He takes the crew upstairs to show them his paintings; fantastic, detailed scenes of loneliness, terror, and broken bodies. They then walk outside, passing the schoolhouse where he went with only one other student, who eventually killed himself, from kindergarten until the age of 18. From there they make their way up a mountain to see his grandparent's home, a dilapidated shack not much larger than a tool shed. All the while Gaahl shares his thoughts on nature, religion, and various philosophies. Light is shed on his victims by Gaahl claiming that everything he has done was in self-defense and a parallel is drawn with children dealing with bullies. When one crosses his border, just like with painting, he must finish it.
As the short video progresses one's comfort quickly turns into apprehension. His eyes focus and then drift, becoming larger with certain ideas ("...make sure their bad seed never spreads..."). When climbing the mountain, the producer is heard saying, "This just isn't safe. We're putting the whole project on the line with this. I don't know where he's taking us and I don't give a shit.". Everyone involved seems to be quickly unraveling.
The uneasiness of the situation was displayed after the feature seemed to end. Gaahl reappeared in his house and was asked if he liked to be portrayed as the lone wolf to which he responded, "You are not asking the right questions. You are not listening." The interviewer then asked for Gaahl to "guide" him. His answer? Three minutes of silence capped off with a widening of the eyes and then a cold stare.
The video, although only 25-30 minutes, highlights a genre, and more importantly a personality, that is both interesting and thought-provoking. Working in the same vein as their other programs, VBS brings to light something you are not going to see anywhere else; an honest portrayal of someone that is possibly misunderstood, an unseen drive to get the real story, and the realization that there is more going on in the world than the stars and starlets and their unsurprising everyday habits.
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