Catfish Swimming in the Uncanny Valley

One of the many things I found fascinating in the movie "Catfish", besides Nev's lower back tattoo, was the three guys' reactions to figuring out that this family was a sham. Nev, his brother, and his best friend/business partner were all three somewhat emotionally invested in this family that they later found out was almost entirely made up.  There were three big moments of revelation portrayed in the film: when the boys found the exact same recordings of the songs Megan had sent them, when they found no one living in the farm house that Megan was supposed to be living in, and when they first visited Angela's home.
                                                     

When the guys first realized that this family might be lying to them, everyone pretty much agreed that something needed to be said.  The other two guys were both "hyping" Nev up to confront Megan about stealing another artist's work and claiming it as her own. They all also expressed confusion as to how Megan could just blatantly lie to them about her being the artist in the audio files she sent them. They were all pretty upset about being lied to once they found out the truth. 

This may have just been for the sake of the film, but when the guys found out that no one lived in the house that Megan was supposed to live in, they, especially Nev, seemed more sad about the situation than before. Before, they seemed outraged that someone could lie to them. Now, they seemed confused and almost hurt. However, now more than before, the trio seem intent on getting to the bottom of the situation and confronting whoever is behind whatever this is. 

                                       

The third reaction is the wildly different one. After Nev and his brother Rel went into Angela's house for the first time, they reconvene with their friend in the car.  Nev and Rel, who went into the house, appeared more relaxed and calm about the situation at this point. Their friend, who sat in the car instead of meeting the "Facebook Family", was still uneasy and upset about what was going on.  

One aspect of the Uncanny Valley that was discussed was that we has human individuals do not like feeling "duped" or "tricked." This is very obviously the case in reactions 1 & 2. However, the guys were no less "duped" by Angela when they met her in person. She even tried to continue the act in person until Nev told her they knew what was going on. Despite this, Nev and Rel's explanation of why they were suddenly okay with this was that they pitied Angela. This scene, as well as the rest of the movie, was very much favoring Angela and painting her to be in a vulnerable state (no pun intended).  

Following the trend of the Uncanny Valley, Angela's story appeared real and believable, so much so, that Nev and his friends never questioned it. However, there was the tiny flaw of the music recordings that sent the whole creation into their questioning and disproval. However, this disproval only lasted until they met these people in person.  My question is: if Nev and his friends had never met Angela, Abby, or the other family members, would they have continued being upset they had been tricked? Was human interaction the only thing that ignited the compassion they felt for Angela that led them to ultimately forgiving her?