316: Exit Through the Gift Shop

How about a movie today? At the beginning of 2012 I'll devote a whole month to movies and documentaries. In anticipation of that, and just to break up the monotony a little bit, I'm going to recommend watching Exit Through the Gift Shop, a documentary(?) about graffiti artists Banksy and Shepard Fairey.

Exit Through the Gift Shop

Banksy, the director of this movie, is an internationally recognized graffiti artist known for his politically charged work. Considering the subversive nature of graffiti art it should be no surprise that his excursion into documentary is similarly provocative. While this is marketed and styled as a documentary, there is some serious debate about whether the principle character -- Thierry Guetta -- is really as portrayed or a fictional character.

Why this is progressive/liberal: This week has been the week of counterculture recommendations. On the one hand this requires a broad definition of progressive. As I've mentioned several times this week, just because someone is involved in one of these subcultures does not mean they have progressive values. Similarly, there are many progressives that have no interest in counterculture movements. But it's important to recognize there are scores of counterculture movements that I don't mention, because there isn't much overlap with progressive values and pastimes. On the whole, progressives are sympathetic to the subversive art of Banksy.



And, while we're on the topic of influential graffiti artists, check out the movie Basquiat.