Exit Through the Gift Shop

The film Exit Through the Gift Shop sends the message that you shouldn’t be afraid to follow your dreams, no matter how random or unlikely they seem. Theirry Guetta, the man whose footage is displayed in Banksy’s documentary, spent his days recording every single event in his life. One day he decides to start filming graffiti artists in Los Angeles. He compiled boxes upon boxes of footage that sat around unwatched, until Banksy finally convinces him to create a documentary displaying the work of all the well-known graffiti artists in the world he had captured footage of. After 6 months Guetta had completed his documentary; basically, a film containing choppy footage and no words, deemed incomprehensible. Though Banksy is a shady guy, I trust the way the film was pieced together and I agree with everything he was saying in his documentary, which is a lot better than what Guetta attempted to create. 

The documentary was supposed to be about Guetta’s adventures through the streets and all the footage he captured of various graffiti artists, but Banksy turns around and makes his own documentary boasting his own work and undermines Guetta's integrity. It basically makes Guetta seem like an idiot, as if he is a failure at filmmaking and got lucky in promoting himself as a street artist. Overall, the documentary was a lot different than all the other historical ones out there, but it was pretty good. It was such an odd film but the story was funny. It complemented the true artists out there while showing what kind of a guy Guetta is. Guetta starts out on one mission, to film graffiti artists, and ends up putting everything on the line for something completely different, his own graffiti artist lifestyle and art show. He is so easily influenced by the ones around him that it is truly entertaining to watch.