About a month ago, my brother urged me to check out the trailer for “Catfish.” I dismissed him pretty quickly because for some reason I was imagining an action type flick starring Clint Eastwood about the dangers of fly fishing…I don’t know. I wasn’t into the title, but it just goes to show how wrong I was because Catfish had absolutely nothing to do with any of the above.
When buzz about the film/documentary started showing up on my news blogs, I finally checked out the trailer. Curiosity got the best of me, and I researched all over the internet to solve the mystery that the film appeared to be. As shocked as I was to find out what I did, I really wish someone had advised me against it.
Tonight, I took a break from studying for a quiz to watch the film and my brother was right. It was as good as he said it was. Catfish was a documentary done by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman following Ariel’s brother Nev as he meets and begins a relationship with a girl named Megan Faccio over Facebook. As their relationship progresses, Nev realizes that some things just aren’t adding up. Henry, Ariel, and Nev decide to investigate by paying a visit to Megan in Michigan where they discover that things aren’t really what they seem.
I’m going to do my best not to give anything away because the movie poster above has even told me not to. I do, however, think that this film is very much in tune with the way our generation deals with social networking, communication, and technology in general. This is not a sexy film. It just so happened that Catfish and The Social Network came out around the same time and while they both are “Facebook” related, I view The Social Network as more of an entertainment type film. It had a huge build-up from the first time we heard about it until it blew up in our faces during opening weekend. Justin Timberlake is in the movie – that’s just unfair. With Catfish, you are getting a sense of reality and I know I have to be careful when saying “reality.” These are three normal guys that have never been heard of before, but yet we’ve been here. We have been in Nev’s shoes at some point in our lives. It’s hard for me to pinpoint what it is I like about the movie because it’s a few things. It’s the fact that these three guys share a level of commitment to the real life situation turned documentary. It’s the idea that technology does not substitute for the need of belonging to something.
It is creepy at times, but this is not a thriller. It is suspenseful, honest, and raw. It is…really just hard to believe. That’s all.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFKe75Q6eVw]
