Catfish

I personally enjoyed watching the documentary Catfish in class. It seemed to really capture a major problem with social networking and that is that people may not necessarily be who they say they are. The film starts out with a guy named Ariel Shulman and his friend Henry Joost who decide to film a documentary of Ariel’s younger brother Nev’s life relationship with an extremely young artist. It all began when Abby an eight- year old painter mailed Nev a painting of one of his photographs. (Nev was a dance photographer.)  Nev was blown away at how someone so young could paint so well.  Abby continued to mail Nev boxes of her work and he continued to be amazed. Before long Nev facebook friended Abby’s mother, Angela and a few other family members including Meghan, Abby’s gorgeous older half sister.

Through all kinds of modern technology the relationship between Nev and Abby’s family increased. Angela often spoke on the phone to Nev about how Abby had sold her paintings for large sums of  money, and how they were featured in an art studio. Meghan and Nev began communicating often through texting, phone call, and facebook and even began to have romantic feelings towards each other. Meaghan claimed to be an aspiring musician but when she sent Nev her songs he quickly grew suspicious. Turns out when he went on youtube he found the same song being song by the same voice…and it was NOT Meaghan. The documentary took an unexpected turn when Nev, Ariel and Henry drove all the way to Michigan to see what the real story was. What they discovered was that Angela, a middle-aged  women made the whole thing up! She was a painter and although she did have an eight-year-old daughter named Abby, Abby was not a painter. Meaghan was a real person but the photos of her were not real and the family had not seen her in years. Angela was living with a man named Vince and his two severely disabled sons’. She was depressed and created all of the character’s to simply attract Nev’s attention. Needless to say he was quite embarrassed that she was the one pretending to be Meaghan. Although Nev could have grown angry he simply felt sorry for the women and did not hold a grudge. She appeared to come clean about the situation by saying she had bone cancer, made up the character’s, Meaghan was actually in a rehab for alcohol abuse, the pictures of her were of a family friend and Abby was not a painter. Later it is learned that she did not have cancer, the pictures were not of a family friends and Meaghan was not in rehab.

Who Nev thought Meaghan was...

            This documentary really examines relationships based in modern communication. Film critique Don Simpson said, “It is all enough to give Marshall McLuhan a virtual post-mortem orgasm.”

(Click here to see Review) When Nev falls in love with Meaghan it is actually quite sad. He is not following in love with a real person, yet he thinks he knows enough about her through her online profile and phone conversations. I think it shows how we are too wired. Instead of going out and meeting someone and falling in love the old fashion way, Nev falls in love via the Internet. This did not work out in the end because the Meaghan whom Nev fell for was not real. It is scary to think that the person he had deep feelings for was actually an older, unattractive, crazy, women. That makes me hesitant to trust people’s online profiles.

            The Internet was used greatly in this film. Nev always seemed to be wired in. He and Meg shared facebook messages, videos, and chats. He even discovered the truth by using youtube another form of social networking where anyone can upload a video of literally anything that they want. He even used Google maps to find where the family supposedly lived. Overall I thought this was an excellent documentary that kept me on the edge of my seat and it truly did show how society as a whole is overly dependant on the internet.

Click here to watch the trailer of Catfish!

Exit Through the Gift Shop

   Throughout my life I have seen a lot of graffiti on various buildings, bridges etc. Who hasn’t? However by watching the documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop I was exposed to exactly what street art is and the meaning behind it. It is not just graffiti, it is a form of expression, of rebellion and it truly is art.

       This Documentary was originally supposed to be created by a French man named Theirry. He seemed to be mentally unstable as he carried a video camera literally EVERYWHERE he went. When Terry saw his younger brother starting to partake in creating street art the man became very interested with it. In fact, Terry’s interest went beyond normal and turned into an obsession. Before long Terry is traveling all over the world to meet and film famous street artists like Shepard Fairey who is well known for his OBEY propaganda. One of the most well known and secretive street artist out there, Banksy even allowed Thierry to help and film him. In return Thierry promised to make an amazing documentary using all of the film he collected.

       Throughout the film I learned that street art was more than just a prank. The artists who created this work poured their heart and soul into it. It was not about the money but about the message. Although some of Banky’s pieces were sold for over $500,000! It was clear that he was not after the money at all. Each artist thought up the idea and then had to create it! They made prints on large papers, make stickers and perhaps the trickiest part was they had to put the work up on  a building or some other public place without getting caught by the police! Street artists are rebels and I think the fact that it is illegal just adds to the overall excitement of the process. Most of the work is abstract, creative, in your face and sometimes rude. That is what street art is all about. It forces the public to take notice because it is right in front of them! It sends a message to the public, about the artist’s opinions and that is the whole point.

      After video taping for a ridiculously long time, the street artists began to wonder if Theirry would ever put together that documentary. The man had not even watched any of his footage. Theirry then decided to try and make his own street art. He hired a crew and created a humongous exhibit where he planned to show off his work. Banksy and Fairey even agreed to promote it on their websites. When the show went off it was literally GIANT! It featured a lot of Theirry (who went by the street artist name Mister Brainwash a.k.a. MBW). The public ate it up, they enjoyed his art creations.

     The problem with MBW work is that he is not a real street artist! Most street artists spend years creating work, finding there own unique style and working their way up from the bottom. Most don’t make any money at all for a long time, and as I said before money is NOT the focus. In Mister Brainwash’s case he started with a huge exhibit, that was quickly put together. He only copied the work of other’s he never found his own style and he sold his work for a lot of money. He went against the meaning of street art and completely missed the whole point of it. He may have created a lot of art that resembles other famous street art but there is no deeper meaning behind it.

      At the end of the film Banksy talked about how he was unhappy with the way that Mister Brainwash did things. That is the reason why he turned around the documentary that was supposed to be about him and made it about Theirry. Banksy was torn because he felt that Mister Brainwash broke the rules, but at the same time street art was not supposed to have any rules. I agree with Banksy, Theirry was a leech. He followed famous street artists around for years, he abandoned his family, he hired people to create his work (that was really just copying other’s styles) and he launched a huge exhibit before he proved himself like everyone else. Mister Brainwash is NOT a real street artist; he is a disgrace to street artists. Banksy stated at the end of the film, “That he will never again help anyone make a documentary about street art.” If I were Banksy, I would probably say the same thing.

      Despite Theirry’s sad attempt at  “art” I enjoyed watching this documentary and I learned a lot  about street art.  The next time I see street art on the side of a building or on a billboard, I will take the time to really look at it, admire the hardwork that went into creating it and even snap a picture before it is gone. I will never look at it the same way again and I have a lot of respect for the real street artist’s out there. If you want to see the documentary for yourself, it is all on youtube!  Watch Exit through the Gift Shop now!

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