Breaking Free from Hardships

The documentary "Catfish" is full of multiple plot twists all throughout the film. In the beginning of the documentary, we meet photographer Nev and learn about his most interesting friendship. Nev has an admiring fan that is a little girl named Abby. Abby will recreate Nev's photographs through paintings and send them to him. As the relationship between them grows, Nev befriends the rest of Abby's family and friends, as well as on the social media site, Facebook. Nev begins to create a romantic bond with Abby's older sister Megan. The two talk almost everyday on the phone or via text message; the text even go as far as sexual between the two. Megan tells Nev that she writes and sings her own songs. Nev and his friends try to locate the song online, only to find out that the song she wrote and sang is not hers. This makes Nev question everything about Megan and her family. Nev and his friends decide to visit Abby and her family to crack down on the truth. Nev first stops by Megan's house, that is located on a farm, to see that it is simply abandoned. Even the art gallery that Abby owned was not a real thing, and the building is still on the listing, The group then realize that there is something wrong with this family and situation. They then proceed to visit Abby's house for the final evidence. The next morning, the group arrives to the house and meet Abby's mom Angela. This is where Nev knows that he has been catfished by Angela since she looks nothing like her Facebook picture. Nev also meets his so-called biggest fan Abby, who through a series of questions, finds out that the paintings are not even hers, but instead her mother's. The older sister Megan is not even apart of the family anymore and Abby has not seen her in a long time. Nev finally decides to confront Angela since he knows now that she is the one behind this whole scheme. At first we think that Angela is a horrible person that is just out of her mind, and we have no sympathy for her. But as Angela explains why she created this fantasy world of hers, we see that she a more psychological problem. Angela has a hard life that traps her inside this tiny little world; she used Megan as a link to get access to the world around her. Megan was able to leave the hard life that Angela has to face everyday. Angela used Megan as a way to get to the outside world that she longs to be apart of again. Though this situation can have many different perspectives applied to it, the main focus is how we define imagination and self identity.