A new documentary has recently come out on Netflix. it is called Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere. As far as the concept is concerned, louis therouxA renowned British-American documentary filmmaker sets out to investigate the rise of hyper-masculine online influencers and their subcultures. And, within his visuals, Lewis places a large focus on many of these high-profile leaders, otherwise known as “manfluencers.”
What Louis found was not surprising at all. These manfluencers are just trying to make money by selling “solutions,” “online universities” and more. They do this by asserting their dominance, and then, they seduce their potential customers by using a mixture of emotional and misogynistic jargon. An example is the “red pill” metaphor commonly used in their pitches.
The “Red Pill” belief states that these manfluencers and their clients have “woke up” to the reality where men are systematically disenfranchised by women. They’re not… As Lewis points out, after several interviews and investigations, many of these aggressive postures are actually hiding various childhood traumas.
If Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere sounds interesting, wait until you hear about some of Louis’ other documentaries.
Louis Theroux’s Strange Weekend: Wrestling
For three seasons, investigator Lewis visited numerous ports of call, documenting everything from top UFO sightings to swingers. Still, his greatest episode to date occurred in Season 2. During Episode 6, this little “cockroach” made a 48-minute long documentary highlighting the world of professional wrestling. And, after landing on the wrong side of the tracks with Dewayne Bruce, also known as Sergeant “Sarge” Buddy Lee Parker, everything went awry.
Lewis begins his investigation by watching a live recording of the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) event Monday Nitro. Backstage, he interviewed various wrestlers including Serge, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper and Randy Savage. But then he asked one of the trainers if the wrestling was “fake”.
Serge handled this complaint like a professional. So, when Louis headed to his next location, the WCW Power Plant in Atlanta, Georgia, Sarge, who worked out of this location, gave him a proper never-ask-style hedge. Needless to say, buckets were spilled, tears were shed, and lessons were learned. But the highlight came when Lewis faced an intense training exercise that saw him (almost) fighting for his life.
In this drill, Lewis had to lie on his back and move around. He was then forced to shout, “I am a dying cockroach because I don’t have the will to win.” Lewis willingly completes the task, resulting in an entertaining episode of his strange weekend series.
Louis Theroux: My Scientology Movie
Many have called the Church of Scientology. So, in 2016, Lewis released an entire film about this organization. “They say it brainwashes people,” Lewis says in the trailer. But what exactly did he learn after stepping into this mysterious world?
The Church of Scientology refused to play along. So, Lewis hired an actor named Andrew Perez. Andrew played the role of Scientology leader David Miscavige and he played David well in his dramatic stories.
Mark Rathbun was at Lewis’s side. Mark is a former high-ranking Scientologist. In this documentary, Mark expertly walks Lewis (and the audience) through the alleged abuses people endured (and are allegedly still enduring) at the hands of this organization.
Lewis also focused on “The Hole”, a facility that allegedly holds senior leaders. Here, these officers allegedly face all kinds of abuse, such as crawling and licking the floor.
However, during his investigation, Lewis encountered Scientology’s “Squirrel Buster” teams. They tried to persuade Lewis to leave, but he remained adamant. As a result, representatives of the church turned over the script, revealing to Lewis that they were now making their own documentary about the production crew. What happened next shocked us, showing Louis entertaining one of these camera-wielding operators.
One woman informed Lewis, “Tell him to stop (filming me).” “You tell him to stop,” argues Louise, pointing at her cameraman. And then, they basically repeat these lines with nausea.
The most hated family in America
Arguably, one of the most infamous documentaries of Lewis debuted in 2007. It included the Phelps family, the men behind Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas.
At that time, the Westboro church had about 70 members, mostly of Phelps ancestry. As Lewis shows, these individuals strongly oppose the LGBTQ+ community, who they believe are responsible for the downfall of America. So, they show up at all kinds of events, from parades to actual churches that tolerate others, with their big signs that read, “God Hates F*gs.”
The Phelps family has even ruined the funerals of our fallen soldiers, brainwashing their youth to keep their legacy alive. In turn, they are easily, as the title suggests: one of the most hated families in America.
When Lewis attempted to understand the beliefs of various church members by talking to them, including their young children, he discovered a horrifying fact. The same harassing tools he used on the public, well, he applied them on his own family members too.
Four years later, Lewis found the church in conflict in his first follow-up documentary, America’s Most Hated Family in Crisis. Then, in 2019, they filmed a final follow-up series titled Surviving America’s Most Hated Family. Inside, we learned that one member, Megan Phelps, had thankfully left the church.
Tell us – have you seen any of the Louis Theroux documentaries? If yes, which one is your favourite?