Theroux seems to enjoy the challenge of his documentary on BBC2, Law and Disorder in Philadelphia. The weed is affectionately Theroux jumping in and out of police cars, drive on the first line of rapid response teams. “My first thought was, If they kill me, not because I’m going to get shot or assaulted, it’s because I’m going to die in a car accident,” he says. “The police are amazing because they are breaking all the red lights, down one-way streets in the opposite direction, going by the middle of the road with heavy traffic, and dodging other cars.”
The film is definitely the riskiest mission yet. BBC guidelines meant that security had to wear a bulletproof vest so thick he could not do his seat belt. But you can not blame the production team to be cautious when considering that there are an estimated 400 murders a year in Philadelphia, more than 10. 000 aggravated assaults and robberies almost 40,000.
On the other hand, one could say Theroux style is sometimes dangerous because it could backfire. In a seemingly innocent, childlike way that makes compelling questions that other journalists might want to ask, but do not have the nerve. Critics have accused him of feigning innocence in order to appease his subjects into a false sense of security. But he says there is nothing cynical in his approach.
“I just believe in taking people at their word and I tend to trust people,” he says. “Maybe I’m a bit naive or too confident, because when someone lies to me I’m surprised. But I think it polite to take people at their word. “Indeed, as Law and Disorder in Philadelphia shows the confidence Theroux interview style really helps you get more information from hostile criminals its all-action, macho peers as Ross Kemp and Donal MacIntyre.’s New film may not be as extravagant as that made him famous, but has again achieved Theroux expose his audience to a strange world.
