A version of this article was originally published in The Dundee Courier on 28th March 2015.
Louis
Theroux: By Reason Of Insanity: Sunday,
BBC Two
Paul
Whitelaw
I've long been of the opinion that
Louis Theroux is one of TV's finest interviewers. His gently probing
style is often categorised as 'faux-naive', but that isn't very fair
or accurate, especially these days.
While he certainly made his name as a
seemingly callow investigator of strange sub-cultures and
celebrities, he's since spent over ten years journeying through
heavier terrain. Even in his early 'Weird Weekends' phase, his
interviewing style was characterised by non-judgemental curiosity and
disarming empathy. But that approach is arguably more effective when
attached to deeper subject matter.
His latest project is a case in
point. A two-part investigation into Ohio's maximum security State
Psychiatric Hospital system, Louis Theroux: By Reason Of Insanity
is typical of a tried and tested formula in which he visits
traditionally closed-off institutions/environments and talks to the inhabitants. This is now his natural milieu, so much so that he's
probably spent more of his adult life in the company of inmates,
patients, guards and medical professionals than with his own family.
The patients he met on this occasion
have been accused of committing serious crimes, some of them
horrifically violent, while in the grip of severe mental illness.
Judged to be Not Guilty By Reason Of Insanity, they've been detained
for psychiatric treatment rather than penal rehabilitation. It's
hoped that one day they'll be well enough to return to society as
stable citizens. But when is a mentally ill patient ready for
reintegration?
Typically, Theroux doesn't treat them
as freakish novelties to be feared and peered at. Rather, he regards
them for what they are – ill, vulnerable people.
While in the grip of schizophrenic
delusions, Jonathan murdered his father. He reportedly stabbed him
over 40 times. A symptom of his condition is a conspicuous lack of
outward emotion, hence why he recounted his horrifying tale almost
casually. Theroux noted that Jonathan's inability to project grief
and remorse might be deemed shocking by 'normal society' and, if his
case should ever go to trial, a judge and jury. An unassuming soul,
Jonathan conceded that this might be the case. But what could he do?
It was terribly sad.
Softly-spoken Corey was similarly
lost. A young man suffering from paranoid delusions and suicidal
fantasies, he once attacked a police officer in the hope of being
shot dead. Initially Corey claimed he'd only struck the policeman
gently with a poker, but Theroux's polite persistence eventually
exposed the truth. After being shot twice in the legs, Corey was
dismayed that he hadn't yet been killed. So he bludgeoned the man's
skull.
“I don't think he works for the
police any more,” he said. “I feel awful about that.”
If I were to choose a textbook
example of Theroux's skill as an interviewer, it would be that
encounter with Corey. Direct yet sensitive, he patiently teases
details from his subjects until they reveal an often more disturbing
picture. But his digging never feels exploitative.
Even in areas as dark as this, there
were moments of absurd humour. Elderly Judith seemed fairly sane
until she claimed to be Jesus incarnate. “That didn't come up when
we played cards,” deadpanned Theroux.
Meanwhile, on the verge of being
released, an understandably anxious patient revealed that he once
believed he was receiving psychic instructions – mainly to drive
recklessly – from none other than Benjamin Netanyahu. You have to
laugh, I suppose.
The unspoken yet readily apparent
point hovering over this exercise was the stigma which still
surrounds mental illness. While people such as those featured in the
programme are receiving treatment from dedicated, trained
professionals, politicians and certain portions of the mainstream
media still have a long way to go with regards to how they're
treated. One need only look at this week's dismaying coverage of the
Germanwings Airbus tragedy as proof.
Necessarily inconclusive, this
typically humane and nuanced report was Theroux at his
thought-provoking best.
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