Louis Theroux: Forbidden America

This is a very controversial documentary, but one that does not deserve a low rating like this. Given what we have seen of many people in the first episode alone, it's unsurprising that people have given this a low rating either out of spite or because of their refusal to see things from another perspective. Louis shows things exactly how they are, but people with similar beliefs to those in the docuseries will naturally dislike the light that is put onto certain individuals and subjects. I also wouldn't be surprised if this was review-bombed by followers of some individuals in the series. I just find it very suspicious that a docuseries that raises very important points about American modern culture and the impact of social media in the US has gotten such a mixed response on iMDB.

The people in this getting offended about having their quotes and reflected back to them makes for one of the best LT documentary for a while. I'd have more respect for them if they just admitted what they believe. Louis' indignation is clear.

In the end the online donations roll and and we discover, it was about the money after all.

Good to see their fans have been able to follow a link to leave back reviews here.

Finding extreme individuals in America is not so hard and Louis Theroux has done a good job of this in the last. But no effort is made to understand the backstories of these dreadful people, whether they had formative experiences that led to their views. Many seemed to be conflicted - were they White Supremicists or just motivated by narcissistic desire to get a reaction from the mainstream media? They seemed less sure of their ideology than the neo-nazis Theroux has profiled before. Yet none of this was explored. So we are left none the wiser. Maybe all Louis wanted was to say they are dreadful and social media is feeding them, but I thought there was a better story and investigation to be had.

Having been a fan of Louis Theroux's documentaries for years, I was waiting for this one.

I felt like it was less smart and less edgy than most of Louis' earlier work.

Felt kinda strange also to have Louis travel all over the world right after saying (for example) "He lives in Budapest" -> boom, he's over there.

But mostly, I felt like Louis looked tired of doing what some people call "his freak-show". He didn't seem very enthusiastic and/or interested in his subjects.

In his documentary series, the main protagonist is actually the presenter. In this case, Louis became very early on the "normal people's view" on the situations he puts himself in. This time, I didn't feel that connection.

But I guess after so many years, it's normal. Can't blame him.

'Forbidden America' follows Louis Theroux's familliar template, travelling to meet strange, often troubling people and letting them tell their own stories, for good or ill. One problem with the model is that his interviewees are often very aware of the context within which they operate; which makes the documentaries less exploitative, but also more perfomatative; the subjects all have their own reason for appearing. In this series, he meets violent rappers, white supremacists, and workers in the porn industry. At least two of these are familliar subjects for Theroux, and he's arguably more directly judgemental here than he has been hitherto. In places, the series is insightful, but as human beings, his protagonists aren't always that interesting, even though their societal role may be: they often come across as narcissitic and opportunistic grifters, whose personalities don't take that long to dissect. There are always moments of interest in Theroux's work; but also limitations to the personal approach.