Comments on: Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends on Google Video

By: John H.

John H. — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

If this were Metafilter, I would SO favorite this….

Wait a second, BoingBoing has a favorites feature now! Checked.

By: vervana

vervana — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

The videos are gone – darnit – I have watched all but three or four of them- really wanted to see the wrestling…great series!

By: leafdot

leafdot — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

That’s great! The neo-nazi episode I remember as being especially amazing and strange.

By: Maurik

Maurik — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

The link to San Quentin State Prison doesn’t work unfortunately, but it’s a great episode that aired twice in recent weeks on the BBC.

Louis really is a genius of the reporting world. Always neutral, and always asking questions.

By: jonathan_v

jonathan_v — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

i saw the porn industry episode on a virgin atlantic flight. it was one of the most amazing pieces of embedded/investigative journalism i’ve seen – also one of the most depressing shows i’ve watched too.

By: Buxton

Buxton — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

More recently, Louis did a show about cosmetic surgery – the “high” point of which was him getting liposuction on camera!

(He paid for the procedure out of his own money, so calm down License Fee Haters.)

The Wrestling episode is showing its age a bit – he goes backstage at WCW Nitro. But I don’t think I ever saw this one, so I’ll watch it.

By: Perla

Perla — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

The apartheiders sent shivers down my spine. The woman enjoys listening to Lionel Richie but won’t accept him. They listen to black music. UGH. I hope she gets kicked to death by the ostriches. They have black feathers.

By: nach0s

nach0s — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Just wanted to say, these are treasures. Thanks for pointing them out to us.

By: Rick.

Rick. — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I was making my way through these! Now they’re all gone. Bummer…

By: Buxton

Buxton — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Nerd Update: In the Wrestling episode, I recognised one of the wrestlers training at the WCW Power Plant as now being TNA Wrestling’s Elix Skipper. I wonder if he still remembers the gangly, unfit BBC journalist being made to exercise until he puked?

By: johannm

johannm — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

These are great shows! I remember another time someone got really mad at Louis: It was in the episode where he tried demolition derby. He worked with two owners of a junk yard to build a car. They got him in a tournament and he qualified for the finals – and he chickened out! The first round had apparently scared the crap out of him. The two junk yard partners looked like they were going to kill him with their bare hands. Pretty funny stuff.

By: morris

morris — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

When Louis met… was definitely my favourite series, especially the Jimmy Saville and Max Clifford episodes.

I was going to suggest watching him in the documentary Louis Theroux and the Most Hated family in America, then I saw Westboro Baptist Church already listed. This was definitely one of his finest hours.

By: grey

grey — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I just watched the brothel episode and really enjoyed it. I’m not sure I liked it, though.

Louis (and everyone else) seems agonizingly oblivious to the similarities amongst themselves. They’re almost all manipulating and serving each other up while trying to maintain a persona of professionalism or caring. Everyone is using everyone else and either doesn’t know it or just takes it for granted. While I don’t doubt the dynamic exists at the brothel and it’s valid to show it between everyone who works there, when Louis gets involved it turns interesting journalism into interesting reality tv.

I can’t decide if Louis is earnest or not. At the end of the brothel episode he gives that weird speech about how he can’t hire a prostitute because what she does is fake and he requires a sincere performance. The irony was blinding. If he was making that up then he deserves kicked in both knees for taking advantage of those people. If he told the truth, then the whole thing devolves into psychodrama which wasn’t helpful to anyone involved and was more than a little pathetic once filmed. But it was still enjoyable and interesting. I don’t like the way that video made me feel.

I may be down on journalists. Yesterday I saw a photo of a man trying to beat out the beginnings of a brush fire by himself. He wasn’t going to succeed on his own, but two people could’ve done it. The second person was busy recording the moment on film, though. I was angry and hope the guy succeeded then told the photographer to piss off. I’m not sure I can call dispassionate observation like that ethical. Louis is at least feigning that. But if it’s not real, if he is getting as embedded and entangled as it seems, then participation can be just as unethical as standing by and watching the poor guy’s house burn while getting astounding footage. In fact, it might be very close to starting the fire just to see the man stomp around. I’m not sure what to make of that.

By: striped_pants

striped_pants — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

He is NOT always neutral. He frequently interjects his opinions into the documentary. This is NOT neutral reporting, as Maurik suggests. A good reporter would be able to stay neutral. I don’t blame him, though. These are great documentary films. He stayed in the game longer than I could when he interviewed the racist fu$^ers.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Thanks for putting those videos. They remind me a lot of Penn and Teller’s Showtime program Bullshit.

By: funeralpudding

funeralpudding — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Louis Theroux is the best – his tongue is always in cheek, and he succeeds because he tries hard not to show that. He’s the knowing straight man who feigns a bit of ignorance to get things out of people. He does this, though with good humor and general empathy with the people he’s talking to, and it’s not exploitive that he does this in the fringes of society, that’s the whole point – to draw and spell out the differences between what is considered “fringe” or “normal”.

If you can find it, his interview with Michael Jackson’s father is not to be missed.

By: Rich Gibson

Rich Gibson — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I watched the demolition demo episode and did not see what Johannm saw. The ‘junk yard partners’ didn’t look angry to me-not even a bit. But I agree, it was a funny episode.

By: ankerman

ankerman — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Bummer! It seems Google has taken all of them down. Some snippets still on youtube, but not all of them. I knew I should have d/led them right away.

By: LOLcat Stevens

LOLcat Stevens — Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I love these shows. I found a bunch of them through TV Links shortly before if got shut down (damn the Man, I say), and I thought they were so interesting that I watched six of them in a row.

I actually like the fact that Theroux doesn’t try to remain completely neutral and objective. To admit one’s own biases is probably the most honest stance one could take in presenting a documentary. I do wonder sometimes whether his “concerned” moments are a bit manufactured, but overall, the presentation is very even-handed. I wish that there was more room for this kind of “reporting” in regular TV programming.