Recently, IFC's Evan Shapiro defended his company's production and distribution of new chapters in R. Kelly's Trapped in the Closet saga by comparing the "hip hopera" pioneer to postmodern trash god John Waters. Trapped, according to Shapiro, "challenges the traditional mores and sexual stereotypes of the current climate as boldly -- and hysterically -- as many films coming out of Hollywood or the indie movement."
In the current climate of posture-as-polemic, it's impossible to gauge exactly how seriously Shapiro intended us to take that provocation, but I certainly kept it in mind whilst watching Chapter 13 of Trapped (the first Chapter to be produced under the IFC deal), which premiered on IFCTV.com Sunday night. New episodes are set to premiere every evening on the site for the next ten days.
From the first shot, it's immediately apparent that Trapped's production values have been elevated somewhat since Chapter 12 was released two years ago. The story has moved out of the closets and cupboards and kitchens of Slyvester and crew, and on to the streets of Chicago (or, at least, a decent facsimile thereof). There are sophisticated camera movements, and lush, dissolve-heavy montages. Whereas the soundtracks of previous episodes barely allowed Kelly the time to take a breath, Chapter 13 concludes with a musical interlude that's actually about the passing of time.
Although Kelly still reads and/or sings each actor's lines for them, he seems to be trying to create distinct vocal characters for some of the players in the story. In the previous twelve chapters, the only character that Kelly seemed to make an effort to differentiate was Bridget, the overweight white woman who has an affair with (wait for it) the midget. In Chapter 13, his new attitude towards acting is most noticeable in a scene in which the nosey neighbor glimpsed briefly in Chapter 7 fights with her husband. This is, I guess, a natural progression, as the shorts move from being primarily R. Kelly songs to being primarily mini-movies, but if it continues, it could have profound implications on Trapped's signature, quasi-Brechtian manner of storytelling.
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