Louis Theroux, and the Nazis

In class we were given the chance to watch one of Louis Theroux's documentaries, 'Louis Theroux and the Nazis'. This documentary fascinated me and Louis Theroux made it possible to see how some people lived and the certain views they had on things. This documentary in particular showed the racist views some people had on others and they weren't afraid to show it. They openly showed signs of hate for these people for example showing the Nazi symbol on their cars, tattoos etc and at times I was made to feel very uneasy. With Louis Theroux himself being a Jew, at one point in the documentary he visits a family and they openly say if the camera wasn't there, he'd beat him up and leave him on the street. This is just one example of the pure disgust I felt for these people being interviewed. In my opinion it is wrong the way in which they teach their children to believe in such horrible things and because the children are only young, they think it is right. The mother who is interviewed throughout the documentary says at one point if one of her daughters was to bring home a black boy/man, she would disown them. This just shows us how strongly they felt about their race. Throughout the whole documentary, it is all filmed on a hand held camera, not once is a tripod used. The filming itself its necessarily done well but it is effective the way in which is captures the key points. At some points in the documentary you can see Louis feels uncomfortable and at times has to bite his tongue however, having said this, he is not afraid to ask questions and to have his own opinion on each situation. The people who are interviewed all appear to be living in their own little bubble, their beliefs are very strong but you can tell from the way they are, they are a very close knit community. The documentary is done a very clever way as some parts are almost narrated where we get to hear Louis' point of view about the situations. Another thing in which works well is the establishing shots that are taken before each new person or location is introduced, which allows us to feel part of his journey. Blackouts are used to break up the awkwardness between scenes and when a scene has come to an end. Towards the end of the documentary, Louis visits Mexico with Tom, who is known as one of America's most racist men. There visit is interesting and what amazed me the most was when Tom introduced himself, he openly said he was a leader of the KKK in California and he was racist. This is something in which Tom is proud of and doesn't appear to be afraid of what anyone else thinks. Having watched this documentary, Louis Theroux has inspired me and I am curious to see what other work he has done.