I like documentaries. They’re quite fascinating to me mostly because of how much they delve into the human psyche. A few years ago, I watched a movie/documentary called Catfish. It was about a guy, Nev who met a girl on Facebook and they started “dating” till he surprised her and found out the girl was really a bored older lady. Till today, no one really knows if it was for real or if it was made up. I watched it and I still don’t know if it was real or fake but I’ll settle on calling it a Fauxmentary. Anyways, fast forward to late 2012 and promos for Catfish: The TV show are running on MTV. I rolled my eyes and decided I wasn’t going to watch. I couldn’t escape it though, every time an episode ran, my TL was on fire with colorful commentary. Still I ignored.
For those of you who don’t know, Catfish is a show that follows 2 people who have been dating either online or via phone but have never seen or met each other. The show gets them to meet face to face and always comes with a secret/twist/drama. Two weeks ago, stuck in a hotel room, nothing was on TV and I watched my first full episode and I could see what the fascination was about. I can see why the show works. Nev, the host is a fairly attractive guy with a sunny disposition and from what I can tell, a romantic. His friend, Max seems to play the protagonist. There are so many holes in this show. One giant hole is the fact that these people seem to be dating people online for YEARS and can’t get it together and meet. Nev, comes in, makes a quick 5 min phone call and is able to set up a meet up WITH cameras in attendance, to be displayed on national television. Makes no sense to me. How are these people not able to skype? but can find a way to skype Nev? How do these people not know about Google? One episode had someone using the picture of an ex-teen beauty queen, how many brain cells do you need to google that? But I digress, that’s way too much thinking for a show that’s purely for entertainment value.
In spite of these glaring holes, it’s easy to see why people watch Catfish. It’s like a mirror to this generation and the world we live in now. This generation desperately wants to be loved and accepted and would do anything to get that even if it means not being true to themselves and putting up a facade of what they think will get them in. A generation with a huge self esteem problem, a lot of people aren’t okay with who they are and believe their real selves won’t be accepted. It’s a funny dichotomy when you look at it love me and accept me but no not the real me, who I pretend to be.
I have watched a few more episodes since my induction and it’s pretty much the same theme. Someone confesses to some deep dark secret and they realize it’s been all a sham. I am yet to see a happy ending on the show yet and I still want to smack the cameras out of Max’s hand (No seriously, why does he have that camera, there’s a whole MTV camera crew there) but I’ll still be catching future episodes, although I wonder how the seasons will be now that people are aware of the TV show. Boys and Girls, don’t be afraid to utilize google and ask questions or you can I’ll just watch you on Catfish :D.