I know I can speak for my friend circle and myself here at
Pitt that MTV’s new hit show, Catfish,
has become wildly popular. I can only imagine it has done the same elsewhere
for people of the similar age group. When I first saw the show, I was intrigued
by the wonder of mystery and simply just asked myself, Why, How?
As defined
on the MTV website advertising the show, catfish is a verb that means, “To
pretend to be someone you're not online by posting false information, such as
someone else's pictures, on social media sites usually with the intention of
getting someone to fall in love with you” (Viacom International and MTV). This
phenomenon has become increasingly more usual as more people are becoming involved
in some type of extended online relationship.
A man named
Nev Schulman, who had been ‘catfished’ back in 2010, hosts this show. He was
engaged in an online relationship for several years where he fell in love with
a girl (Viacom International and MTV). When they finally were able to meet face
to face, the girl was not who she portrayed herself, but was actually some
fictional character, that was shown on the Facebook account she used (Foxnews.com).
His story was made into a documentary style movie entitled, Catfish, which followed Nev’s journey to
this realization.
On the
show, Nev travels all around the country to help other people who are involved
in online relationships where the two parties have never met. These people are
seeking the real truth about who their partner may be. Some of these initial meetings
end well, with the people being who they say they are, while others come
crashing down and are a stark opposite to the person someone thought they fell
in love with (Viacom International and MTV).
This clip is a trailer of the show Catfish before it aired on MTV back in November. The video was uploaded to YouTube via a viewer of the show.
This show
has even been tied to a more recent scandal involving the football player Manti
Te’o. Te’o had been in a similar online relationship with a girl of whom he had
never met (Foxnews.com). Fox News even reports Te’o’s similar relationship that
was experienced by Nev and other individuals on the show by stating, “So it’s
no surprise that now many are saying Te’o’s story seems similar to Schulman’s
“Catfish” tales”.
When I
watch this show, I cannot help but see the many boundaries the people involved
are crossing. Race, sexuality, gender, and stereotypes are all topics touched
upon. The people who portray themselves as others on the Internet transcend all
these borders because they embody a fake individual that could be completely
opposite to who they really are. Similarly, the individuals who are caught off
guard and realize that whom they fell in love with may be a different race,
ethnicity, gender, or stereotype must cross that mental barrier of accepting
that individual as whom they are. Sometimes this is not the case and cannot be
done.
These
varying borders lead into how some of them surface in the two western novels we
have read thus far. Mattie in True Grit,
tends to assume the role of a male, thus crossing the gender borderline.
Rawlins and Grady in All the Pretty
Horses experience discrimination in prison when they are of the American
race. These themes are of course not just applicable to what we have read but
are under constant criticism and investigation in contemporary writing.
Foxnews.com. "MTV show 'Catfish' center of Manti Te'o
scandal. So what exactly is it?. Fox
News N.p., 17 Jan. 2013. Web. 14 Feb. 2013.
Max, Joseph. " CATFISH: THE TV SHOW TRAILER." YouTube.
n.d. Web. 14 Feb. 2013.
Viacom International, and MTV. " Catfish: The TV Show ,
Full Episodes, Photos, Episode Synopsis and Recaps, MTV." New Music Videos, Reality TV Shows, Celebrity News, Pop Culture MTV.
N.p., 2013. Web. 14 Feb. 2013.
Before this post I had never heard of the term catfish used in this context before. I can’t say I am necessarily surprised that this has become a thing, though it is slightly disturbing that the goal is to make this unknowing person actually develop very real feelings for a fictional person. One border that is really being crossed with this idea of having a long-term relationship with a person you have never met deviates from what a being in a relationship used to mean. From the clip you posted these people are in 2 to 10 year relationships and have never physically met the person the love and that idea that they are in a couple really tests the standard way of thinking. My initial reaction was: how could you fall in love with someone and be “with” them for two plus years and say you love them, but then never actually see them in person?
ReplyDeleteI have been hearing about this show and the scandal alot lately. I have never actually watched the show, but after hearing so much about it, it makes me want to see what it's all about. I agree that many borders are being crossed here. If the people fall "in love", what happens when they find out that the person is not who they said they were? Do they stay together because the feelings were true? Does the fake person actually have feelings for the real person, or is it all just a game to the fake person? This whole concept crosses many boundaries and would forever change the life of the real person. It would change the real persons idea of trust, and it would be hard for anyone to get into the trust border with this person again after this occured. Maybe this show and scandal will help people to see how dangerous online dating and meeting can be. Meeting someone online in general can be viewed as a dangeous boundary because anyone can lie about who they say that they are. As this show grows more popular I feel that many people will be more aware about what they are doing on social networks.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great example of a show that crosses many borders. Catfish shows how people talking to someone else over the internet will cross any border that they want. The internet creates an environment where can change your gender, sex, or age. You can seem to be anyone you want to be and no one will figure out if your lying or not. Catfish exposes these people changing their identities and shows how they will cross the most extreme borders to continue to talk to people over the web.
ReplyDelete