Infamy the Movie, Graffiti Documentary

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What struck me with this documentary is exactly how far each graffiti writer was willing to go to pursue their passion, often being heavily involved with crime, drugs and gangs. This documentary looked at states in the USA: Philedelphia, NYC, San Fransisco and Los Angeles. Each writer was different yet similar in the way they supported the illegality of the lifestyle as well as each writer talking about how it was the driving force in their life, something that gave them purpose and it came before anything else. Often these writers steal their cans and despite being arrested multiple times, it can gain you respect in the community by going back out there and many do.

The hierarchy of graffiti writers was also present in the movie as it was described in Nancy Macdonald's book : Graffiti Subculture. You have to build up your name by tagging as much as you can and establishing yourself and developing your skill, then moving onto piecing and throwing (big murals). This film was also interesting as it showed for the first time in my research a female who practiced graffiti and her story. It was good to see the variation of gender although the perspectives about graffiti didn't really differ from the other male writers. Illegally is still part of the game, many say if it wasn't illegal theres no way it would have the same sense of competition and community.

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