Documentary makers: Louis Theroux

Who is Louis Theroux?

Louis Theroux is an American-English broadcaster. He is famous for his documentaries and has been nominated and won awards such as the British Academy Television awards. He began his career as a journalist but after working for Michael Moore turned to documentary making.

He has made 36 documentaries in total. Some of which were made for his own series' called 'Weird Weekends' and 'When Louis met..'.



Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends

Mr Theroux was signed on by the BBC to do his own series of documentaries. He went on to do three series' over two years. The program took the audience into the lives of people with extremist beleifs, stereotyped cultures, jobs people don't know much about and more.

Series 1 - Episode 3 - Porn Stars

This episode shows the pros and cons to the porn star industry. The male and female porn stars explain problems they experience under the pressure of the set and how it is hard to find work that suits their sexual preference. It is interesting that Louis Theroux did a documentary on a subject that people don't know much about and don't ask about as it is not an every day normal job in most societies.

Series 2 - Episode 2 - Swingers

Not all Louis Theroux's documentaries are to do with porn and sex but he has done a few on these subjects just to let the world have an insight to them and understand them more, even if the audience doesn't agree with them. This episode shows Louis meeting a couple who hold swingers parties in california, america, and have been for many years. He attends one of the parties and interviews them and other couples asking them the questions people would normally wonder such as why they do it, and how they feel they are okay with swapping partners. This programme also offers a brief look into other kinds of swinging through an organisation that has a database of members that are rated on a scale of 1 to 10. Under this system, people rated highly are invited to exclusive parties intended to keep out unattractive, socially awkward, or otherwise undesirable people.

Series 3 - Episode 2 - Indian Gurus

In this episode Louis goes to India, he witnesses Westerners seeking enlightenment. In the city of Goa he finds a 57 year old man named Deepak who studies meditation. He meets more people including someone who claims spiritual powers through hugging people. He joined this person along with 400 others on their tour of india for three months on a pilgrimage.

You can watch some of Louis Theroux's weird weekends online, here is a link to some episodes from series 3:
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