The 2010 documentary filmCatfishinspired the 2012 MTV series which is still ongoing. After Nev Schulman was catfished during a wild online dating situation, he began hosting the show with Max Joseph, hoping to be there for people dealing with something similar. Now the show is in its 8th season, Nev has a new co-host in Kamie Crawford, and there have been over 100 episodes.
While each episode of the TV show has some wild reveals when viewers learn who the hopeful is talking to, theCatfishdocumentary was marketed in an interesting way that deserves a closer look.
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The documentaryCatfishmade a really big impact when it came out. The story seemed to be going one way: Nev had fallen in love with a woman named Megan after talking to her on Facebook. Nev’s journey was being filmed and he decided to meet her. But then the truth came out: “Megan” was really Angela Wesselman, and Angela was using photos of a model named Aimee Gonzalez who she didn’t know. Angela was catfishing Nev, a word that no one had used before. Angela’s husband Vince used it in the film when talking about how cod traveled from Alaska to China and if catfish was in there too, then catfish would “keep the cod agile.” Vince said, “And there are those people who are catfish in life. And they keep you on your toes. They keep you guessing, they keep you thinking, they keep you fresh. And I thank god for the catfish because we would be droll, boring and dull.“Catfishis up there withthe best documentaries.
A movie or TV show’s trailer can say so much while also not revealing anything at all. Netflix thrillerArchive 81’s trailershows that it’s a scary series while being fairly straightforward, and fans know what to expect from it.Hereditary’s movie traileris very different from the actual content of this dark and disturbing film. The trailer forCatfishmakes it seem like it’s a horror movie. Anyone who saw it during the previews at a movie theater would have definitely been interested in checking it out, and even watching the trailer on YouTube today is a compelling experience.
After Nev calls a woman named Megan and says “Your voice is not at all what I expected,” images of Megan on Facebook fill the screen. Nev says, “She must be pretty awesome. At least, from Facebook.” The trailer says, “Not based on a true story. Just true,” which are definitely unnerving words. Then Nev’s brother Ariel Schulman and filmmaking partner Henry Joost say that they should drive to Megan’s farm in Michigan and meet her.
This is part of the trailer (and the movie) that gets strange and creepy. Nev and his friends pull up to the “farm” in the dark and realize that there’s no one living there. Audiences can feel Nev’s pain and worry and confusion here. It’s an incredibly effective trailer because it feels like it would be impossible not to watch the film and find out what happens. But since the trailer relies on the audience’s desire to sit through a suspenseful film that keeps them guessing, it’s wild to think that this is a documentary that really happened, not a fictional horror movie. Whilesome horror films waste a good idea,Catfishhas such an interesting premise that truly couldn’t be made up.
There are many parts of Angela and Nev’s real life story that are heartbreaking and show the real life horror that some people unfortunately deal with. Nev learns that Angela has had a tough time because while she loves her young daughter Abby, who she pretended was sending artwork to Nev, Angela wishes that she could be a successful artist. Angela also took care of two young boys who are disabled. Nev immediately empathized with the lost hopes and dreams that Angela had. This didn’t make lying to Nev okay, of course, but Nev was able to understand why she did it.
Of the experience of making this documentary and hearing what people have to say about it,Nev Schulman talked toColliderabout how there are people who say that he made up the entire story, others want to talk about the themes and problems that come up from online dating. Schulman explained, “In a way, it was like lightning in a bottle. We never expected it to be controversial because it happened to us, and we never thought that people would not believe us. But, the conversations that it started trumped the controversy. The fact that people were talking about their online lives, and how much time we all spend using the internet, is a conversation that I was excited to be at the center of, and continue to want to explore and talk about.”
There are manymemorable documentaries on HBO Maxand other streaming services that make audiences think or offer a new take on a topic. AndCatfishreally does change the game for what a documentary can do. In many ways,Catfishis a scary movie because it really did happen: Nev thought that he was talking to a woman who could be his soulmate and it turned that someone was lying. Going to meet someone and realizing that they are not who they pretended to be can be unnerving. But in other ways, the movie has changed Nev’s life and now he has a great career as the host of the MTV show where he wants to help people see if their online dating experiences can translate to real life.
