Exit Through the Mockumentary?

Well well well, it appears we have finished with Exit Through the Gift Shop. Or have we?

Even a simple perusal of the movie's wikipedia page reveals that many have questioned the veracity of the movie's premise, of the character Thierry Guetta, and of Banksy's very motivation to make the movie. Is this a simple documentary of a peculiar Frenchman with a video camera, the manipulation by some key street artists of a peculiar Frenchman with a video camera, or a complete fabrication involving someone pretending to be a peculiar Frenchman with a video camera? Of course, the people behind the video insist that everything is just as it seems--Shepard Fairey even compares the doubters to Obama birthers in this Fast Company article--but c'mon, would Banksy really let us know he was just pulling the wool over our eyes and that we're all little gullible voyeurs? No, better to reassure us so he can privately gloat about just how gullible we truly are.

But honesty for it's own sake aside, do the intentions behind Exit Through the Gift Shop, whether it's pure documentary or a contrived satire of the art world, actually change the quality of the film? Certainly the meaning is dependent on what the filmmaker wished to do with the film. But deep down, Banksy is presenting exactly what he wants us to see; combined with the whole postmodern notion of the "death of the artist" and nothing really being original, perhaps the more important notion is what the audience gets out of viewing the film, regardless of what Banksy''s motives were. And if what we get out of viewing the film is that the whole thing is a Banksy set up, then who knows? Maybe that is the true purpose of the movie: that which seems real often isn't. And maybe that's okay.

So what does the audience come away with after watching Exit Through the Gift Shop? An entertaining story, that's for sure. Hell, it was even nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary. Maybe it didn't win because we aren't entirely sure why or how the movie came to be. But I remember ending this movie with something many others didn't: a great deal of admiration for Thierry Guetta. Yes, the guy's a nutcase. Yes, he's a completely unoriginal street artist. And if we are to believe the film, apparently he's even a shitty filmmaker despite his love for filming. However, whether he's a real guy with a real life or just a concoction of Banksy wit and parody, Guetta (aka Mr. Brainwash) is impressive in his own right. We can chide him all we want for his appropriation of street art, not really understanding what he's creating. But he is, in effect, something of an "anti-Banksy": unsophisticated, highly public, and keenly aware of the financial aspect of what's he's doing.