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Exit Through The Gift Shop Essay

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When watching movies, one can usually decipher what is fake and what is real, as well as, who is acting and who is not. Whether that be through exaggerated effects, poor acting, or previous knowledge, one can decide early on if the film being viewed is factual or fabricated. However, Exit Through the Gift Shop, a film directed by street artist Banksy, has left many viewers unsure if the film is an authentic documentary or merely a “mockumentary.” While some elements of the movie contain truthful content, it can be concluded that the film as a whole is a mockumentary, and just another one of Banksy’s notorious pranks. One of the first giveaways that the film is fake is by Thierry Guetta, the apparent Los Angeles filmmaker, who is the focal point of the entire documentary. Guetta has a wife and children in Los Angeles that he leaves for long periods of time over the course of many years. One would think that his would be struggling to make ends meet on Guetta’s virtually non-existent salary. Guetta also had a very odd personality. With what seemed like no care in the world, he was able to leave his family behind and take part in illegal activity for years. Not only that, Guetta also was strangely obsessed with Banksy; many people would have a starstruck …show more content…

For example, Thierry was supposed to be the person who shot all the footage for the documentary, yet half of the film was of Thierry. This can make viewers think that there is a film crew that could be documenting Thierry, instead of Thierry being the sole director. Many scenes also seemed like they were planned. The part of the film where Thierry spilled an entire can of paint in his just seemed like a play on his clumsy, goofy character. It also seemed unrealistic for the film to have captured his injury accident on film, yet the cameras just happened to be there. Many parts of the film emitted the feeling that they were fake, almost

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