This is where we disagree. That young woman, let’s face it, she looked under 20, was in one of the most emotional twenty four hours she will ever have, with the added pressure of giving the baby away and a camera crew in her face - I felt Louis should not have been there and certainly shouldn’t have asked those direct questions.
Anyone who has seen their wife give birth will testify, the emotion, the worry and the spectrum of emotions you both go through leaves you completely vulnerable- Louis will know this but I think he went in because the documentary wasn’t yielding scenes of the quality we’re used to in his documentaries - such as the Jerry scenes mentioned above.
I felt he was trying to become an agent of change in the documentary rather than an investigator of the subject matter. I’ve seen all of his documentaries, I’m a massive fan, but it was a clear misstep for me. When he went to revisit her, I felt his attitude towards her was calculated, like he knew the answers he wanted and asked patronising questions to get there.
Have to say I totally disagree with this. The whole point of it being the most stressful, emotional etc time in someone's life is saying - in that position, at that time, are you in any place to make such an enormous decision? It seems ludicrous that young women going through the immense stress and trauma of childbirth should then be expected to do so. And the pressure on those young women is all the greater when the adoptive parents and that woman from the agency are lurking in the hospital ready to spirit the baby away. If you're not in a mental place to cope with a journalist asking you questions, you probably shouldn't be deciding whether or not you want to keep your newborn child.
It was hard to do, but no one else was asking those questions and they were important. As he noted they were quiet, reserved people - it seemed plainly possible that they could have been railroaded by the process. The pressure on the agencies is significant; after families provide so much financial support, they will expect to get a baby at the end. It's hard to say that they're really neutral or impartial as to the outcome.
I certainly don't think he was "trying to get good footage". He's not that desperate. Sometimes in life you have to ask the difficult questions, or you have to ask YOURSELF difficult questions.
The only time I felt he was wobbling towards a journalistic grey area was towards the end when the other young mother (who went AWOL) was asking for gas etc and he was giving opinions about her state of mind. He was right but he seemed to be getting a little too involved in the issue.
