Gotta Get Theroux This, by Louis Theroux (2019)

This book spent more time talking about Jimmy Savile then I expected. It felt like a big part of this was Louis trying to make sense of the whole episode himself, and in that way Louis, intentional or not, provided us with a view into himself just as he does many of his other subjects. In some ways he was vulnerable, but just as many of the subjects of his documentaries, there was a sense of self-censorship present in this book. There was deflection and defensiveness, explanation for Louis not realising he may have been friends with a predator, hoodwinked, again just as many subjects of his documentaries had been indoctrinated by movements that don’t serve them as they think.

Gotta get Theroux this was a revealing and insightful book that finally contextualised Louis in terms of time, place and voice. Having only stumbled onto his documentaries via ABC2 broadcasts back in the day, often out of order, he was always a confusing figure. I couldn’t tell if his work was from the 70s or from today. He present from rural America or England sometimes I didn’t get it. Learning his story chronologically was itself helpful. Learning about his American ancestry and lucky breaks working with Michael Moore was both a surprising culture clash and also made complete sense, like seeing Hatzigianni singing with Anna Vissi at the Olympics.

His meditations on the documentary process were fascinating, how he would construct narratives, and leave open opportunities for subjects to provide content. He was a master at improvisation in some ways, but in his mastery of his unique almost childlike interview style, I wonder if he has left space for anyone else to do the same in the future. There is only one Louis, everything else similar now seems derivative. In some ways though I feel his work was exploitative and no amount of trust building Louis did can detract from the fact he used often already exploited people to gain fame and fortune. I guess that’s the duality of documentaries though, to present something as it is means leaving it exposed to critique.