this powerful moment later on in the documentary where one of Saville's victims pose the question asking if Louis himself felt 'groomed', it is a powerful statement and you can feel the same, dread and guilt that Louis has obviously spent years tackling like so many people.

My personal favourite documentary of his is part of his 'Extreme Love' series and is the episode surrounding the topic of Autism. This is by far one of his most powerful and empathetic pieces of work for myself, I have spent my life being more than aware of autism and know several people diagnosed with it, it is something I consider to be a privilege of mine and I value growing up being aware of the topic. He approaches the topic with this brilliant sense of maturity, some of my favourite scenes are ones where he interacts with the children and manages to give a small moment of relief for a few seconds. It is a topic that has such a tough history around it, the parents are mostly the focus of the documentary and seeing them struggle with their children are honestly heartwrenching, the amount of respect and admiration I have for all of the parents is insane, I truly think Louis manages to broadcast how important their love is. I strongly recommend it for anyone, it is wonderfully heartwarming and importantly empathetic, the children and the adults are treated with respect and honesty. He never points the finger, he never sneers or laughs and he never looks down to anyone, Louis adapts and shows how important it is to reach out and make friends with these people without alienating and angering them.

In a time of political turmoil, where angry voices speak the loudest and division spreads, Louis' work feels really important. It's all about perspectives and communication, Louis is quite open about his faith, his politics and his perspective but that doesn't stop him from reaching out and learning other people's perspectives. Belittling and mocking are unhealthy and dangerous, we run the risk of alienating those with other perspectives if they aren't talked to or discussed. Obviously, this is a utopian optimistic view on a world I would love to live in but truth be told I struggle to have the patience and dedication that someone like Louis has, I see him as an important part of modern culture and his work is more than vital to our current society. This all may seem a bit hyperbolic and as if I am placing the man on a very intentional pedestal, I just found something really quite cathartic and humbling about revisiting a lot of his work during this quarantine. Of course, I can understand the scepticism around his work, the awkward atmosphere is of occasion a little much, especially his earlier work which is incredibly cringe-inducing. But his vast collection of work is some of the most impressive work to come out of a single filmmaker, he approaches every subject with respect and empathy that is something I admire and aspire to be able to do. 

Thanks for reading!