So I completely get that I am late to the party on this, but I caught the marathon of Catfish (including the finale) yesterday on MTV and I am totally hooked (pun intended).
Catfish: The TV Show was modeled after the documentary movie, Catfish, which followed Nev Schulman through his adventure of falling in love with a girl, Megan, online and then meeting her in person and she turned out to not be quite who she said she was. The term catfish is someone who pretends to be someone they are not online to create false identities, particularly to pursue deceptive online romances.
First off, the reality show would be nothing but a bad episode of Maury if it weren’t for Nev being the host and executive producer of the show. He’s attractive, funny, intelligent, level headed, and just plain entertaining with his side kick and filmmaker friend, Max Joseph. The two of them travel the United States in order to help facilitate these online romances to see if they are truly who they say they are. In most cases, one person in the relationship has lied about something. Whether it be their looks, their relationship status, or even their gender, there is usually some type of deception involved. However, in some rare instances, the people turn out to be exactly who they said they were online and a beautiful romance in person is now formed.
Nev and Max get themselves into some pretty scary situations at times. Many of these people have just had their hearts broken when they discover the person they thought they were in love with is nothing like what they had imagined. They were lied to and deceived and that’s never a good feeling. Nev and Max have a way of talking the deceived people down from the ledge and are a calming force in their sea of rage. It is truly touching and interesting to watch.
On the season finale reunion last night, we witnessed the ultimate success story of Derek and Lauren. They had an online relationship for eight years but never so much as video chatted before. Through Nev and Max’s help, Lauren goes out to meet Derek… he turns out to be EXACTLY everything he said was. The couple continue their relationship, move in together, and on the reunion show Derek proposes to Lauren and she says yes. The story has a happy ending, but they also revealed that back in August Lauren suffered a miscarriage. Their relationship survived that though and is even stronger because of it. They are seriously one sweet couple with a very strong bond. She said multiple times that Derek is her best friend. Simply beautiful.
As I watch the show I find myself envious of Nev and Max. This is the exact kind of thing I would like to do for a living. I’m great at researching people online and finding out more information about them. Not sure I would want to be there for the confrontation part of it, but I’d love to help people in that way. It’s an extremely interesting show… everybody has a different story. Even the deceptive ones all have different reasons for deceiving the other person. No two stories are alike and that’s what makes people tune in.
I will say though, there are two things about the show that drives me insane. 1.) Even though there is an entire film crew following them along, Max still has a little camera with him that he carries around documenting everything. I’m sure it’s to making it look more like a documentary, but it’s a bit distracting that the camera man is filming him film the people on the show. 2.) The deceiver hides her looks because she feels he (the deceived) won’t give her the time of day if he knew what she really looked like. After months or years of building this incredible emotional bond, they meet up and she turns out to not look anything like her pictures, and he no longer gives her the time of day. In the end, he is still made to look like the victim and she is this horrible person who lied. When in fact, he’s really this superficial guy that she was right along about… he wouldn’t give her the time of the day once he knew what she looked like. What a superficial society we live in where this guy isn’t seen as a douchebag, but instead a victim? I get that she lied, but the fact that she weighs double what she said she did suddenly discounts the strong bond that they had and everything she ever did for him emotionally? Just seems that that deserves a little more attention on the show.
Regardless, Nev is adorable and Max is an edgy, silver fox and the show is pure entertainment. I’m hooked!!
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