Louis Theroux: A Confusing Genius
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- Опубліковано 6 чер 2024
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In today's video, we delve into the intriguing life and career of British documentarian, Louis Theroux. Known for his insightful and often unconventional approach to documentary filmmaking, Theroux has crafted a distinct style that has garnered international recognition. This exploration takes us through his journey from his beginnings in British television to his seminal works, including series such as "Weird Weekends," "When Louis Met...," and the critically acclaimed "My Scientology Movie".
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Go check out my second channel boys, deeper dives into the topics I cover in my main videos ua-cam.com/video/kDzxjkpedIk/v-deo.html
can you make parkour story videos again🥺
Angels on your body Jimmy.
An idea for a video: chess hustlers
Put it in the “other channels” section so people can see it there.
@@galetho Yes but also
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.
I honestly think this is the biggest aspect. Not only that he is more known but that his productions are bigger, meaning it’s not just him and a couple crew members turning up anymore.
Yes! Enough is now known about him that people will often already have their guard up with their own preconceived ideas. He's no longer not trusted because they have to get to know him - he's not (necessarily) trusted because they DO know him, or think they do. It's an important distinction.
This is why Andrew Callaghan kind of worked
I know I’m late to this by months . Thought I’d update tho, he’s had to shave his eyebrows off due to alopecia . I could be wrong, but isn’t alopecia sometimes stress induced? So maybe this career and the people he’s had to deal with, have taken a toll on the man?!
FR, he was trying to prove nobody's a complete jerk in our world. That's not an easy fight to take and he had a good run.
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
My favorite Louis Theroux episode was when he revitalize that pedophiles career and Jimmy Savile that was cool
I feel like it was not the hate and bigotry of the people he met that got to him, but the reactions from the people online and in articles that ruined him. He might have not felt appreciated or that people understood what he was trying to do, and then he wanted to escalate.
@@Ossyboyen22 100% dude. Watching him go around and trash 18 years olds kids who like trump was purely for the Reddit mods who would spam post his docs 10 years ago. Just trying to win their approval back
@@Jchasser You've got some really trashy opinions haven't you
@@billhicks8 maybe but at least I didn’t promote a pedophile on my huge platform so I’m not as bad as Louie
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.
In order to maintain a tolerant society, the society must retain the right to be intolerant of intolerance.
but i think that with that should come some form of confirmation that what they think probably shouldn't be replicated in the extreme cases
@@octaveg8056 Yeah of course. A disclaimer at the start of the show or something.
@@SpiceIntolerance The counter argument would be that pushing extremist ideologies underground radicalises them further, they become more potent within echo chambers and they also have the added confirmation bias that they are being silenced by the mainstream. The regard themselves as victims and are dejected from society, which is the breeding ground for extremism. Have you noticed the rise in deplatforming happened and was quickly followed by a rise in extremism.
@@HonestWatchReviewsHWR exactly - do not try this at home kinda thing
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.
Also worth noting he directly challenged Savile on the rumours during the doc.
I remember watching that episode well before the scandal broke, back when Saville was still alive, and I thought he came off same as he always did - a creepy weirdo and probably a sex pest of some kind. But I was born after the peak of Saville's career, so I didn't have the same nostalgia as someone who grew up watching Jim'll Fix It or Top of the Pops, like Louis would've.
On the flip side, I grew up watching Rolf Harris on Animal Hospital and that one did come as a shock to me.
Agreed. If Louis missed the truth about Saville , and "made him look good" he was hardly alone in that. I grew up in the 70s and I just though Saville was eccentric. I watched the documentary when it was broadcast and came away thinking Saville's big secret was that he was gay.
Yeah no one admits that they liked him now
I remember Saville presenting the last episode of top of the pops, and he turned the light off at the end of the show.
People swooned over that shit and said how iconic it is was, people were calling him a legend right up until the first Newsnight report, but none of them want to admit that now.
My mum worked in a children’s hospital and knew he was rotten, but the rest of the nation was very much under his spell right up until he died. Everyone conveniently forgets that.
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?
It’s such a shame that we can’t even put clips into documentaries without them been heavily obfuscated to avoid copyright.
BBC are militant .
true, it's weird, hopefully YT realises the difference between using the content clips for views, and using them as part of the new story. it reminds me of sampling. i wrote an essay back in 2000 when i argued that using samples is another instrument for a new tune. i passed my degree btw
It's very annoying and ridiculous.
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.
Didnt he have an episode where some of the girls he met at westboro talked to him when they grew up and left the church and said that he in a way helped them? Or am i remembering something wrong
Fact is, most people in the world are not able to think for themselves and analyze. You show them one guy who joined this crazy church after watching Louis Theroux and they turn into a lynch mob. Obviously Louis wasn't "promoting evil" but dummies who don't understand sarcasm will only see it that way.
@@asminde yeah he has done at least one follow-up. though one of the girls has turned into a TERF I believe
Daryl is the man! Louis is and was always too weak and now he is bowing to the corrupt elites.
I remember the episodes of the Westbrook baptist church a lot, a lot of people left after he was there and when he returned he was called the raven by the leaders. He was a threat to them bc people generally listened to him.
How dare we learn about people we don't agree with. How dare we hear any point of view we don't 100% agree with.
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
The only other name that does documentary making, films , only him and his 3 man crew and that’s Nick Broomfield.
I don't care what anybody says, Louis is a national treasure.
And louis' friend sir James Savile.
@@jakefarronmerlin7963 It's a bit sad that's what you take away from all Louis's excellent work.
Some people have abuse on the brain and seem unable to think of anything else.
@@paulfletcher3998 its a bit sad that you think this is all i take away from louis unique style of journalism and PR.
@@jakefarronmerlin7963 Well that's all you had to say about him so what was I meant to take from your comment?
@@paulfletcher3998 You can take whatever you want from it, it just might not be the whole picture.
Just going to mention that i am absolutely here for jimmy expanding his content
hopefully you mean "the giant" and not saville haha
Its funny how Louie managed to get a certain Jimmy to open up more to the world
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.
louis really makes people comfortable enough to bring out their worst side, to me that's his best talent.
He makes people feel less on edge, but at the same time he utilises awkward silence well to get people to express their feelings in greater depth to fill the silence.
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
Was a good read? I like his weird style. Might give it a go?
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.
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!
TV has a knack of brainwashing people eh?
Lefty then
@@gartut200 if you're british and not on the left you're a sociopath or dumber than it is acceptable to be.
The left here want a minimum wage that people can live off, the right want to make rich people richer so the poor get better scraps.... it's literally called 'the trickle down effect'.
As well as the fact the right lied and caused brexit with racism an xenophobia and the fact they are selling out our health service to american insurance companies.
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
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.
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...
I absolutely agree.
This is a beautiful answer
Absolute genius. Love how he just talks to them with respect. He’s there with gangsters and he’s not bothered. Or Jesus freaks. Nothing phases him. So articulate and well spoken. Keep them coming. Your revisit to the Saville one during Covid was immense.
Great profile. I'm a big fan of Theroux's work and I think you totally nailed your description of him. You do good videos. Thanks for sharing them.
Louis is one of the best actual journalist out there right now. He is funny and insightful. He tackles subjects that others do not want to even touch. I appreciate his dedication and his courage in his stories.
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
Yeah the problem is the world has changed. The neo-nazis in his earlier documentary came from a time where far right views were more marginalised. This latest alt-right phenomenon has been built off online subcultures which are far more savvy about how antagonistic they are and why they are doing it. The US is also more politically tribalistic and nasty now, so naivete and soft spokenness simply gets trampled over by angry rhetoric and stereotyping.
Great video, mate. Big Louis fan and thought I’d seen his style change not for the better recently. Hadnt really thought of it in the way you’d presented - very useful. Cheers
Good one G. I've seen and read all of Louis and this was still worth watching. You're a great essayist
I accidentally stumbled upon your work and checked it out. You're awesome!!!! Especially the one about pubs. I immediately subscribed. Keep up the awesome work!
I enjoy your content but especially enjoyed this one! Always been a massive fan of Louis and his style of documentation 👌🏼
Great vid!
I grew up on his docos and absolutely love them and the style.
It's sad to see Louis' whacky subtle fly on the wall documentaries have become opinionated hit pieces. I'd love to see him hit form again but unfortunately this kind of style will probably never come back.
Your videos are great man! Really informative, fun and well put together. Mad respect 👊
This was a really thoughtful video. Well done dude.
A great take. I really appreciate anyone who is trying to push a more sophisticated or nuanced view of difficult, polarised issues. Thanks for bothering. 👍🏻
Jimmy, what a banger. Appreciate it.
Great profile video man, looking forward to next one
Keep the content coming Jimmy mate we love it ❤
Having only seen little bits of Louis Theroux, I'm left wanting to see more now. Feel like I've missed some important moments haha
Another great video Jimmy!
ever since i binged a bunch of his docs like a decade ago hes been pretty much my favorite journalist/documentarian
This is an amazing story bro. Thank you for this.
Mate I love your content so much and it's so sick to see you branching out. Long time sub now, keep it up bro.
Great channel bro, watched a couple of videos now, keep it up!
Love your work keep the good stuff there fella...cheers
Great essay video man, subbed
Brilliant video here man! Super in depth and showing contrasts and different points of view. Keep it up 🙌🏼🙌🏼
I love his style of documentation…no matter who it is or what they may have done he is genuinely interested in what they have to say and we as the viewers feel the respect
Louis is my personal hero ! The insights he shares are of immense value imo ! I hope he knows he did humanity great favors with his body of work! Big love
Louis Theroux has been a favorite of mine for years on UA-cam. Oddly enough, I used to watch TV Nation, and never once remembered him being on it. Heck, I didnt even know he was that old! I was like 12 years old when TV Nation was on and assumed he was around my age or slightly younger.
“Newsflash Brainiac, Christ was Jewish” fucking wiped me out 🤣
I absolutely love Louis. I've been following him for at least a decade.
Great video, Jimmy. Tkx!
I love Louis' work. Great video!
Great video. I’m a massive fan of Louis, but mainly his older stuff… a turning point for me is when he started his own production company and started getting more involved in that side of things, seems like the dynamic changed.
I like Louis and agree with all youve said here. Much appreciate your take on this.
another sick doc jimmy. i love louis and all his wild weekend documentaries.. the difference is is that the world is online now and the BBC can’t handle criticism of any kind so they have slowed louis down and in turn it’s making his documentary’s worse aswell as his mindset dropping down. best thing he can do is leave the corrupt BBC and go it solo on his own terms. louis made tiger king famous way before netflix was a staple in everyone’s homes. absolute legend!!
This was great and agree with the ending. To understand some type of individuals with the interviewing style that Theroux does you have to ask people questions and not be combatative in your line of questioning
Very true about the change in approach over the years
Digging your videos. I think Louis is a one-off and his realism makes him very watchable.
What I thought was great was that he showed that he was sympathetic and intelligent enough to understand and appreciate people’s thoughts. He was very strategic without meaning to, which is so disarming and so effective. He’s a special man.
Without meaning to? Why would you assume that? He's intentionally strategic because he's smart enough to know how to get people talking. There's nothing accidental about it.
bestie i have not seen ur content before but this was wonderfully constructed really great flow and storytelling with an impartial view that really smoothly allows someone to form their own opinion, without being robotic or conservative. poggers vid
also im so glad we have channel 5 reinventing this wheel its rly cool to see
great video man
love the channel dude watched every vid!
Thank you. Excellent insight
Great video. Thanks.
I think what also made the newer Theroux documentaries less effective is his subjects are more media literate or even watch his documentaries prior to being interviewed so they're not going to be as open as people were 20 years ago. The current generation of extremists have grown up doing video on the internet not carrying out their work in offline communities so they're harder to drawn off script.
I really enjoyed the Weird Weekends shows. Also, the 'When Louis Met..' specials were classic, especially The Hamiltons and Paul & Debbie.
Without thinking about his documentaries I think Louis theroux is a great person
Yo you don't pop up a lot for me because I'm subscribed to a ton of channels but your videos are really some of the best.
Excellent video.
his works will forever be a time capsule of 2000s british society.
Jimmy you are a Giant, to even critique him makes you immense.
Good vid mate.
keep doing your vids are grate
Great video ❤
You should definitely do a mini doc on the Isle of Man tt, I think you’d do a great job covering it
Great video. I actually think Louis is an outstanding journalist and does extremely important work, shining a light on the subjects he does is fascinating, and he does it so well. I personally don't think he needs to "take a side" as it were, and just does his best work when he lets the individuals speak for themselves. I haven't actually watched a Louis documentary in a number of years, but seeing him become stand offish and argumentative is totally not what I'm used to seeing in his films. I will look into some of the newer stuff.
Louis’s issue is that people are much more hyper aware that they are constantly being video’d.
We live in a surveillance society, people will not let their guard down as it could be the next viral moment
New sub, look forward to more content! 😊
This guys style is also really great
I had never heard of him before! Will go find the Weird Weekends series.
Bro, love your channel and content, this is your best yet.
I remember the episode on Weird Weekend where Louis went to LA to go to a swingers weekend, hilarious. he was really good. had a lot of guts, intelligent.
Perfect video.
You know that something good is about to happen when you get a notification for @JimmyTheGiant 🎉🧑🏽💻👌🏻
Great video
Everytime I see a Louis Theroux docu on the television its an instant go to. The deep journalism really is amazing and a great watch.
While I do agree that some people should not be platformed where possible, sometimes it takes an outsider showing empathy (not condoning) for them to realise that the outside world isn't as scary and dangerous as they think it is. A lot of cults and manipulative groups rely on the physical and ideological isolation of their members in order to control them.
It wad hardly a mistake getting Saville on his documentary as all those crimes started to come to light. You watch it back now and it's incredibly creepy.
Also I find it weird to criticise a person for being charmed by Saville. Saville charmed many into accessing their children and many into hiding his crimes. Saville, like many rapists and pedophiles, was good at using people because it's a tactic for later abuse. If anything that documentary is a great study in exactly how abusers charm victims and bystanders.
What? The stuff about Saville didn't come out until after his death. Louis' documentary an subsequent friendship happened before the allegations, and he addressed everything in the later revisit. It can be incredibly difficult to see a situation right in front of you, if you watch the revisit, Saville's former long time assistant still refuses to believe the allegations against despite the proof, because people don't want to believe that someone they were close to is capable of such things
I’ve always loved him, he started doing his weird weekends and strange things but turned into doing such dark topics. He’s very good at his job and whilst he plays a bit of a goofball he’s wickedly smart and very quick witted. I’m looking forward to his new podcast.
love the video i was wondering what video editor you use?
I really didn't know that the author Theroux was his old dad so cheers for that particular tidbit of info. I've read some of the dad's books and thank christ that the son is more entertaining is all I'll say.
What a pace!!!
The truth is that Louis is sincerely inquisitive, he’s interested in everyone’s point of view and most people like talking about themselves and their convictions..
Briliant video. Thank you Louis Theroux of the Internet
great guy, i am loving him for what he does and how he does it
Louis Theroux was one of the reasons I wanted to become a journalist growing up. His documentaries and approach to covering issues was always with genuine curiosity, humour, and well researched. I am sure I'm not the only one he has inspired.
Fiercely fascinating
his style of journalism is a very difficult one, you have to delicately balance your rhetoric around slowly pushing at their ideals, rather than at the person as a whole, and just subtly enough and well brought to the point that they feel comfortable responding, its actually a very clever psychological trick you can use to have these sorts of conversations for whatever reason you may want to, but in his case its to document them and their views as a whole while putting himself on the back burner.
We need more of him on the social scene
Social scene?
great video, i really don't know if anyone could get away with his older style now because all the nuance is pretty much gone from cultural and political discourse and the backlash would be intense. i understand this shift, and the reasons behind it. the thing is the push against even mentioning ideological opponents does mean that we have lost a valuable insight into "the other side" through a non-sympathetic lens, which i would argue makes it even more insidious. whatever louis does next he will be remembered for his unique brand of gonzo journalism and the impact it's had
Great insight