BBC producer just emailed:"America's Most Hated Family in Crisis" to air Sun. April 3.. - http://twitter.com/WBCSteve Louis Theroux – America's Most Hated Family In Crisis Louis Theroux returns to Kansas to catch up with America's Most Hated Family. Following up on his hugely popular and acclaimed 2007 documentary The Most Hated Family In America, Louis Theroux returns to Topeka, Kansas, for a second visit to the Westboro Baptist Church. A fire-and-brimstone Christian group, made up of 80 or so members of the Phelps family, the WBC have made themselves notorious in America – and worldwide – for their pickets of the funerals of soldiers killed in action, where they wield anti-gay placards. The Phelps believe the soldiers were killed as part of God's punishment of America for its toleration of homosexuality. But, four years on from Louis's last visit, there are signs of disarray in the Phelps clan. A series of defections of family members has shaken up the church. They've been at the centre of a landmark Supreme Court case and, possibly because of the resulting attention, their beliefs have become increasingly bizarre. In America's Most Hated Family In Crisis, Louis is once again granted a behind-the-scenes look at America's most controversial Christian group as it gears up for what it sees as the final showdown with doomed America. Louis explores the church's strange new belief that Obama is The Beast spoken of in the Book Of Revelation, and their conviction that we are now in the run-up to the second coming of Christ. But the church members have now seen his first documentary and, as a result, they revile Louis, who they see as one of the most evil men in all human history – alleging that he is on a par with Pontius Pilate for his supposed mockery of true Christianity. Yet the church members also see the spreading of their message as a necessary part of the church's out-reach, even if it means spending time with a hopeless unbeliever. Louis also tracks down two of the departed members – young women, both of whom he had interviewed in the first film when they were still inside the church. He probes the parents of the apostates, who have "cut off" their renegade daughters, and who now affect a strange and chilling indifference to the separation. Louis gets under the skin of the church members, showing the human cost of living as part of an extreme religious group: the secret pain of parents who've turned their back on their childrenand the forbidden yearnings of the younger female devotees. http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/proginfo/tv/2011/wk14/unplaced.shtml#unplaced_louis The first documentary.. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7735501683185935638#
Louis Theroux does have this disarming nature and has been able to provide many interesting insights and sides to his subject's lives that you just would not normally see, in particular his first documentary on the WBC which probably went further into their minds than anyone else has been able to. I'm not always convinced that a follow-up works as well in this sense. Mainly because that initial naive charm is somewhat missing and, as already pointed out, the subject having seen the finished product from the first time round is already aware of the obvious conclusions that have been drawn, so they tend to be more guarded and cynical the second time round. It'll still be a good watch though.
Any documentary by Louis Theroux is full of win http://www.google.com.pe/search?q=L...a=X&ei=fcKETZa0JcOy0QHf7sjYCA&ved=0CAkQpwUoAw
although he may do good stuff, the more exposure these idiots get, good or bad.... the worse it is. And all the better it is for WBC. It's exactly what they want. I am against ANY media coverage of these litigious sheep. sorry
I don't agree once you find out what they are really about, then it's like meh! nothing more than a bunch of glorified TROLLS
This. The problem is that they've even successfully trolled Anonymous. So successfully in fact that it all amounts to free publicity. The more hate poo that gets thrown at them the happier they get. They could never afford the publicity that has been showered on them for free. IMO the thing to do is to show up where they go with large sheets to cover them with. This has been done at funerals to keep the mourners from having to look at them. It also works at Planned Parenthood to protect the privacy and dignity of women seeking services (mostly not abortion)
Disagree completely, RO. The more the message of the WBC is spread, the more they'll be seen as the nutjobs they are.
Better not be seen at all. Some may see them as nut jobs, but the truth is there's a lot of "kill em all" anti gay sentiment in the USA that is aligned perfectly with the WBC. A large enough segment of the population buys their hate as to make dissemination of their message even via discrediting them, just free advertising. Besides, have you listened to Marjory Phelps (the lawyer daughter of Fred) talk about the negative press and all the hate thrown their way? they LOVE it. If they love it, it's bad.
Hmm... the thing is, that far more people are going to hate them than love them, and whenever they show up to a funeral, it's going to go bad for them. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZGKx2pTBQc Enough exposure of their practices, and stuff like this is going to happen more often. I don't see how this can be construed as good for them.
Regardless what people think. the WBC have their own kind of celebrity brand, which draws widespread attention to them, and the WBC folks eat it up. People are not going to ignore them... you can suggest till you're blue in the face that this is the remedy.. but it's not going to happen. There is a large segment of society, particularly in the U.S., where people are excited by newsmakers & celebrity train wrecks. The tabloid gossip medium is a multi-billion dollar enterprise. Speaking of... Charlie Sheen is on tour now.. charging $45+ for tickets to a sold-out audience in Detroit tonight.. and he was nearly booed off stage.. if people ignored this loser, he might feel compelled to clean up his act.. but he's got a large fan base that enjoy watching the drug addicted train wreck. The WBC has become a form of entertainment & intrigue to thousands of people... http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/twitter-reacts-charlie-sheen-detroit-174134 http://charliesheen.com/tour/
Videos up on You Tube PART 1 PART 2 PART 3 PART 4 Anons in last video around the 1:40 mark. I don't know about you guise but we should plan a huge send off picket when the old fart Fred finally kicks the bucket to send him on his way to the "hottest fires of Hell" coz surely no place is hot enough to burn away the hatred in that cold hard rock that is currently occupying the space of his heart.
Updated Links - Up close and bizarre. Tin foil hats strongly recommended. Full Part 1: The Most Hated Family in America http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/the-most-hated-family-in-america/ Full Part 2: America’s Most Hated Family In Crisis. http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/americas-most-hated-family-in-crisis/ Out-takes: Just kidding. Brainwashed by the Westboro Baptist Church http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/brainwashed-westboro-baptist-church/