The Online Escape

    The movie Catfish was definitely a period piece. It was the documentation of a man named Nev Schulman and how he developed a relationship with someone he'd never met. Well, it wasn't that simple. Nev was a New York based photographer who received a painting of one of his photos in the mail one day. The sender claimed to be a young girl from Ishpimeg, Michigan named Abbie. Nev found her and her family on facebook. He then proceeded to communicate with who he thought to be her older sister. They exchanged phone calls and online messages. The "sister" ,Megan , even sent Nev songs she claimed to write. We watch as Nev develops a real love for this girl. Then, Nev notices a crack in the facade. He, his brother, and a friend decide to head to Ishpimeg to see what's really going on. Once there, they learn that Megan didn't exist and that she was a falsity created by Abbie's mother,Angela, the actual painter of the works Nev received. Now, most people would say what Angela did was wrong. I can see why it could be interpreted that way. She led Nev on and pretended to be someone she was not. She was essentially cheating on her husband. She even had her young daughter corroborate her story. However, lets examine her situation before we make any hard judgments. She was married, albeit not unhappily, to a man who had two severely disabled sons. This apparently caused her to have to abandon her dreams, such as pursuing art. When she started communicating with Nev, she found an excuse to try and enter the art scene again. She also got relive her youth through Megan persona. She found an escape from her everyday life on the internet. This what most people do though. Why does anybody get on youtube? Youtube allows them to see only what they wish to see. If you want to laugh, you can find something funny. If you want to learn, you can find something educational. Social media fills an even broader role. It allows you to portray yourself however you want to. You can make yourself see, funny or serious. You can always find someone who shares your opinion. Things like Facebook and Instagram allow us to create what we want people to see. So, when someone decides to be a catfish, are they doing anything different from what we do when we post filtered selfies on our pages?