America's Most Hated Family in Crisis

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America's Most Hated Family in Crisis
America's Most Hated Family in Crisis.png
Written by Louis Theroux
Directed byEmma Cooper
StarringLouis Theroux
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
Production
ProducersEmma Cooper
Nick Mirsky
Running time60 minutes
Release
Original release3 April 2011 (2011-04-03)
Related
The Most Hated Family in America, Surviving America's Most Hated Family

America's Most Hated Family in Crisis (also known as The Return of America's Most Hated Family in some markets) is a 2011 BBC documentary film presented and written by Louis Theroux, who revisits the family at the core of the Westboro Baptist Church. [1] It is a follow-up to 2007's The Most Hated Family in America , also written and presented by Theroux. In 2019, Theroux made another follow-up, Surviving America's Most Hated Family , completing a trilogy of documentaries based on the church. [2]

Contents

The documentary first aired on BBC Two in the United Kingdom on 3 April 2011 at 9pm. [1] It received mainly positive reviews from critics, with the Metro calling it "terrifying". [3] The documentary had 3.33 million viewers and was BBC Two's most watched program of that week. [4]

Background

Westboro Baptist Church members with protest signs (2000) Westboro Baptist Church members.jpg
Westboro Baptist Church members with protest signs (2000)

The documentary focuses on the Westboro Baptist Church, headed by Fred Phelps and based in Topeka, Kansas. Born in 1929 in Meridian, Mississippi, [5] Phelps conducted himself in the belief that he was a prophet chosen by God "to preach His message of hate". [6] Phelps was ordained a Southern Baptist in 1947. [5] [6] The Westboro Baptist Church was started by Phelps in 1955. [6] Members of the church meet in Phelps's residence; the majority of the group's adherents are his family. Phelps received an associate's degree from John Muir Junior College in 1951, [5] a bachelor's degree in 1962 and a degree in law in 1964 from Washburn University. [5] [6] He formed a "crusade for righteousness", attempting to abolish Jim Crow laws in Topeka. [6]

In 1991 when a local park started to serve as a meeting place for homosexual men, Phelps began to protest against homosexuality. Phelps subsequently enlarged the scope of his activities and formed protests in areas where civil rights were being debated for LGBT people. [6] Phelps received criticism in 1998 when he repeatedly exclaimed "Matt is in hell" during the funeral of Matthew Shepard, a man murdered for being homosexual. [5]

Westboro Baptist Church bases its work around its belief that God hates homosexuals, mainly through the use of their motto "God Hates Fags", [7] and expresses the opinion, based on its Biblical interpretation, that nearly every tragedy in the world is God's punishment for homosexuality – specifically society's increasing tolerance and acceptance of gay, lesbian, and bisexual people. [8] It maintains that God hates homosexuals above all other kinds of sinners [9] and that homosexuality should be a capital crime. [10] The church runs the websites GodHatesFags.com, GodHatesAmerica.com, and websites condemnatory of LGBT people, Roman Catholics, Muslims, Jews, Sweden, Ireland, Canada, the Netherlands, and the United States. [11] The organisation is monitored by the Anti-Defamation League [12] and is classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. [13] [14] The group has achieved notoriety because of its picketing of funeral processions of US soldiers killed in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. [15] [16]

Controversial acts of Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church resulted in litigation and the formation of groups which counter-protest against its efforts. President George W. Bush signed the Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act into law on Memorial Day in May 2006. Members of the conservative Internet forum Free Republic mounted counterdemonstrations against pickets by the church. Groups of American Legion members formed motorcycle honor guards with the intention of safeguarding funerals of US military from the church protesters. [5]

Premise

Theroux returned to Topeka after four years, to investigate the departure of several members of the Phelps family since his last visit. His return was prompted by an email he received from a young member of the church he had interviewed previously, who had since left and been disfellowshipped. The US Supreme Court case of Snyder v. Phelps , heard following the suing of Westboro Baptist Church for distress caused by the picketing of the funeral of a US Marine killed in Iraq, formed the background to the new film. Theroux was interested in the ambivalent attitude of church members towards his first film, and stated that "the new documentary feels quite different than the original – though still funny, a little darker and stranger". [17]

Reception

America's Most Hated Family in Crisis received mainly positive reviews. AOL Television's Mic Wright said "America's Most Hated Family in Crisis proved once again why Louis Theroux is such an enduring explorer of the oddest and most awful corners of the world". [18] Rachel Tarley of the Metro said "America's Most Hated Family in Crisis was terrifying" and "It really looked like it could just have been an excellent spoof film about religious extremism in America. Unfortunately, you can tell it's real because you just couldn't make this stuff up". [3] The Daily Post commented that the programme was an "extraordinary piece of television". [19] Onthebox.com's Rhiannon Jones gave it four out of five stars, saying "Louis himself is less his trademark, benign objectivist, and more challenging of the group's relentless twattery. The only question he doesn't address – but, why would he – is whether it's un-ethical to publicise them at all, and reward them for their shocking views with the attention those views are so transparently designed to attract". [20] The Independent 's Oliver Duggan said "[it was] truly captivating". [21] The Liverpool Echo 's Paddy Shennan said "Louis provides great publicity." [22] However, the Irish Times 's Bernice Harrison said "The excitement of seeing Theroux back on screen with a new documentary soon wore off". [23]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fred Phelps</span> American pastor and activist (1929–2014)

Fred Waldron Phelps Sr. was an American minister and disbarred lawyer who served as the pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church, worked as a civil rights attorney, and ran for statewide election in Kansas. He gained national attention for his homophobic views and protests near the funerals of gay people, military veterans, and disaster victims who he believed were killed as a result of God punishing the U.S. for having "bankrupt values" and tolerating homosexuality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louis Theroux</span> British-American journalist (born 1970)

Louis Sebastian Theroux is a British-American documentarian, journalist, broadcaster, and author. He has received three British Academy Television Awards and a Royal Television Society Television Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westboro Baptist Church</span> American primitive baptist church and hate group

The Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) is an American, unaffiliated Primitive Baptist church in Topeka, Kansas, that was founded in 1955 by pastor Fred Phelps. It is widely considered a hate group, and is known for its public protests against homosexual people and for its usage of the phrases "God hates fags" and "Thank God for dead soldiers". It also engages in hate speech against atheists, Jews, Muslims, transgender people, and even other Christian denominations. WBC's theology and practices are widely condemned by other Christian churches, including the Baptist World Alliance and the Southern Baptist Convention, and by politicians and public figures, including former President Barack Obama.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hate group</span> Collective united by hatred against others

A hate group is a social group that advocates and practices hatred, hostility, or violence towards members of a race, ethnicity, nation, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other designated sector of society. According to the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), a hate group's "primary purpose is to promote animosity, hostility, and malice against persons belonging to a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity/national origin which differs from that of the members of the organization."

The Respect for America's Fallen Heroes Act is an Act of Congress that prohibits protests within 300 feet (90 m) of the entrance of any cemetery under control of the National Cemetery Administration from 60 minutes before to 60 minutes after a funeral. Penalties for violating the act are up to $100,000 in fines and up to one year imprisonment.

<i>The Most Hated Family in America</i> 2007 BBC documentary film

The Most Hated Family in America is a 2007 BBC documentary film written and presented by Louis Theroux about the family at the core of the Westboro Baptist Church. The organization was led by Fred Phelps and located in Topeka, Kansas. Westboro Baptist Church members believe that the United States government is immoral due to its tolerance of homosexuality; in addition, they protest at funerals of U.S. military killed in action with signs that display text such as "God Hates Fags" and "Thank God for Dead Soldiers". With a BBC film crew, Theroux travelled to Kansas to spend time with members of the church and interview its leadership. Theroux interviews church leadership including Fred Phelps and Shirley Phelps-Roper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shirley Phelps-Roper</span> American lawyer and political activist

Shirley Lynn Phelps-Roper is an American lawyer and political activist. She was the lead spokesperson of the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas, an organization that protests against homosexuality conducted under the slogan "God Hates Fags" until a power struggle within the organization reduced her status.

Scott Martin Rennie is a Scottish clergyman who is the Minister of Crown Court Church. He was formerly Minister of Brechin Cathedral from 1999 to 2009 and Queen's Cross Church, Aberdeen until 2022.

In these first special programmes (2003), Louis Theroux returned to American themes, working at feature-length, this time with a more serious tone than in his earlier Weird Weekends work. For example, Louis and the Brothel takes a sympathetic look at the sex workers working at a legal brothel in Nevada whereas Under the Knife takes a more critical look at the world of plastic surgery. Other programmes cover a wide variety of topics including law and disorder and Nazis.

Richard Snider Sr. was an American newspaper columnist, oil executive, television producer, and founder of NCAA Films. He is most widely known for his humor column in the Topeka Capital-Journal, and he was campaign manager for former University of Oklahoma football coach Bud Wilkinson's failed 1964 US Senate campaign. He later joked that "We were never ahead despite Bud having 95 percent name recognition in the state. Man, I could make people forget Santa Claus."

Snyder v. Phelps, 562 U.S. 443 (2011), is a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in which the Court held that speech made in a public place on a matter of public concern cannot be the basis of liability for a tort of emotional distress, even if the speech is viewed as offensive or outrageous.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phelps-A-Thon</span>

Phelps-A-Thon.com is a Boston-based, pro-LGBT website working to counteract the message spread by the Westboro Baptist Church, (WBC) and their leader, Fred Phelps. It works by channelling passions against WBC into donations for groups targeted by the WBC's pickets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nathan Phelps</span> American-Canadian writer and activist

Nathan Phelps is an American-born Canadian author, LGBT rights activist, and public speaker on the topics of religion and child abuse. He is the sixth-born of the 13 children of Fred Phelps, from whom he – along with three of his siblings – had been estranged since his 18th birthday in 1976 until his father's death in 2014. Phelps permanently left Westboro Baptist Church in 1980 and has since publicly censured the group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lauren Drain</span> American author and fitness model (born 1985)

Lauren Drain is a former member of the Westboro Baptist Church who wrote the 2013 book Banished, which chronicles her experiences and eventual banishment from the church.

Planting Peace is a nonprofit humanitarian organization founded for the purpose of "spreading peace in a hurting world". The organization specializes in diverse global causes, including orphanages in Haiti and India, international deworming efforts, rainforest preservation, and anti-bullying programs. In 2007 Planting Peace founder Aaron Jackson was honored as a CNN Hero for his relief efforts deworming millions of children in Haiti. In March 2013 Planting Peace gained international attention when they created the Equality House, a rainbow-colored home located directly across the street from Westboro Baptist Church, an anti-LGBT group. In 2016, members of Planting Peace walked across Antarctica with a Pride flag in "a symbolic effort to declare full human rights for all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people living in or visiting Antarctica."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Megan Phelps-Roper</span> Former member and spokesperson of the Westboro Baptist Church (born 1986)

Megan Phelps-Roper is an American political activist who is formerly a member of, and spokesperson for, the Westboro Baptist Church, a Calvinist Christian sect categorized by some watchdog organizations as a hate group. Her mother is Shirley Phelps-Roper, and her grandfather is the church's founder, Fred Phelps. She grew up in Topeka, Kansas, in a compound with other members of the church. As a child, she was taught the Westboro Baptist Church doctrine and participated in the church's pickets against homosexuality, the American response to the September 11 terrorist attacks, and the funerals of soldiers who died in the War in Afghanistan and the War in Iraq. In 2009, she became active on Twitter to preach the church's doctrine. Phelps-Roper began to doubt her beliefs when Twitter users pointed out contradictions in the Westboro Baptist Church's doctrine, and when elders changed the church's decision-making process.

Faithful Word Baptist Church is a New Independent Fundamentalist Baptist church in Tempe, Arizona, that was founded by Steven Anderson. The church describes itself as "an old-fashioned, independent, fundamental, King James Bible-only, soul-winning Baptist church." Members of the church meet in an office space that is located inside a strip mall. Anderson established the church in December 2005 and remains its pastor.

<i>Surviving Americas Most Hated Family</i> 2019 Louis Theroux documentary

Surviving America's Most Hated Family is a 2019 BBC documentary film presented and written by Louis Theroux. The programme follows as Theroux revisits the family at the core of the Westboro Baptist Church and observes how its members have changed since the 2014 death of the church's founder, Fred Phelps. The documentary first aired on BBC Two in the United Kingdom on 14 July 2019, and is the third in a trilogy of documentaries Theroux has made about the church. It was preceded by 2007's The Most Hated Family in America, and 2011's America's Most Hated Family in Crisis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protests by Westboro Baptist Church</span>

Westboro Baptist Church carries out daily picketing in Topeka, Kansas and travels nationally to picket the funerals of gay victims of murder or gay-bashing, as well as those of people who have died from complications related to AIDS. It also pickets other events related or peripherally related to homosexuality. It is the protesting of military funerals that led to the organization receiving much attention for its small size. Protests done by Westboro Baptist Church are characterized by defacement of the American flag, hate speech said by members to onlookers, and members holding signs with predominantly homophobic and anti-American statements.

References

  1. 1 2 "America's Most Hated Family in Crisis". BBC Two Programmes. Archived from the original on 8 April 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
  2. ↑ "TV review: Louis Theroux: Surviving America's Most Hated Family, BBC Two". The List. 12 July 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  3. 1 2 "Louis Theroux: America's Most Hated Family in Crisis was terrifying". 3 April 2011. Retrieved 8 May 2011.
  4. ↑ BARB UK Viewing Figures (for week March 28 - April 03, 2011)
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Chapman, Roger (2009). Culture Wars: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Voices, and Viewpoints. Armonk, New York: ME Sharpe. p. 429. ISBN   978-0-7656-1761-3.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Balmer, Randall Herbert Balmer (January 2002). Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism. Westminster John Knox Press. pp. 450, 611. ISBN   0-664-22409-1.
  7. ↑ Ford, Clementine (16 November 2008). "News & views Sexy side of journalism". Sunday Mail, Adelaide . Nationwide News. p. G09.
  8. ↑ "Louis Theroux: The Most Hated Family in America". The Observer . Guardian Newspapers. 22 June 2008.
  9. ↑ Leon, Harmon (2008). The American Dream. Nation Books. p.  131. ISBN   978-1-56858-352-5.
  10. ↑ Mooney, Linda A; David Knox; Caroline Schacht (2008). Understanding Social Problems. Wadsworth Publishing. p. 448. ISBN   978-0-495-50428-3.
  11. ↑ Clune, Richard (4 May 2008). "Louis Theroux: The Most Hated Family in America". The Daily Telegraph . Sydney: Nationwide News. p. V04.
  12. ↑ Anti-Defamation League (2006). "Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church". Archived from the original on 8 March 2007. Retrieved 23 February 2007.
  13. ↑ "The Year in Hate: 2005". Southern Poverty Law Center. 2005. Archived from the original on 19 October 2009. Retrieved 15 September 2010.
  14. ↑ "Active US Hate Groups in 2005". Southern Poverty Law Center . SPL Center. 2005. Archived from the original on 19 May 2006. Retrieved 15 September 2010.
  15. ↑ Hassall, Greg (5 May 2008). "Louis Theroux: The Most Hated Family in America". The Sydney Morning Herald . John Fairfax. p. 14.
  16. ↑ Butler, Dianne (5 May 2008). "Box on". The Courier-Mail . Brisbane, Australia: Nationwide News. p. 36.
  17. ↑ Theroux, Louis (31 March 2011). "Westboro Baptist Church revisited". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2 April 2011. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
  18. ↑ "Mic Wright's Remotely Furious: The Crimson Petal and the White, Louis Theroux, The Walking Dead vs Waking The Dead" . Retrieved 4 May 2011.
  19. ↑ "Louis Theroux back with America's most hated family". Archived from the original on 29 September 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
  20. ↑ "Louis Theroux: America's Most Hated Family in Crisis Review". 3 April 2011. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  21. ↑ Duggan, Oliver. ""God Hates Fags": America's Most Hated Family in Crisis". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 10 May 2011. Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  22. ↑ "Paddy Shennan's TV Review: Louis Theroux: America's Most Hated Family in Crisis (BBC)" . Retrieved 10 May 2011.
  23. ↑ Harrison, Bernice (9 April 2011). "Cuban missiles? This JFK saga has a much more serious crisis". The Irish Times. Retrieved 4 May 2011.
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