Catching A Big One

Rating:


Saw a DVD of the documentary movie Catfish the other day, this movie has had a lot of buzz about it for a while. The movie documents how this photographer in New York starts a friendship with a girl from I think Michigan who likes to make paintings of his pictures. Through the girl the photographer befriends the girl's mother and eventually a romantic relationship with the girl's older sister. The relationship builds not through personal contact but via modern communication media of Facebook, text messaging and cell phones.

Eventually, the photographer becomes motivated to meet these people face to face. And then things get real interesting...

I watched this movie over the span of two days when I had time, I found it highly addictive. While no where near as ominously Blair Witch Project as the trailer suggests, in fact it can be argued this flick makes a mountain out of a molehill, Catfish is a fascinating parable about being a little wary of another person's online identity. It delves into one of those things that everyone goes "Oh yeah, I know about that" until it actually happens to them.

Catfish isn't earthshaking or amazing, it does raise an interesting topic about if there is a difference to people in general about trust. Does the amount of trust another person deserves depend on how you are communicating with them? For example, I don't feel the need to share every detail of my life on this blog just the parts I want to share. Is omission lying? Is it lying if nobody even reads this? It's not like I'm claiming to be an astronaut or anything. Would I feel more compelled to be honest and open about my life in face to face communication versus this, or the opposite? Or does it depend on my perception of honesty from the other person online, in person or otherwise? It's this grey area that struck me about the movie as interesting,even though that isn't exactly the question being raised(though it's close)

So yeah, Catfish is a pretty good documentary that certainly hooked me once I saw it.