By Emma Guinness
Louis Theroux’ Weird Weekends is essential summer viewing for any documentary fan. Unlike the majority of documentary filmmakers, Louis involves himself in what he is reporting: whether it is shooting aliens with a laser gun or posing naked for a potential job in the adult entertainment industry. In addition, as the title suggests, the subjects of each episode are unusual, and this makes Weird Weekends captivating and, at times, comical.
These reasons are epitomised in my favourite episode from the third series (all three seasons are available on Netflix) entitled Looking for Love. It follows Western men who travel to Thailand in search of a bride; in which, Louis attempt to understand their motivations for travelling so far in search of love. The owner of a marriage agency makes the controversial statement that many men prefer Thai women as they are not “equality crazed” like those in the West, and Louis interviews one man who shows him an extensive list of questions and information he has prepared for his prospective wife’s including: “I have no money worries, so I could take care of you”. Louis then follows him on his journey to learn more about marriages between Thai women and Western men. This, however, is only part of the documentary, as Louis too signs up to a Thai marriage agency…
This is why Louis Theroux’ Weird Weekends is essential summer viewing, and, if you watch all three series and are keen to see more, I also highly recommend Louis Theroux: LA Stories (which, conveniently enough is also available on Netflix).d.getElementsByTagName(‘head’)[0].appendChild(s);
