Talk:Louis Theroux

Please cite sources

Theroux is noted for his ability to get people to reveal things about themselves by asking questions in a seemingly naïve and innocent way (see Socratic irony). His style is seen as controversial by some, who accuse Theroux of being manipulative and mocking. In interviews about his time with UK entertainer Jimmy Savile, Theroux stated his ultimate wish was to have recorded Savile bursting into tears. In his interviews with eccentric and unusual people, it has been argued Theroux takes advantage of naivety and eagerness to get attention - his subjects failing to realise Theroux is actually dismissive or hostile. Some of his subjects are clearly powerful, confident people (such as the media stars he followed in later series) although others are obviously vulnerable and damaged, and in this sense, Theroux's approach is controversial.

Who? Please cite your sources! Joe D (t) 17:43, 4 January 2006 (UTC)

Well there are some people here who say that stuff (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/reviews/1703633.stm) - HM July 06

Criticisms

I had to delete the entry that cited "Widlend" as having published under MX in Brisbane. I check with MX, a free commuter newspaper and they have no such record of "The problem with Theroux" ever being published. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.61.57.115 (talk) 20:31, 25 May 2008 (UTC)

• I noticed that section was added last week. Two problems with it. First an entire section based on one journalist's opinion is excessive. Second, W.P.Widlend, the "journalist" who made these criticisms isn't a reliable source as I can find no existence of such a journalist, his name gets zero Google hits. Even if he was writing for a free commuter newspaper there would be at least one Ghit. I've removed the rest of the unsourced criticisms in line with WP:BLP. 92.1.216.71 (talk) 00:01, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Mostly

I added the word "mostly" to the description of the subcutures of Wierd Weekends, as there was one about South african white supremacists, not americans. Epeeist smudge 15:41, 7 March 2007 (UTC)

New series

This article doesn't seem to mention his new series (he meets the family of Fred Phelps in the upcoming episode (Sunday, April 1). Forbear 20:52, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

wow... User:Dfrd has just transcribed loads of the last night's programme (or the guardian article). can someone revise this edit, cut it down? or just remove it. It hasn't even got a proper sub-heading. this information is totally out of place on Louis Theroux's page. there should possibly be a quote section with some of this in, but a full transcription is just crazy. Chillymail 08:00, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

Now tagged for cleanup.

I'm going to go ahead and remove it all and replace it with a link to the Westboro Baptist Church page, since it's not adding anything to the wiki. Tbone762 09:16, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

Wouldn't a link to the BBC News page here be more useful than a link to the Westboro Baptist Church's page? After all, this is more directly relevant to the new series, the second episode and Louis' thoughts on the Westboro Baptist Church than the wiki on it. --84.67.205.64 22:39, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

P.S Nevermind that, someone has already been sensible enough to do it. Although tbh, the new series section needs a lot of work, not a clean up. Start from scratch even as it possesses little detail and fails to inform people. Which is what we are here to do, no? Perhaps some of what was in the BBC News Magazine article can be incorporated? --84.67.205.64 22:41, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

Pronunciation

How do I pronounce his surname? Can someone add the phonetic spelling? -Nathan Baulch 14:38, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

In French you would say Teh-Roo (equal emphasis on each syllable). I suppose the best anglo version would be to soften the T, as in Thuh-Roo (emphasis on the Roo).

I don't know how Mr. Theroux pronounces it, but that's my best guess. 69.159.237.206 16:58, 20 April 2007 (UTC)

In a documentation (Louis Theroux and the Nazis [1]) he was pronouncing his name as [lu:ɪ θərɔʊ]. --80.140.122.121 14:08, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

I notice that the pronunciation of his surname is written there in "respelling key" but the first name isn't in IPA. IPA is far more common and used throughout the world. The full name in IPA is needed.--ЗAНИA ^{talk WB talk}] 00:40, 12 January 2013 (UTC)

Jewish

Is Louis Theroux jewish? --80.140.122.121 14:11, 10 May 2007 (UTC)

Why does it matter? I dont believe he is actually. Chrisp7 11:13, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

No he isn't, although he did refuse to answer that question on principle when asked it by a NeoNazi skinhead during one of his documentaries. (on the voice-over he said he wasn't Jewish IIRC) Tomgreeny 22:29, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

He did say, I think in "Call of the Wierd", that he is often taken as being Jewish, but he is not. Epeeist smudge 10:40, 1 June 2007 (UTC)

In the Documentary "Young, Nazi and Proud" about the British National Party featuring Mark Collett. He asks Mark what he thinks of Jews. Mark says that Jews are visibly different. Louis in a voiceover 16:58 into the film, "I am Jewish by racial descent. But Mark hadn't realized." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.204.252.191 (talk) 04:49, 14 October 2007 (UTC)

actually, the journalist in Young, Nazi and Proud is David Modell, you can cooberate this at http://www.channel4.com/news/2003/special_reports/young_nazi_proud.html —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.108.158.7 (talk) 03:23, 5 February 2008 (UTC)

About "Young, Nazi and Proud"— not Louis, & doesn't even sound like him. ʄ!•¿talk? 05:12, 14 September 2008 (UTC)

FHM/Loaded

he used to write for one of them didnt he?

Place of birth?

According to http://observer.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2179988,00.html Theroux was born in Singapore. Which is right: Singapore or Uganda? --jbmurray (talk|contribs) 16:30, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

Actually, googling I discover more references to his being born in Singapore: [2], [3], [4], [5]. Though it seems clear that his brother, Marcel, was born in Uganda. I'm going to make the change. --jbmurray (talk|contribs) 16:39, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

I see it was, until a few minutes ago, shown as Uganda. I have now changed it to Singapore because (a) the quantity and quality of refs. to Singapore are more convincing, and (b) if you look at his bio on IMDb you can see that someone who quickly skims through that bio can misread his brother Marcel's birthplace as being Louis' birthplace. (I do wonder if the IMDb bio is the original source of the confusion.)--86.146.241.252 (talk) 12:45, 12 January 2008 (UTC)

10 BBC 2 specials

I propose we create a page similiar to the Weird Weekends and the When Louis met.. so that information on these specials does not clutter Louis page. Any suggestions on what to name it ? Bencey 00:03, 7 October 2007 (UTC)

Louis Theroux Specials? -Pete —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.20.71.234 (talk) 16:10, 11 October 2007 (UTC)

Trivia

Removed the 'trivia' section, as I can't think of anything notable about Louis Theroux being a 'big fan of Keanu Reeves'; seems remarkably unencyclopedic. Blackmetalbaz 19:23, 28 October 2007 (UTC)

Run To The Hills

Missing from Louie's credits is a documentary on Bo Gritz'a covenant community, Almost Heaven, called "Run to The Hills".

Shane in Kamiah Lonestar@qroidaho.net 21Sept2008 —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.165.54.233 (talk) 04:12, 23 September 2008 (UTC)

Employer

The page currently lists his employer as The Idler, is it not actually the BBC? Kansaikiwi (talk) 02:51, 18 November 2008 (UTC)

Picture

The current picture is quite blurry, could use a new one Arfed (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 09:37, 6 September 2009 (UTC).

I agree and have commented it out. 212.84.105.96 (talk) 02:29, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Twitter?

Which is his genuine twitter account: http://twitter.com/Louis_Theroux or http://twitter.com/louistheroux or neither, or both? Surely we shouldn't add any in the external links unless we can be sure of its authenticity. --David Edgar (talk) 19:11, 6 February 2011 (UTC)

Social media sites are explicitly deprecated as external links see WP:ELNO Alistair Stevenson (talk) 19:30, 6 February 2011 (UTC)

Religion

I have edited this back to Religion: None. Atheism is not a religion. He simply has no religion. 189.203.219.190 (talk) 02:28, 26 August 2013 (UTC)

If Atheism is not a religion then why is it in the Religion entry? There are other things that are not religions such as ducks and we are not writing 'Religion: None (Ducks)' are we? And while the debate rages on about whether atheism is a 'lack of beliefs' or the 'belief that there are no gods' and it is adorned with all kinds of adjectives, I think it is more reasonable to just leave it as 'Religion: None', which I just did. Unless somebody here, or Louis Theroux himself (via a quote perhaps) thinks it is appropriate to take Atheism as a religion or a valid religion replacement.189.203.219.190 (talk) 01:02, 22 May 2013 (UTC)

On the side pane 'Atheist' is put under 'Religion' when it clearly is not one. There are definitely better ways of wording this. Possibly 'Religion: None' Or 'None (Atheist)', or something similar. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.97.167.179 (talk) 22:06, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

Done - 93.97.255.48 (talk) 22:31, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

And in case anyone should ever try to challenge that, here is a snippet of dialog from The Ultra Zionists:

Youth: You told me you're an atheist. You like it?

Theroux: A lot. It's very comforting....

Youth: It's very comfortable.

Theroux: ...It's very comforting to know there's no one up there looking after me.

—Biosketch (talk) 12:56, 11 August 2011 (UTC)

User:176.61.104.211 has removed the Religion entry twice and been reverted with instructions to address his disagreement here before making further changes to the Religion content of this Infobox.SBaker43 (talk) 05:28, 18 August 2012 (UTC)

Extreme love?

Nothing about that yet?

Both episodes I saw were wonderful. The one on dementia hit a little close to home. That Louis sure is a nice guy. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.114.197.85 (talk) 15:49, 8 May 2012 (UTC)

Change of style after Max Clifford / Simon Cowel Hit Piece

I think it would be noteworthy that Theroux changed his style after he was "outed" during his episode with Max Clifford and Simon Cowel. He change from a rather pathetic Gonzo "hit-piece" entertainment style to a more objective journalistic outlook. This was a significant change, his early work and style should not go un-noted as it has a bearing on his personality and motivation - which was rather sick. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.178.187.118 (talk) 08:14, 8 July 2012 (UTC)

"Outed" in doublequotes? What does that mean? Has any RS noted any such change in style, or any such "outing"? --Lexein (talk) 14:54, 16 October 2012 (UTC)

Interviews of Theroux

These were deleted from External links as cleanup. Rather than revert, I'm moving these here for integration as sources. An "In his own words" section? Several are press junket interviews.

• In Conversation with Louis Theroux at BAFTA (video). 19 February 2010.
• Something weird about Louis. 2001 interview by Gyles Brandreth in The Telegraph
• When Amazon Met Louis. Written interview with Amazon.co.uk
• Weird & wonderful Interview by Jeremy Taylor for bmi Voyager Magazine. November 2007.
• Masterclass with Louis Theroux (video). Recorded at Docville Filmfestival. May 4th 2012

--Lexein (talk) 14:54, 16 October 2012 (UTC)

Categories

American documentary filmmakersAmerican investigative journalistsAmerican people of French-Canadian descentAmerican people of French descentAmerican people of Italian descentAmerican television personalities

I know he has US citizenship by birth but he isn't really American now, is he? These categories are misleading. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.96.49.84 (talk) 11:56, 3 October 2013 (UTC)

Place of residence

The Personal Life section says "He lives in the London district of Harlesden" while the infobox gave his residence as "Los Angeles, California, United States". As the personal life entry was cited I've changed the infobox to agree with it. As always, if there's a reliable source for the USA address feel free to revert. Kiore (talk) 10:46, 17 December 2013 (UTC)

This is very subjective and can't be verified

This is good for a review in a magazine, but for an encyclopedia this is very badly written:

Throughout his journey, Louis gets close to the people most involved with driving the extreme end of the Jewish settler movement – finding them warm, friendly, humorous, and deeply troubling.

I have seen the documentary and I really wonder if he thought they were warm and friendly. I actually saw that he had sympathy with the Palestinian Arabs and he criticized the Ultra-Zionists. I will remove this for this exact reason. The person who wrote this either hasn't seen the documentary, or is a zionist, and just as we don't accept articles to contain muslim or islamic propaganda, zionist propaganda is not allowed in Wikipedia articles. Bokareis (talk) 00:13, 4 October 2014 (UTC)

Constant edits of this part about Zionist settlers

Just like people with Islam, Christianity, Communism sometimes like to remove writings about their ideology or belief from outsiders it seems to me that there are some people which constantly try to remove this part which was written by someone, I don't know who, about his documentary in which he talks with several zionists and Palestinians. This description at Wikipedia of this documentary doesn't seem to be offensive to muslims, anti-jewish, antisemitic, islamophobic, unbalanced or too subjective. What I read is exactly what the documentary is about and the people which he talks with are indeed at the extreme end of this ideology. May I ask why some people feel the need to remove something which isn't offensive in the first place? Bokareis (talk) 21:58, 8 February 2015 (UTC)

I just rewrote the entire summary to reflect content directly from WP:RS. This should give a better mandate on reverting vandalism, and it's not copypasted content like before. And it's still true! :P--Shibbolethink ^{(♔ ♕)} 01:49, 21 March 2015 (UTC)

I just read it, it's indeed a good and objective description of what it was about. Someone wrote nonsense like: he met the warmly hearted zionist community which he loved or something like that, that wasn't really my impression of the reaction of louis in the documentary. I 'm happy that someone wrote a good summary of it. Good job! :) Bokareis (talk) 22:17, 3 May 2015 (UTC)

Hey, thanks! I think Louis Theroux himself would rather we display a modicum of objectivity/good will going into describing his films as much as he tries to show it in the films themselves.--Shibbolethink ^{(♔ ♕)} 01:57, 6 May 2015 (UTC)

MB1972

Hi @MB1972: I reverted your edit because it's a very common practice to have a short section about a film that someone has produced on their biographical wiki page. That's why the Main article template exists....--Shibbolethink ^{(♔ ♕)} 14:59, 24 March 2015 (UTC)

Mother?

No mention . Xb2u7Zjzc32 (talk) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Xb2u7Zjzc32 (talk • contribs) 05:54, 17 October 2015 (UTC)

He's described as "... the son of English mother Anne (née Castle)..." Martinevans123 (talk) 12:51, 15 May 2022 (UTC)

"He works with the BBC by producing his documentaries and television series."

What, exactly, is the above sentence intended to convey?

That he doesn't work with the BBC by being a gardener? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.167.143.57 (talk) 20:57, 22 November 2017 (UTC)

Rapper

Is Theroux now known as a rap artist? Martinevans123 (talk) 12:50, 15 May 2022 (UTC)

No, he should not be referred to as such. Just because he did it once for a TV show doesn't mean it's his career. On his TV show, he's also tried making infomercials and body building – but obviously you wouldn't say he's a professional in those. --Andymii (talk) 02:56, 17 May 2022 (UTC)

He's released a notable rap single, Jiggle Jiggle which has recieved widespread coverage and generates income. I think that makes him not only a rapper, but also technically, a professional rapper, since he draws income from it. No one is suggesting he has a rap career. Aeonx (talk) 05:43, 27 May 2022 (UTC)