Louis Theroux - annoying wannabe edgelord or serious journo

[girasol]

I prefer him doing his podcasts interviews to his TV documentaries. Not a big fan but don't hate either

 

[paulhackett]

Preferred it when it was Nick Broomfield doing it, but then I was years younger when I watched that, and there wasn't the internet to entertain and inform alongside. Theroux doing Terreblanche was a repeat of Broomfield doing Terreblanche.

 

[brogdale]

They aren't all thick. One is an arch-troll, another looks like a potentially serious coming political force. A third on the programme is an utter imbecile, but the other two are switched on and have mad social media skills to boot. They appeal to the right, incels, gamers, the lot. Probably the most cynical pair he's been round since the emperor of noncery himself.

True enough; they saw through his 'interest in streaming' pitch pretty quick which made for uncomfortable viewing when you found yourself agreeing with the nazis when they called him out as disingenuous.

 

[campanula]

O, I never really considered him as any sort of serious investigator, just I do think there is something queasily voyeuristic in his interest in the less salubrious areas of life. Not certain whether he imagines he is tapping in to some dark zeitgeist as an impartial observer, or whether he is following a darker personal desire. In truth,I don't much care and haven't really watched enough of his output to comment. He just fucking annoys me (like 99% of TV output) so I had a little vent (because stuck indoors cos of weather).

 

[Looby]

I quite like him and I agree his style has changed. I’m not sure I’d be placing responsibility at his door for Savile given how many people were fully aware and complicit in his crimes over the years.

A friends was mates with him for a while, lovely bloke apparently.

As a side note, what’s with the resurgence of ‘edgelord’?

 

[littlebabyjesus]

I quite like him and I agree his style has changed. I’m not sure I’d be placing responsibility at his door for Savile given how many people were fully aware and complicit in his crimes over the years.

A friends was mates with him for a while, lovely bloke apparently.

As a side note, what’s with the resurgence of ‘edgelord’?

Blame him for it, no. But it is the clearest example of how he's really just a light entertainer poking at people so that we can laugh at them. He's not a serious journo.

 

[IC3D]

His confrontational attitude to the alt right now is just the same as attitudes on these boards to 'loons' Pandemic has made everyone way more triggered than before because the majority of people have been cooped up at home having a low level existential crisis . As others have said light entertainment, feels, Sunday suppliment, proper coffee and an avocado. Nothing to be outraged about.

 

[JimW]

What a stroke of luck that the son of a famous travel writer was able to land a lucrative BBC contract gonzo-ing about the seamier side of the culture wars with zero insight or analysis. The barm-faced cunt.

 

[Glitter]

I like him. I like his telly too.

However the phrase ‘barm-faced cunt’ deserves some recognition JimW

 

[JimW]

I like him. I like his telly too.

However the phrase ‘barm-faced cunt’ deserves some recognition JimW

I'm actually not that bothered either but it does irk me how our culture world is one big jobs for the boys.

 

[redsquirrel]

The fact that he did not challenge Saville was not some sort of one off. It's LTs standard operating procedure, hence "missing" (or rather dismissing) Icke's anti-semitism.

 

[stavros]

I couldn't quite work out the point of last night's show. It seemed to repeat a lot of what his Weird Weekend with the gangster rappers did, including him attempting to rap.

 

[bimble]

The fact that he did not challenge Saville was not some sort of one off. It's LTs standard operating procedure, hence "missing" (or rather dismissing) Icke's anti-semitism.

Did he? I missed that and am interested, can you say more - did he do an icke interview? (& sure you're not thinking of jon ronson?)

 

[redsquirrel]

Did he? I missed that and am interested, can you say more - did he do an icke interview? (& sure you're not thinking of jon ronson?)

It was in Theroux's review of (his mates) Ronon's book not an interview.

Another chapter examines the strange history of David Icke, the footballer turned BBC commentator turned Green Party spokesman turned self-proclaimed son of God. Ronson finds Icke on a lecture tour of Canada, pursuing his new calling as an investigator of the secret elite of lizard shape-shifters (the Queen and Ted Heath are among those under suspicion) who run the world. Icke’s “theory” is basically The Protocols of the Elders of Zion with a new cast and a few script changes. Not surprisingly, Icke has come under suspicion of anti-semitism; as his tour progresses he finds his readings heavily picketed and his radio interviews cancelled. Icke vehemently repudiates the accusations, and reading Ronson’s account it is difficult not to conclude that, while we are right to be on our guard against paranoid anti-semitism, we should also be on our guard against the paranoid excesses of anti-anti-semitism. Not only might it be unfair to Icke, but by implying that he is so dangerous that he has to be censored, the watchdogs are giving a patina of seriousness to ideas that are - let’s face it - very, very silly.

A very stupid statement and one that does not stand up to even very limited scrutiny. By this stage there was plenty of evidence of Icke's anti-semitism, but rather than critically evaluate any of that evidence Theroux simply accepts Icke's (and his BFFs) word.

 

[weltweit]

Louis may not be a laser like investigative journalist but he does show the world the lunacy of the Westborough Baptist Church, the alien abductees who can still communicate with aliens, and gives a slight light into the dark that is the Church of Scientology.

On balance I think he is on the side of the angels.

 

[redsquirrel]

Also Theroux a friend of Nick Clegg and a scab so fuck him

 

[pbsmooth]

He seems to have run out of steam a bit. This latest run of docs seems a bit predictable and going over old ground. Also don't like the idea of him giving a platform to the nazis - that's all they want, he's not going to somehow defeat them or change their mind. Naive if he thinks so. All that said, his BBC Sounds podcasts were enjoyable enough.

 

[Johnny Vodka]

I think he's great. That far right episode was excellent.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

One of the young women in the Westboro Baptist Church traces her eventual exit from the time Louis Theroux did his show about them and posed some mildly awkward questions as per.

As others have said, his post- Savile documentary seemed like a sincere attempt to make amends and had a lot of time for the victims to speak.

That said, I think the formula has worn very thin. “Oh look at these weird people, I will expose them through my nerdy innocent questioning” isn’t funny in 2022 with grifters all over the place inviting millions of people down toxic wormholes.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

Did he? I missed that and am interested, can you say more - did he do an icke interview? (& sure you're not thinking of jon ronson?)

Ronson definitely did Icke and was pretty clear that some of his followers thought Lizards was code for Jews.

He was also an early booster for Alex Jones, the Infowars guy iirc, so a mixed legacy.

 

[bellaozzydog]

Commonality in the last two episodes..young people doing extreme social media shit for effect but when fronted about it are a bit in denial/embarrassed/aware how shit they look and sort of playing it down

Almost like they’ve been sucked into the situation and now aren’t sure they aren’t just being used as pawns/social media foot soldiers for nefarious purposes

 

[Johnny Vodka]

He's light entertainment. Nobody thinks he's challenging Dispatches, World in Action or Panorama at their respective peaks do they? Least of all him I'd imagine. There's nothing inherently wrong with what he does. He's not my thing but I get why people are entertained (not particularly informed) by his programmes. And there's nothing wrong with that.

His approach allows us to get under the skin of (some generally awful) people though. If you watch that recent channel 4 doc on QAnon and contrast with what Theroux manages to get, I think you'll understand the value of Theroux.

 

[Ax^]

I couldn't quite work out the point of last night's show. It seemed to repeat a lot of what his Weird Weekend with the gangster rappers did, including him attempting to rap.

as said he not a deadly serious reporter reporter

not sure when it was filmed but louie has always had a like for rap music indicated because of he repeated return to the subject
and that style of music has seen high mortality rate as of late

 

[frogwoman]

I don't think the savile documentary was bad tbh, it definitely made him look incredibly creepy.

 

[IC3D]

I think if he was to reflect on his early work that there was no suggestion the beliefs of the wacky nutjobs were in the ascendency and in 2022 held political power ie Donald duck and the alt right. None at all and he's not responsible by any means as it's all happened online not on the ole beeb

 

[Meyertop]

I rather like his docs. He has a very unassuming almost sympathetic way of making idiots spew their nonsense without them feeling attacked. I haven't seen everything he's done, including the most recent one, but I generally like his work and think he's a legitimate documentarian, which I suppose is a form of journalism in a way.

 

[oryx]

We recently watched the US ones - the far right and Florida rapper episodes. I enjoyed them although it's prime time TV rather than really serious documentary style.

I was amused to find that some of the neo-fascists spewing out hate across the internet really did actually live in their mom's basements.

 

[stavros]

Back in LA porn tomorrow, although adding the Only Fans element to his previous stuff on the industry.

 

[PR1Berske]

He's been doing this for too many years to be called "wannabe"

 

[Brainaddict]

senior edgelord