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margin: 0 0 0.5em 0.5em; text-align:left; border: 1px solid #76923c; width:175px;"> <tbody><tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; text-align:center; color:#ffffff; background-color:#76923c"><b>You gotta spin it to win it</b><br /><a href="/wiki/Media" title="Media"><font size="4" color="#ffffff"><b>Media</b></font></a> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="background-color:#ffffff;" align="center"><a href="/wiki/Category:Media" title="Category:Media"><img alt="Icon media.svg" src="/w/images/thumb/1/16/Icon_media.svg/100px-Icon_media.svg.png" decoding="async" width="100" height="100" srcset="/w/images/thumb/1/16/Icon_media.svg/150px-Icon_media.svg.png 1.5x, /w/images/thumb/1/16/Icon_media.svg/200px-Icon_media.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="200" data-file-height="200" /></a> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; color:#ffffff; background-color:#76923c; text-align:center;"><b>Stop the presses!</b> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; background-color:#ffffff;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/National_Review_Online" title="National Review Online">National Review Online</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/CBC" title="CBC">CBC</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Super_Size_Me" title="Super Size Me">Super Size Me</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Race_Traitor" title="Race Traitor">Race Traitor</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_Young_Turks" title="The Young Turks">The Young Turks</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Toby_Young" title="Toby Young">Toby Young</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/GB_News" title="GB News">GB News</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/The_1619_Project" title="The 1619 Project">The 1619 Project</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jacobin_(magazine)" title="Jacobin (magazine)">Jacobin (magazine)</a></li></ul> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; color:#ffffff; background-color:#76923c; text-align:center;"><b>We want pictures<br />of Spider-Man!</b> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; background-color:#ffffff;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Category:Journalism" title="Category:Journalism">Journalism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Category:Newspapers" title="Category:Newspapers">Newspapers</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Category:Media" title="Category:Media">All articles</a></li></ul> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; color:#ffffff; background-color:#76923c; text-align:center;"><b>Extra! Extra!</b> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="font-size: 95%; background-color:#ffffff;"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/RationalWiki:What_is_going_on_in_the_world%3F" title="RationalWiki:What is going on in the world?">WIGO World</a></li></ul> <div class="vte plainlinks" style="font-size:smaller; text-align:center;"><a href="/wiki/Template:Media" title="Template:Media">v</a> - <a href="/wiki/Template_talk:Media" title="Template talk:Media">t</a> - <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php?title=Template:Media&action=edit">e</a></div> </td></tr></tbody></table> <p><b>Louis Theroux</b> (1970–) is an British/American film-maker who has produced a series of documentaries for the <a href="/wiki/BBC" title="BBC">BBC</a>, usually featuring persons most would consider strange, worryingly odd, downright disturbing or outright nuts. As a documentarian, his work is a bit uneven; while he's neither that gullible or plagued by <a href="/wiki/False_balance" class="mw-redirect" title="False balance">false balance</a>, he can be a bit facile in the treatment of his subjects and has elements of voyeurism. He comes from a family of authors: he is the son of the prolific travel writer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Theroux" class="extiw" title="wp:Paul Theroux" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Paul Theroux">Paul Theroux</span></a>,<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> his uncles are the writers <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Theroux" class="extiw" title="wp:Peter Theroux" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Peter Theroux">Peter Theroux</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Theroux" class="extiw" title="wp:Alexander Theroux" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Alexander Theroux">Alexander Theroux</span></a>,<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> and he is the brother of the novelist <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Theroux" class="extiw" title="wp:Marcel Theroux" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Marcel Theroux">Marcel Theroux</span></a>.<sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> </p> <div id="toc" class="toc" role="navigation" aria-labelledby="mw-toc-heading"><input type="checkbox" role="button" id="toctogglecheckbox" class="toctogglecheckbox" style="display:none" /><div class="toctitle" lang="en" dir="ltr"><h2 id="mw-toc-heading">Contents</h2><span class="toctogglespan"><label class="toctogglelabel" for="toctogglecheckbox"></label></span></div> <ul> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="#Weird_Weekends"><span class="tocnumber">1</span> <span class="toctext"><i>Weird Weekends</i></span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2"><a href="#BBC_Two_Specials"><span class="tocnumber">2</span> <span class="toctext">BBC Two Specials</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3"><a href="#His_Scientology_movie"><span class="tocnumber">3</span> <span class="toctext">His Scientology movie</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4"><a href="#External_links"><span class="tocnumber">4</span> <span class="toctext">External links</span></a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5"><a href="#References"><span class="tocnumber">5</span> <span class="toctext">References</span></a></li> </ul> </div> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="Weird_Weekends"><i>Weird Weekends</i></span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Louis_Theroux&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Weird Weekends">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <p>Theroux cut his journalistic teeth on <a href="/wiki/Michael_Moore" title="Michael Moore">Michael Moore</a>'s <i>TV Nation</i>; when Fox canned the show in 1995 the BBC (the co-producer) effectively spun-off/extended his segments into <i>Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends</i>. Over seventeen episodes (over three series) he visited the 'genuinely odd in the most ordinary setting', primarily in the United States. 'Weekends' of specific interest to the mission of RationalWiki include a <a href="/wiki/Fundamentalist_Christianity" title="Fundamentalist Christianity">fundamentalist Christian</a> cult, <a href="/wiki/Ufology" title="Ufology">Ufology</a> and "<a href="/wiki/Contactee" title="Contactee">contactees</a>", <a href="/wiki/Bo_Gritz" title="Bo Gritz">Bo Gritz</a> and his <a href="/wiki/Survivalism" title="Survivalism">survivalist</a> <a href="/wiki/Militia_movement" title="Militia movement">militia</a>, the <a href="/wiki/Aryan_Nations" title="Aryan Nations">Aryan Nations</a>, the South African <a href="/wiki/Afrikaner_Weerstandsbeweging" title="Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging">Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging</a>, <a href="/wiki/Black_supremacy" title="Black supremacy">Black supremacists</a> (particularly <a href="/wiki/Black_Hebrew_Israelites" title="Black Hebrew Israelites">Black Hebrew Israelites</a>), Indian <a href="/wiki/Guru" title="Guru">Gurus</a> (feat: <a href="/wiki/Deepak_Chopra" title="Deepak Chopra">Deepak Chopra</a>), <a href="/wiki/Hypnotism" class="mw-redirect" title="Hypnotism">hypnotism</a> and an early sighting of <a href="/wiki/Pick-up_artist" title="Pick-up artist">pick up artists</a>. Slightly amusingly, it also led him to appearing in <i>other</i> people's works; such as a paper-shredder infomercial and a (non-sexual) cameo in a porn film.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup> </p><p>Produced from between 1996-1999, the whole collection together provides an interesting capsule of some of the subcultures seen in the USA in the 90s. This feeling was echoed by Theroux himself when he revisited some of his subjects (not all featured in WW itself - such as <a href="/wiki/Heaven%27s_Gate" title="Heaven's Gate">Heaven's Gate</a> survivors) in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 in his book <i>Call of the Weird</i>.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a></sup> Some twenty-five years later, Theroux described his earlier self as 'a bit of a tool' but also wonders whether it was a show which only a tool <i>could</i> have made.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3">[3]</a></sup> </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="BBC_Two_Specials">BBC Two Specials</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Louis_Theroux&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: BBC Two Specials">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <p>From 2003 onwards, Theroux has produced (as of 2024) fifty hour-long standalone documentaries - same principles as the <i>Weird Weekends</i>, but often more serious in tone. Over the two decades he has 'met' (amongst others) a variety of white nationalists (including <a href="/wiki/Tom_Metzger" title="Tom Metzger">Tom Metzger</a> and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prussian_Blue_(duo)" class="extiw" title="wp:Prussian Blue (duo)" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Prussian Blue (duo)">Prussian Blue</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> girls), the <a href="/wiki/Fred_Phelps" title="Fred Phelps">Westboro Baptist Church</a>,<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4">[4]</a></sup> convicted <a href="/wiki/Paedophiles" class="mw-redirect" title="Paedophiles">paedophiles</a>, ultra-Zionists in the West Bank, <a href="/wiki/Transgender" title="Transgender">transgender</a> children, terminally ill persons planning to <a href="/wiki/Euthanasia" title="Euthanasia">end their lives</a> and the <a href="/wiki/Alt-right" title="Alt-right">alt-right</a>. </p><p>One of the more interesting documentaries was <i>Savile</i>, where Theroux himself (partly) becomes the subject when he re-evaluates his own work and interactions with the veteran entertainer after he was revealed to have been a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Savile_sexual_abuse_scandal" class="extiw" title="wp:Jimmy Savile sexual abuse scandal" rel="nofollow"><span style="color:#477979 !important;" title="Wikipedia: Jimmy_Savile_sexual_abuse_scandal">prolific, predatory sex offender</span></a><sup><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/12px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png" decoding="async" width="12" height="12" srcset="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/18px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 1.5x, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Wikipedia%27s_W.svg/24px-Wikipedia%27s_W.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="128" data-file-height="128" /></sup> (unfortunately, after Savile's death). </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="His_Scientology_movie">His Scientology movie</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Louis_Theroux&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: His Scientology movie">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <p>His 2015 documentary <i>My Scientology Movie</i><sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5">[5]</a></sup> provided an entertaining look at the shenanigans of (unsurprisingly) the <a href="/wiki/Church_of_Scientology" title="Church of Scientology">Church of Scientology</a>. </p><p>Reviews were somewhat mixed; that while it was interesting and 'watchable' it was hardly a fresh exposé of the cult.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6">[6]</a></sup> However, it was produced from an interesting angle; to make re-enactments of past events <i>regarding</i> Scientology on Los Angeles soundstages, then film the cult's 'strikeback' once the news leaked back to them.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7">[7]</a></sup> </p> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="External_links">External links</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Louis_Theroux&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: External links">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.louistheroux.com/">His own site.</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/group/p06k7x37">Most of Theroux's BBC work, via iPlayer.</a> (A UK VPN may be required).</li></ul> <h2><span class="mw-headline" id="References">References</span><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Louis_Theroux&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: References">edit</a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></h2> <div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; -webkit-column-count:2; column-count:2; font-size:80%;"> <div class="mw-references-wrap"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-1">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.is/ZZaHs">Take A Peak</a> <i>Internet Adult Film Database</i>, 1997</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-2">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.is/wAxzj">Back on the Road, Tracking the Red, White and Odd</a> <i>The New York Times</i>, 7 Fenurary 2007.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-3">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/aug/24/i-was-definitely-a-bit-of-a-tool-louis-theroux-on-25-years-of-documentary-making">'I was definitely a bit of a tool': Louis Theroux on 25 years of documentary-making</a> <i>The Guardian</i>, 24 August 2020.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-4">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/24/pastor-fred-phelps-westboro-baptist-church-louis-theroux">Pastor Fred Phelps: 'An angry, bigoted man who thrived on conflict'</a> <i>The Guardian</i>, 24 March 2014</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-5">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5111874/"><i>My Scientology Movie</i></a>. IMDB.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-6">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/oct/06/my-scientology-movie-review-louis-theroux-gets-smart-with-the-cult-church">My Scientology Movie review – Louis Theroux gets smart with the cult church</a> <i>The Guardian</i>, 6 October 2016</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><a href="#cite_ref-7">↑</a></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/14/louis-theroux-my-scientology-movie-i-felt-like-id-been-blooded">My Scientology Movie by Louis Theroux: 'I felt like I’d been blooded'</a> <i>The Guardian</i>, 14 October 2015</span> </li> </ol></div></div>    </div></div><div class="printfooter">Retrieved from "<a dir="ltr" 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