Disappointing for Louis
I found this documentary quite disappointing and surprisingly on the fence for Louis Theroux. He was indeed faced with the insurmountable task of having to deal in a civil manner with humans who have committed unspeakably damaging crimes. Unfortunately I feel his concern in this respect prevented him from asking some interesting questions. Paedophiles are abominable, they ruin lives, and Louis indeed has a responsibility to be his audience's moral representative in this regard, but I do feel this prevented him from saying anything challenging about the institution. For example, consider the fact that the institution has embraced the Orwellian idea of "thought crimes". With any crime other than paedophilia, a prison sentence is administered in order to morally reform the individual, but once the punishment has been served, the state does not have rights to limit the felon's liberty on the basis of what goes on in their head. This is however not the case in the institution for paedophiles... erotic images are shown and the inmates' penises are measured. This is such an interesting and complex moral issue, and Theroux goes nowhere near it. Neither does he tackle the emotional bullying displayed by the doctor who escorts him around the facility... an insufferable woman who takes any sign of emotional expression among the inmates as a sign of rampant mental disorder and intent to re-offend. Perhaps the paedophiles do not indeed deserve to be treated like humans, or perhaps they are afflicted with an illness beyond their control, have shown penance and retain rights for authentic expression... I really don't know... but again Theroux goes nowhere near these issues. Theroux really had his work cut out with this documentary... how to communicate with men who have committed unspeakable crimes whilst being his audience's moral representative... I do not envy him. Ultimately though, i think the documentary was a failure, focussing more on the disgusting details of the inmates' offences and neglecting an opportunity to ask any broader questions.