Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Culture vultures

Get tips on theatre and art from other Mumsnetters on our Culture forum.

Louis Theroux - America's most hated family - Anyone see this last night?

64 replies

letthesunshinein · 02/04/2007 09:05

Anyone see this? How bizarre was it to see such unhinged views expressed so nonchalantly??? This family are so extreme in what they beleive that they appear to have alienated and offended the whole of their country, and that's gotta be pretty hard to do! It was even more unbelievable to see how their youngest children were being brainwashed to say things they obviously didn't understand. Most shocking of all was that Louis Theroux actually stood up to their ridiculous comments with sustained logical arguments instead of going along with it for the sake of the show, a change of tact I think he should definitely stick with. As a result, I'm actually starting to find him quite sexy Is it just me???

OP posts:
spudmasher · 02/04/2007 09:08

No, I have always found him a bit of a dish, in his more intelligent moments.
You hit the nail on the head with that word brainwashing.
What about the leader guy?
He was WEIRD!!!!!
They were all brainwashed imo.
It was a cult or sect- don't know what the difference is.

BizzyDint · 02/04/2007 09:10

yes i saw this. i thought it was a bit of a let down tbh. i've seen that main woman interviewd before. i wanted louis to uncover some dark secrets or something. like one of the daughters having a secret child or boyfriend or something.

spudmasher · 02/04/2007 09:12

I wanted Louis to uncover some dark secrets too.

twelveyeargap · 02/04/2007 09:15

Was shocked that the woman would put her kids in a position to be attacked at the side of the road like that.

I mean, I was also shocked at how they were being indoctorinated, but freedom of speech/thought etc. It's not really for me to judge.

Just don't think she should have had them on the front line. Feel the same way about people taking children on the May-Day marches when they KNEW there would be chaos. Surely your views aren't worth putting your children in danger?

letthesunshinein · 02/04/2007 09:16

yeah it would've been good to find out some dark secrets but i guess they would've kicked him out if he'd started rummaging too much. That old guy was sooo odd, i mean how offensive is it to ask how many children someone has??

OP posts:
OrmIrian · 02/04/2007 09:23

I can't imagine any secrets darker than the fact of their beleifs TBH!. Louis Theroux is and always has been attractive IMO.

BizzyDint · 02/04/2007 09:30

usually louis manages to catch his interviewees out with his questioning but this time it was like impossible. they had answers for absolutley everything.. he couldn't win. i soooo wanted that lawyer daughter to break down crying and admit she hates their lifestyle etc but noooo.

expatinscotland · 02/04/2007 09:31

Louis is a tasty treat.

anorak · 02/04/2007 09:31

I love Louis and avidly watch his programmes. Agree I enjoyed the fact that he challenged their reasoning.

IMO the whole thing hinges around the top guy being on a power trip. He's got 70 people who worship and adore him and hang on to his every word. That sure beats living in an little flat with meals on wheels.

KittyLetteMeEatAnEasterEgg · 02/04/2007 09:35

i missed it, what did the family belive that made the whole country hate them?

anorak · 02/04/2007 09:35

DizzyBint I don't think they had a lot of answers really, they just stonewalled him with comments like 'We do it because it's what God wants us to do' without giving any explanation as to where they got that from.

You can't argue with someone illogical.

letthesunshinein · 02/04/2007 09:37

Yep it's a classic cult situation really. amazing how one guy's issues with the wider world could be translated into a 70 strong family so full of hatred for everyone and everything. btw so glad i'm not alone in fancying louis!!!

OP posts:
anorak · 02/04/2007 09:38

Kitty they believed that they (around 70 people) are the only true church and the only ones not going to hell. They believe that being gay is an abomination and that anyone who condones gayness is also doomed to hell. And they think that America has been lured into war in the Middle East by God so that he can punish them for their gay tolerance.

So they do things like picketing the funerals of soldiers killed in action waving placards with things like 'God hates fags' on them and telling all the mourners they are going to hell.

BizzyDint · 02/04/2007 09:38

anorak- yes absolutely. but what i mean is that they didn;t even stumble over anything. normally louis catches them out. and he couldn't this time. they didn;t even get cross at him.

KittyLetteMeEatAnEasterEgg · 02/04/2007 09:39

omg, thats awful

anorak · 02/04/2007 09:39

Oh yes and they take their small children along on these picket lines and have them holding up signs and shouting abuse as well.

letthesunshinein · 02/04/2007 09:40

they believed that as america allows homosexuality, everyone who fights for the usa is a 'fag-lover' as they put it, and will therefore burn in hell. they kept turning up at the funerals of soldiers with banners stating the above. there was more, but can't quite remember all of it tbh, all very 'last days' fire and brimstone, oh and they're the only 70 people in the world NOT going to hell!!

OP posts:
KittyLetteMeEatAnEasterEgg · 02/04/2007 09:40

did anyone see that one with the racist family once in america?

and they had twin girls of about 11 and they were making them sing white pride songs

and the mum kept saying'what is a white man going to find more sexy than blonde twin girls singing about white supremacy'??

it made me feel sick!!

anorak · 02/04/2007 09:41

One of the most chilling aspects of it is that they actually rejoice when someone they think is doomed dies. They rejoice at the idea of someone being sent to hell because 'it's what God wants'.

They do not practise violence but IMO their beliefs are one step away from turning into a bloody crusade.

BizzyDint · 02/04/2007 09:43

kitty- yes i've seen them on several shows. the girls are a group called prussina blue. a big hit with white supremacists. vile, nothing but vile.

Judy1234 · 02/04/2007 09:44

I thought most Amercians believed only those "saved" go to heaven and gays will live in eternal damnation. Isn't that the core US belief, at least for those masses of them in conservative Christian churches?

Anyway it sounds like an interesting programme. We have some bretheren people near here who stand in the streets preaching with the children. I suppose all Christians and most religions have believed your faith is more important than your life and there is nothing better than to die for your faith.There's quite a tradition of child Christian martyrs. Very gory stuff and then suicide bombers really continuing that tradition. What a planet we live on.

"Kitty they believed that they (around 70 people) are the only true church and the only ones not going to hell. They believe that being gay is an abomination and that anyone who condones gayness is also doomed to hell. And they think that America has been lured into war in the Middle East by God so that he can punish them for their gay tolerance.

So they do things like picketing the funerals of soldiers killed in action waving placards with things like 'God hates fags' on them and telling all the mourners they are going to hell."

BizzyDint · 02/04/2007 09:47

they interviewed the main woman on fox news, which of course would probably say that 'all fags will go to hell' etc if they could. however the difference here is that this group bang on about the soldiers and fag enablers and all that. they even had a board about princess dianan being a fag enabler. now fox would never ever condone abuse to the soldiers, that overrides anything to do with homosexuality.

NadineBaggott · 02/04/2007 09:48

deluded hypocrites.

they're lost.

anorak · 02/04/2007 09:49

By the way the programme is repeated this Wednesday BBC2 at 11.20pm if anyone wants to see it.

Xenia I completely agree with you. Which is why I am thoroughly irreligious.

What hope can we ever have of people respecting the life they and others have if they believe they will have another better one after death?

Judy1234 · 02/04/2007 09:51

I was assuming I would have a good few million years of after life after this one actually or I wouldn't waste so much time on mumsnet, but feel free to disabuse me of the notion.