The Exit Through the Gift Shop is, in other words, a documentary about the making of a documentary that was never made. When Thierry Guetta, an eccentric Frenchman obsessed with videotaping, became fascinated with the world of street art, he attempted to track down and document the assets of the world's most famous street artists, including the infamous Banksy. He achieved this goal, but when the documentary he told Banksy he was making proved to be a dismal failure, Banksy recovered his footage and constructed this documentary about Thierry, who himself would later become a Self-proclaimed artist named Mr. Brainwash. Say no. to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Although the footage in the documentary is selected and not staged, the selection of certain pieces of images over others and their arrangement together still express meaning in the film. It seems to me that one of the goals of this film was to criticize the way people perceive and value art. This is largely done by portraying "Mr. Brainwash" as an example of an inauthentic and opportunistic "artist", in contrast to whom Banksy considers real artists, such as Space Invader, Dorf, Shepard Fairey, himself and the others appearing in this film. when slightly silly and upbeat French music is played when Thierry embarks on projects. This choice of music makes Thierry himself look silly and mocks him and his activities, as if he were a cartoon character or an excited child. An example of this is right after Banksy talks about telling him to go make his own street art, and another is when the narrator explains Thierry's choice of venue for his art exhibition. Additionally, this music plays during much of the show planning sequence. All of this contributes to portraying Thierry as clumsy, fanciful and inexperienced. Additionally, Banksy's interview segments and narration often seem very sarcastic. Many critics have said that this movie is hilarious, and that's a big part of why. The sarcasm is quite dry, and at Thierry's expense, whether he realizes it or not. My favorite example of this sarcasm was when the narrator said, "So now Thierry had to find a way to turn 200 identical screen prints into unique, collectible MBW originals," and then Thierry was shown briefly scratching his beard, then simply spraying wildly paint. on them as they lay on the ground. There is surely no need to explain how this action hardly fits with the gushing words with which the narrator preceded it. Even the narrator's tone, throughout the film, conveys a sense of dry sarcasm and irony. This kind of presentation reminds me of another medium (and my favorite TV show) Top Gear, in which the same dry, British humor is used to emphasize and exploit the comedic difference between expectations and reality. Throughout this documentary, viewers are given a clear, inner picture of Thierry as an inexperienced, inauthentic and essentially talentless artist. However, to the attendees of his art show in Los Angeles, he is the newest and hottest artist in the art field. Although they have never heard of him before, a magazine and simple recognition from the likes of Banksy and Fairey makes them instantly ready to accept him as a brilliant and powerful innovator in his field. One participant interviewed felt that "Mr. Brainwash's art is a 'triumph' that will 'stay in..