A friend of mine has been completely broadsided by Banksy’s “Exit Through the Gift Shop.”  That is, he came from being completely unaware of the film’s existence til the day of the LA premier (where he frantically contacted me for entrance) to blowing up my BlackBerry at the most ungodly hours of the morning with outrageous conspiracy theories that would have Jesse Ventura throwing fist pumps.  He’s become obsessed, and I’ve become the pathetic victim of his rabid musings. This is where I’d normally start complaining.  But I won’t here.  Because his speculations, and those he’s uncovered, make a startling amount of sense.  I can’t really take credit for much of what we’re going to discuss here; they’re mostly his theories and the product of his completely unnecessary research.  I just figured I’m responsible for giving them a bigger stage just in case the rest of the press fawning over this movie is missing the whole point.  Who knows, maybe this is all wrong, maybe we’re reading way too deep into what appears to be a strikingly honest story.  But what if it’s true?  What if “Exit Through the Gift Shop” is just another product of Banksy’s scheme to twist the public arm by making something out of nothing, questioning their system of value through showing how easily he can manipulate it? [Read more]

A friend of mine has been completely broadsided by Banksy’s “Exit Through the Gift Shop.”  That is, he came from being completely unaware of the film’s existence til the day of the LA premier (where he frantically contacted me for entrance) to blowing up my BlackBerry at the most ungodly hours of the morning with outrageous conspiracy theories that would have Jesse Ventura throwing fist pumps.  He’s become obsessed, and I’ve become the pathetic victim of his rabid musings.

This is where I’d normally start complaining.  But I won’t here.  Because his speculations, and those he’s uncovered, make a startling amount of sense.  I can’t really take credit for much of what we’re going to discuss here; they’re mostly his theories and the product of his completely unnecessary research.  I just figured I’m responsible for giving them a bigger stage just in case the rest of the press fawning over this movie is missing the whole point.  Who knows, maybe this is all wrong, maybe we’re reading way too deep into what appears to be a strikingly honest story.  But what if it’s true?  What if “Exit Through the Gift Shop” is just another product of Banksy’s scheme to twist the public arm by making something out of nothing, questioning their system of value through showing how easily he can manipulate it? [Read more]