The Birth of ‘Catfish’ and Its Impact on Social Media
A documentary created by three hipsters introduced a new term to the social media lexicon: “Catfish.” The term was coined by the husband of Angela, a trapped housewife/caregiver who pretended to be three separate people to strike up a bizarre romance/friendship with New York City hipster photographer Nev Schulman. Angela played three online roles: Angela the mom, Megan the attractive dancer/musician/horse farmer, and Abby, an 8-year-old artistic prodigy who supposedly earned up to $7,000 for her paintings and had her own gallery. As fate would have it, Nev’s brother Ariel was a documentary filmmaker, so every aspect of Nev’s entanglement with this peculiar family was captured on film and became a smash hit on the indie film circuit.
What’s even more unbelievable is that ‘Catfish’ was spun into an MTV show, where the basic premise of the movie is played out repeatedly with other “Catfish” and their unsuspecting victims who turn to Nev and his friend Max Joseph for help in confronting their online love interests in real life. Many have questioned how much of this hit reality show is actually “real.”
There are five main reasons to question if the viewers are the ones being catfished by MTV’s “Catfish.”
5. Casting Backwards
Fans were shocked to learn that on MTV’s “Catfish,” it’s not the person being catfished who initiates the encounter, but the catfish themselves! Every intro of every episode is misleading. It’s normal to expect some editing for dramatic effect, but when the entire setup is introduced backward, it raises suspicions. Nev and Max are not supposed to be “in” on the casting, and it is claimed that they have to do the investigation as if the producers at MTV have not already solved the mystery.
4. Everyone is Already on Board
Everyone appearing on the reality show must sign a release to be filmed. So, no one is really surprised when Nev and his team show up for the showdown. The person answering the door is even already miked up for broadcast. Did you ever notice that the dog is always put away so that Nev and his crew don’t get chased off the property? Also, most of the homes they spontaneously visit seem pretty nice, don’t they?
3. Suspension of Belief
When someone emails Nev that they have been in an online relationship for years with someone they never met, who often lives in the same state, you have to wonder about the gullibility of these people. There have even been claims that attention-seeking couples make up the drama to get cast on the show. Are people really that deceitful in real life? Do internet hoaxers really snare that many clueless victims? It seems the old-fashioned notion of asking someone for their real name and then googling them or doing a background check seems excessive—best to just rely on the folks at MTV for relationship advice.
2. Upping the Ante
In early seasons, there were a few gender identity mixups, exposed infidelities, and many fake photos, but now total unabashed random deceit seems to be the norm. The motives for these online relationships seem murky—is anyone looking for love? The catfishers are becoming even more ruthless, the prey more pathetic. Good thing that MTV offers therapy for cast members after the show.
1. Fruit of the Suspicious Tree
Those who have gone back and watched the original 2010 “Catfish” movie after the MTV series has been on for several seasons have some valid questions. Did Nev, Henry Joost, and Ariel Schuman know that Angela was an unbalanced middle-aged woman all along? Did they set up the initial encounter? Why in this day and age would a single man in New York strike up an online friendship with an 8-year-old? How did Angela’s husband not speak up sooner about her fake characters and her steamy relationship with Nev as “Megan”? Why is he so okay with it all? The movie and the series are shrouded in mystery, but perhaps that is one of the reasons for its ongoing popularity.
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Hmmm…I am a little disappointed that you ruined the “surprise” ending as I haven’t actually seen the film yet. I only started watching “Catfish” the show a month or so ago and only started to do that because I discovered a family member had created several fake online social media accounts and decided to try and understand what this “catfishing” was all about.
Up front I have to declare that I am addicted to Catfish…I am quite willing to sit at home and watch it all day if necessary. However having binged on the program I have to say that I am increasingly reaching the conclusion put forward by you. I mean I don’t think it is “fake” per se but certainly it is orchestrated in such a way that the inevitable show down at the end is often an anti-climax for everyone concerned, not least the viewer.
Personally I have been searching people online for years….not to see if they are real or not, but just to find out more about them….so if I did have doubts I would certainly do that first. I didn’t know about the photo search though and did discover that through the TV show and confirmed that the photos being used by my family member were random images and not the people they claimed.
Sadly people involved in an online relationship for years are often gullible but also vulnerable. There was one episode of the show I watched where it was quite obvious that the “victim” was quite happy to carry on a relationship with someone who had treated them with callous disregard; in fact quite a few seemed to still maintain some kind of contact with their catfish.
So even though you ruined the denouement of the film I will probably still watch it. I will watch it perhaps more closely than I might have done if I hadn’t read this critique of the show first. I guess as long as the people involved really are “victim” and “catfish” and their story is essentially real then if the producers jiggle the timeline around a little it probably doesn’t hurt the viewer too much. I watched an episode where the mystery guy turned out to be who he said he was and they all lived happily ever after! Where’s the drama in that!
As the author of this article, I do apologize for the movie spoiler. Yes I can’t help but watch the series as well and yes, you are correct Catfishing is common in social media. A neighbor of mine sent money western union for his “sweetheart” to come visit him and was duped.