For writers and documentarians, part of the challenge in covering the manosphere is its sheer sprawl. Theroux zoomed in on a select slice of some of the defining voices of the day. In an interview with Vanity Fair, which has been edited and condensed for clarity, he discussed the nature of this particular performance, the sorts of folk traditions that the Tate class has engaged in, and the extent to which we should panic about it all. Vanity Fair: We’ve all read a lot about the manosphere. This, as I took it, was the most humanistic document of this world to date. How did you arrive at the choice to look at these figures’ family backgrounds, and their father figures or lack thereof? Louis Theroux: I’ve been doing these kinds of documentaries for nearly 30 years and I often see projections of strength as confessions of weakness. I did a thing about pro wrestling in 2000. I’ve done documentaries about pimp culture in Houston, the world of pornography, and a lot of the performance of …