Catfish (Review)

Just last week Aaron Sorkin, writer of The Social Network, appeared on The Colbert Report, and towards the end he described his reservations about online social networking. He referred to the use of Facebook as a “performance” and ended with the following statement: “Socializing on the internet is to socializing what reality TV is to reality.” However, this criticism of our online world does not factor into The Social Network except perhaps between the lines, and the film is better off for it. The Social Network is not necessarily a movie about Facebook, but the documentary Catfish takes Sorkin’s reservations and brings them to life right in front of our eyes.

No one can debate the assertion that internet profiles, whether they be on Facebook, Twitter, Match.com or anywhere else, are rife with selective self-presentation. The longer you think about it, the more you realize just how easy it would be to create an entire alternate reality. Perhaps for fun, perhaps to escape a life you yourself are unhappy with. Many people are friends on Facebook or otherwise with people they have never met before, and maybe they never will meet. But there they are, and it says they are your “friend”. Sometimes people pursue these exclusively online relationships too greatly, and Catfish is the story of one such relationship.

It would be utterly unwise of me to reveal much more about this movie, because the mystery that unfolds is part of the impact. The trailers and previews advertise Catfish as if it will lead to a man with a chainsaw leaping out of the woods. This is so incredibly not the case. The film is many things: thrilling, funny, heartbreaking, moving, even disturbing, but not scary. Certain scenes are incredibly tense, but not in the “I’m about to have my limbs chopped off” way. That said, it is still vital that you do not let anybody reveal too much about the film beforehand, and in the name of all that is holy DO NOT look at the Wikipedia page, a site that should soon just be renamed “Spoiler Central”.

There have been some questions as to the veracity of Catfish, as this does seem to be the year of the maybe-maybe not documentary (see: I’m Still Here and Exit Through the Gift Shop). I understand this, as some of the developments seem perhaps a little too perfect, but I have no reason to legitimately doubt what I saw. Either way, it felt real, and we live in a world where this absolutely could happen. Even if parts do turn out to be less than legitimate, I doubt I would care that much. This is still a great story, and an important cautionary tale.

No, it is not made with much elegance, but that adds to the emotional wallop that lies at its center. In fact, it’s this sloppiness that leads me to believe it is, in fact, authentic. This is a story that is likely familiar to many, and it is told as you would experience it in real life. These may not be skilled documentarians in the usual sense, but they have stumbled upon something important and subsequently made a document of the internet age. Some also say the filmmakers cross a few ethical lines in the latter half, and this may be so, but it was in the interest of delving deeper into their story. I'd imagine it would not be in the finished film if it were not approved by all involved.

The internet is an easily molded environment, and it can be made to say whatever one wants it so say, and therein lies the basic message of Catfish. I could write whatever I wanted right now, no matter how false, but it doesn’t change the fact that I just wrote it. The film utilizes many computer programs, including the obvious Facebook, as well as Google Earth and the like, to illustrate the journey, blurring the line between a computer’s reality and our reality. The virtual and physical worlds have become intertwined. As such, it has become increasingly easy to create a separate universe which one can use to escape. One can get caught up in something intangible, and while this is not a horror movie, there lies a certain dread that this might be where we’re headed. Maybe we have to get used to it, or maybe we have to start paying attention to the fact that just because it’s on the internet doesn’t mean it’s true. That may not sound like a news flash, but you'd be amazed how much that fact is taken for granted.

Rating: (out of 4)