Yesterday, I finally returned to the movie theater after the 2010 summer blockbuster season. First up was a movie I having been reading a lot about given its usage of Facebook as the other bigger social network film is in theaters everywhere. The movie is called Catfish. And it's nothing like the Friday night fish fry at Auntie's house.
Catfish is a "documentary" about Yaniv "Nev" Schulman, a 24-year-old photographer. After having one of his pictures published in a magazine, he receives a painting in the mail from Abby, an eight-year-old girl in Michigan. Nev finds Abby through Facebook, thus a new friend and start of a relationship. Soon enough, Nev becomes a close friend, not only with Abby but with her mother, Angela, and older sister Megan. As Nev starts a relationship with the family, his brother, Ariel - a filmmaker, and friend, Henry, decide to capture it all only to realize that things aren’t as they seem.
Catfish is an indie and film festival movie. At its core is a creative idea steep in modern technology and current popular behavior, trends and mores from all involved in an internet relationship. However, it is very hard to believe or accept any of this as reality. Facebook is really a facade. People are not still getting caught up and believing anything behind the post. It has all become an advertising, marketing tool and self promotional vehicle for the masses. The people behind the Facebook pages are not there - really. It's all avatars.
Thus, as Nev entering into an e-relationship is next to impossible to believe. Seeing the big city hipsters trekking to the micro tiny town in Michigan, Catfish is not engaging and the few laughs here and there drive this point home. You just want to send Nev a text: GOOGLE.
Catfish is superficial, hollow and it’s something that’s becoming more common in today’s society, contemporary cinema and human nature. The reality is that Nev is in love with himself, his reflection glaring from his screen, any Facebook page, but Nev is never in love with a real person. Catfish is perfect cinema the internet the internet. It should have played on the internet exclusively and truly been groundbreaking.
The belief that websites like Facebook and Match.com are bringing people closer together and engaging unions is laughable as all of the social networking that exist online basically existed offline and when there was no internet. It was called the church social, happy hour, the classified ad or a mixer. Please note that real live people interacting face to face were not always as honest was they should have been. So today sitting in front of a screen we are not so close, we simply now exercise more options quicker, face no real wardrobe challenges nor have to worry about drinking too much.
Maybe it is all too advanced or modern for Nev and the Catfish crew. Maybe I'll just fax them. . . . .?ver!
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