Don't Be So Hard on Her, Guys

Okay. So with this post, I'll be answering questions while I'm still trying to figure out my conclusion to the movie Catfish as well as the actual idea of a catfish. But first, let's make one thing clear: Smokey from Friday was the first documented person to get catfished.

Now that that's out the way, let's analyze this.

What is a "Catfish?"
         A catfish is a person who is not the same person online as they portray in real life. They typically don't have the same name nor the same face that they have in reality. Catfishes use these different profiles for different reasons. Sometimes, they're not happy with their actual lives. Other times, they just simply want to show different parts of themselves. Not saying this justifies the ones who deceive people for fun or money.

In this case, Angela was the catfish. I knew this from the beginning though (I watch the series). What I didn't know, since I never seen the whole movie, was that Angela was very unhappy in her marriage. The only reason she stayed with Vince and his children was for security. Since she couldn't pursue her dance career like she wanted to, she felt she had nothing else but them. This is what made me feel pity for her, rather than distaste. Even when she lied about her daughter and her having cancer, I still knew that there was a reason behind all of it. Those profiles were just pieces of her. They were who she was, who she wanted to be, and who she could never be now.

So..How is having a relationship with someone who doesn't match their profile any different from having a relationship with someone who you don't know everything about? Because I honestly believe that if you're truly in love with the personality you knew, looks shouldn't matter. Now, lying about names could understandably make someone doubt some things, but at the end of the day, you should still love that person. I mean, it's not like you know everything about that guy/gal you met in person. They could be lying about something too. It might not be a name, but something more severe.

If you think about the situation in a technical sense, Angela was just behaving in such a way that she needed to. She knew that Nev didn't see her as a potential relationship, but as the mother of Abby and Megan. However, if she uses the face of "Megan" and uses her own personality, maybe, just maybe, Nev will see past her lie and be with her (we're pretending Angela has no husband). How is this any different from acting a certain way in the club than how we act in the church? Certainly we couldn't act the same way then. Maybe Angela was merely being the waiter in the cafe. Maybe she was just practicing her transcendence (for all you Sartre fans out there).

Either way, I still have pity for Angela. She simply wanted to be loved and wanted her freedom. Not saying she took the best route, but I can understand it.