Response to "Exit Through the Gift Shop"

     I found this movie interesting as 96% of the reviewers did in the Rotten Tomatoes. The reason that so many people could have enjoyed this may be the passion a man named Thierry Guetta had shown in the film. He is introduced as a French citizen who immigrated to US years ago and made quite a living by running a clothing store. He does not seem so intelligent or sophisticated but rather looks comical with his strong French accent. Still, he loves his life of merchandising clothes and recording with his video camera. His characteristic obsession with filming every single moment whether significant or not was originated from sudden loss of his mother. Sense of great loss struck him so harshly and thus motivated him to stick to every minute and second that will never come back again. The motivation became an obsession and obsession gave birth to the lifelong passion of "Mr. Brainwash."

"I came up with the idea that the whole movement of art is all about brainwash.
So I use M.B.W and I am Mr. Brainwash." - Thierry Guetta

     The rise of Mr. Brainwash as a street artist is fabulously rapid and therefore quite implausible. It can be proved from his family and acquaintances that he constantly filmed everything he saw and he met numerous street artists anywhere there is a wall to decorate. He started from his cousin, the "Space Invader" and then moved to Shepard Fairey who had become famous for Obama's "hope" poster. Determined to make the first documentary featuring the street art, Thierry Guetta ardently looks for "Banksy", the single most influential street artist whose artworks are everywhere and well appreciated by worldwide reviewers. 
     However, even after accepting the fact that Thierry had witnessed many scenes when other artists embellish streets, many people still do not feel certain about the authenticity of Mr. Brainwash. The Wall Street Journal article "Mr. Brainwash: For Real?" by Candace Jackson and Lauren A. E. Schuker raises the same question as that the other bewildered watchers did.
     There are several reasons why Thierry is doubted about his artworks. First and foremost, his appearance in the movie does not seem to be that of an artist. The film never shows him while he creates his art works. Spraying pigments to already drawn paintings and clumsily attaching his poster to walls are the only things that he does and the film shows us about his production of arts. 

     Second, Thierry's rise as a street artist is extraordinarily fast. According to Banksy, for most street artists, it takes several years to formulate their own style and even then only distinguished a few succeed in establishing fame and influence over the art world. In Thierry's case, he never hesitated in expanding his art. He started with the idea that the whole art is about brainwashing and produced paintings of people in their sunglasses. After Banksy suggested him to be a street artist himself, he became so prolific that he could think of holding an art show in a giant warehouse in Los Angeles. His progress is just unlikely. Neither Fairey nor Banksy gives us explicit reason to the situation because either they do not know either, or the whole thing is concocted. 
     Movies dealing with real events or phenomena oftentimes have to bear the attacks from the people who doubt the truth of the material. For example, an American documentary that deals with fake identities online, "Catfish" was in controversy whether the romantic relationship between the main character Nev Schulman and Megan Faccio made-up identity by Angela actually existed. Likewise, a Korean documentary "The true-taste show" that revealed the deceit of TV programs in introducing  restaurants that allegedly serve good foods was also hotly debated whether the documentary was real. The contents of this kind of films are sometimes so shocking and trenchant that the audiences cannot easily accept them as truth. 
     "The Exit Through the Gift Shop" also illustrates some story. Not only is the Thierry's story fascinating but also lives of other street artists are interesting enough to attract our attention. Although most of their art performances are illegal, their spirit of resistance and arts in which their spirit is realized are just too fascinating to be disregarded as mere acts of defiance. Some people suspect that Mr. Brainwash is another ego of Banksy that borrows Thierry's outlook. According to the Wall Street Journal article, Mr. Brainwash said "Maybe I am Banksy." and in another interview, he said in a sense that he is the final incarnation of Banksy's art soul. 
     We will probably never know whether Mr. Brainwash actually creates his works. The enigma of M.B.W, however, does not interfere the enjoyment we feel when appreciating creative art works by the street artists but adds more fascination and sort of energy to the film. Moreover, even if Thierry might not be Mr. Brainwash, he still is an artist of a different kind who first seriously considered making a documentary about street arts and did. In my opinion, for the better enjoyment of the film and critique, the movie critics should focus on the free spirits of street artists captured thanks to Thierry which would rather be very hard to record in video not on the veracity of the material.