Behind the Pictures

         I had watched the Catfish documentary a few years ago, so when we watched it in class I got to watch it though a different lens. I remembered the general outcome of the documentary—although I had forgotten a lot of the details. One major detail that I had forgotten is how much Angela lied. I guess for someone to create a total facade, along with made up friends and family members, they have to be pretty good at lying. I mean to a certain extent, I feel like everyone lies—especially online. Our class discussion got me thinking about the various social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat. I thought about who I follow and what they post. I also thought about what I post, and whether or not I was putting the most genuine form of myself out there. I’d like to think that I try to, but I just don’t think that it’s the case. 

I like to think of social media platforms as a fun way to express myself. When I post a picture it is an expression of myself, a variant of my mood at that specific time. Do I cry sometimes? Of course I do. I’m only human. But am I going to post a video of me crying on Instagram? No. Am I going to post what I look like as soon as I roll out of bed in the morning? For everyones sake, no. These are attributes of myself that make me who I am, and I guess by not sharing them—who you see on my social media isn't really my true self. Think of so called “Instagram models” for example. And for those that don’t know what they are, it’s pretty people that get paid to post pictures on Instagram. These people have if made, right? False. All the public sees is a pretty face smiling and doing fun things, going all over the world and stopping to take the perfect Instagram picture. So many young girls, and boys, see these pictures of women and men on social media and embed this picture in their mind of what will make them happy. When truly, we don’t know what really goes on in the lives of the people behind the pictures. So to an extent, I feel like everyone is being catfished.

Obviously, not in the way that Nev and Angela’s story played out. One question that was raised in class discussion was whether or not there was sympathy for Angela. I did, and even now still do feel sympathetic towards her. The situation she is in is tough, but putting that aside, I still feel sad for her. She is obviously unhappy with who she is. She created a whole fantasy world in which she was this beautiful woman. Was it wrong do reach out to Nev and get him involved in it? Yes. She broke his heart and I obviously feel sympathetic for Nev as well. But at the end of the day, Angela is still in her body, in that house with her husband and his two handicapped children. I believe she did this to escape and feel some sort of happiness. I believe it was wrong that she decided to keep lying after she was caught, but I don’t think she was ready for her fantasy to end.