Trapped in the Closet: Chapters 1-12

By now, everyone should be familiar with the name R. Kelly, especially in 2005, even your grandparents should be familiar with the name by now, which is kind of a shocker, truthfully. If R. Kelly had to get recognized, it's either the scandal he got caught in, or the Musical he's notoriously recognized for, Trapped in the Closet, A 12 part musical, that is, to say the least, actually pretty good. Rap is okay to listen to, but I'm not absorbed in it. This is about as far away from rap as you can get. You don't hear anything about Urban Culture, instead, you get an incredible story, which at times, is hideously outlandish, but, at the same time, is not to be taken too seriously.

The story follows Sylvester (R. Kelly) who awakens in a bed that's not his own. A woman approaches him that's not his love either. He cannot explain what is happening, but is told almost moments after he has woken up to hide, because her husband is approaching the room they are in. The best place to hide is the closet. Sylvester is now taking up hiding, but is soon discovered. The only thing he can do now, is try to get out of a confrontation he never tried to be in the first place.

This short, but very exhilarating piece of work is but one chapter of 11 chapters in The Trapped in the Closet musical. The rest follow with enough twists and turns to astonish even the most well distinguished movie-goer (Such as myself) into unbelievable moments that no one could possibly figure out.

Yes, it's all entirely ridiculous to believe or follow, but this short film/musical isn't meant to be realistic in any way. If you think of yourself as a person who sticks close to a movie's plot, and wish for the program to end how it should, you'll be severely disappointed.

Think of this movie as a post-modern Rocky Horror, with Rap overtones, Shakespearean dialog that's been chopped up and translated for the present time viewer/listener, All with R. Kelly narrating.

"Trapped in the Closet," the brainchild of rapper R. Kelley, should not be taken seriously at all. You can look at R. Kelley's terrible rhyming, ridiculous plot, monotonous music that goes on for 35 minutes with no variation, homophobia, misogyny, and immorality and bemoan that this is our generation's "Odyssey." Or, you can laugh. And that is what I did. Whether he meant it or not, "Trapped in the Closet" feels like the greatest Saturday Night Live skit ever put together (in fact, SNL did parody this and it was not at all as funny as the real thing). Essentially, it's a parody of R. Kelley's world without trying to be. You will not regret watching this.

Easy to describe this one, you will either love it or hate it - look through the comments, they are pretty much all either 1 or 10 with only a few fence sitters.

Personally I saw this for what it truly is - the funniest most entertaining complex and interwoven love dodecahedron ever conceived.

Personally when my friend told me he'd sent me something in the post and that I'd love chapter 9 I thought it was going to be a book, when 'R. Kelly - Trapped In The Closet' arrived several days later little did I know that my life would forever be changed. Well that's an exaggeration but I did laugh from start to finish and as far as I'm concerned anything that can do even half of that deserves every award ever.

If you have the opportunity to see this then DO! If you have heard of this 'film' and get past the low rating and make it to this comment then take it as a sign, something has compelled you this far so don't give in now, actively seek it out and spend the most entertaining minutes of your short life.

The world needs more laughter, open the door.

Probably the greatest musical masterpiece of our time. See R Kelly's vision come to life in a whirlwind of love, deception, passion, drama, comedy, and the rhyming of words with the same word. Watch as R Kelly proves to the world that even hardcore G's like him can instill a rainbow of emotions in any audience. With twelve 3 minute chapters and usually about the same number of plot twists as minutes in each chapter, how can you go wrong? The chapters each have a sense of completion so when the next chapter starts it seems too good to be true. Rumors of another 12 chapters keep me going through the day. Buy this DVD, it might be the best decision of your life.

R Kelly is a horrible person. But this is amazing. I was shocked in this unintentional comedy gold. Everything from the beat to the extreme plot points. Just amazing. Recommend to anyone with 30 minutes to spare. But after Chapter 12 sucks