My love for Louis Theroux’s work has recently surged. It was his answer to a question during a 2026 interview with Lad Bible’s Honesty Box, that made me truly appreciate him.
Interviewer: “Have you ever thought someone was genuinely evil?”
Louis Theroux: “I try not to use the word evil. Some words have so much judgement attached to them that I don’t know how useful they are as analytical tools (…) people make their mistakes or even do predatory and awful things for reasons that are somewhat relatable. (…) I mean, we are all under the skin motivated by similar things like feelings of belonging, meaning, certain sexual urges, certain feelings of community and connection. It’s just that that can get distorted or express itself in toxic ways. Often, evil effects result from people behaving simply selfishly or unthinkingly. (…) I mean, it means the evil takes place, but it’s that people are selfish, weak, cowardly. That they lack sensitivity and empathy and that’s all it is.”
It is this very answer that made me excited to see Louis Theroux’s latest documentary Inside the Manosphere. Rather than stopping his inquiry at considering it pure evil, I believed he would dig deeper and be able to provide more insights into the background stories of these men, how they came to be, how they feel and how they attract such following, addressing, I hoped, both personal and social topics.
Watching the documentary, I saw a lot of make-believe: the number of their followers, the number of their mistresses, the value of their bank accounts considered to be a reflection of their success in life, of being seen, and hence, of their value as human beings. As Louis Theroux put it: the anger seems to be a mask to hide something.
In the documentary we see an avid follower telling about the suicide of his brother and how the manosphere helped him build his life. Rather than choosing the ultimate victimhood (killing himself), he chose the ultimate ownership, a trend that started long before in milder versions with figures like Jordan Peterson (book 12 Rules for Life) and pensioned US Navy SEALS like David Goggins (book Can’t Hurt Me) and Jocko Willink (book Extreme Ownership), the idea of pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps.
I was struck by the honesty of one of the influencers, who openly admitted he disapproved of porn, yet made money from it. Who wanted to take care of himself, his wife and his children by providing them plenty financial security: “can’t hurt me.” One influencer said: “If I have a trauma, I’m not aware of it.”
We hear how many were raised without fathers. One of the mothers is presented as a feminist. I wondered whether she had judged the father in front of her son, men in general, whether the son had felt rejected by her for being like other men. Whether this was his way of expressing his anger, while covering up his shame and his fear to be rejected still for how he really feels, who he really is, a fear to be found out. His behaviour not as a sign of his being evil, but coming from a need for self-preservation.
Naturally, I cannot be sure of this interpretation. Yet, it is how I can relate to it, as I see the exact opposite, coming from the same core feelings, happening too: when people express their anger, turning it inward rather than outward, victimising themselves, in order to cover up their shame, their fear of being found out and rejected for it. Instead of exaggerating their sexual features as the manosphere promotes, they retreat, fast, or apply other methods to suppress their sexuality and self-awareness as sexual beings, in order to feel in charge, protected from ever being hurt again. Where the manosphere pretends boundaries to be clear-cut, between man and woman, life and death, success and failure, these people are attracted by the places where such boundaries fade, the androgynous, the meditative, the zoning out, where my feelings become your responsibility.
How to continue from here? Let’s be clear, I very much disagree with the views the manosphere promotes, on man and woman, on the absolute definitions of success and responsibility. I disagree with how it takes advantage of young men and women in vulnerable positions. At the same time, if we want to put an end to the misleading opposing of men and women, and instead nourish autonomy, cooperation and relying on each other, we need to look into the trends of self-victimisation and boundlessness too, as I suspect them to originate from the same roots.
And so, I believe the next documentary should look into the parts of society where boundaries fade, between man and woman, life and death, your feelings and mine. I believe Louis Theroux should revisit anorexia and gender dysphoria and include current social phenomena such as euthanasia for the mentally ill as well as a growing interest in vasectomies among young men, chemsex, psychedelics and new-age like meditation gurus.
Who are the people taking part in these trends? How do they express their sexuality? How do they look for safety and protection? If we want to see the other side of the manosphere, we should be looking for them, getting to know them.
And by we, I actually mean you and I, Mr. Theroux, how about it? DM or mail me anytime. I look forward to hearing from you.
You can watch the original interview with Louis Theroux here.