Documentary and the Truth

I saw the film Exit Through the Giftshop several months ago in theaters, but it's just begun to get more attention due to both its video release and recent Oscar nomination. The documentary follows a French expatriate obsessed with filming himself doing everything from shaving in his bathroom to scaling buildings in the name of radical street art. Despite its fairly sophisticated commentary on the economic and political value of art, the artistic merits of graffiti, and the stupidity of the general public, the film seems notable to most people for its dubious authenticity. Is there really such a person as Thierry Guetta? Is he really this moronic? Has he really duped Los Angelinos into buying his terrible art, or is the whole thing a stunt created by Banksy (pictured above) in order to piss on (or off?) art connoisseurs and the general public?

Though I rarely say this in my blog, I feel that the viewer misses the point if he looks for the line between truth and fiction in this documentary. Whether or not Thierry Guetta is real, tons of the terrible pseudo-street quasi-pop art by "Mister Brainwash" was viewed and sold at an exhibition in Los Angeles. The crazy Frenchman subject of the film is annoying/unbelievable/interesting whether he is made up or not. The point is still that most people who buy art are following ridiculous fads and that it is extremely easy for people like Banksy to exploit those people. Banksy is prosecuted for the free art he puts on public walls, and paid millions of dollars for essentially the same art placed in private spaces. I'm not necessarily entirely on Banksy's side in this matter, but I agree that the question of Guetta's existence/authenticity is not the main one here.