Catfish - "Don't let anyone tell you what it is."

So Catfish then, i actually really enjoyed this documentary very well. But in enjoying it, it also got me a bit scared, that someone could embark on the mission that Angela embarked on just to keep themselves busy. Another thing that got me scared was, how easy it was for her to do, she is either incredibly smart or Nev and his friends are incredibly stupid.

Now from here on, if you haven't watched the film, stop reading now, because I'm about to spoil it for you.

Here we go!!!

Basically, this documentary follows the plight of Nev, a young new york photographer, Ariel his brother and their friend Henry. Ariel and Henry decides to document the relationship between Nev and his 8 years old online friend Abby, an artist who sends him paintings from Michigan. Their relationship first started when Abby asks for Nevs' permission on facebook to paint a picture he recently uploaded. Nev agrees and he soon receives an amazing replica painting through the mail. She then proceeds to ask him if she can paint more pictures of him to build up her portfolio. Nev then adds Abby's mom, Angela and her older sister Megan. He then finds himself being involved in their lives without having met any of them. Soon after, he starts developing a more intimate relationship with Megan. Weeks past and they start getting to know each other and begin to have feelings for one and other. There's a bump in their relationship though, when Megan sends Nev a song that she claimed she wrote and recorded that night, in turn for Nev and his friends to find different versions of the song pasted all over the internet. At this point, Nev realizes that this people are messing with his head and he said they could actually be psychopaths. This begins the turning point in their relationship and Nev begins to hold back from sharing information with Megan. They then find out that the building which Angela said was bought to be used as Abby's gallery was actually still on the market, so they decided to pay them a surprise visit in Michigan. When they got to Michigan and arrived at Megan's farm which she claimed she lived in, it is revealed to us that it is empty, at this point i started having doubts as to whether this was really a true story because everything that was happening, was happening as it would in a drama movie.

At this stage they decide to take a trip to Angela's house which to my surprise inhabits people. What i don't understand though is how they were able to film Angela without her having suspicions or disallowing them the right to film her. Anyways when Angela opens the door, we are greeted with a woman who looks nothing like the person on the facebook picture. They now find out that Megan never existed and that Abby wasn't the painter, it was really Angela who was doing all the paintings.

Overall, this documentary was an eye opener, whether it was real or not.

Where is our sense of community?

I'm sitting here. trying to remember the last time i felt a sense of community in my neighborhood and i'm finding it incredibly hard... Still thinking...... I bet if i was to ask anyone my age, when they last experienced community, they would probably find it difficult as well. I'm having to go as far back to when i was 11 to recapture any sense of community, that says a lot about us as people. Right now, I don't even know anyone on my street, whereas 7 years ago, i knew just about everyone and was always in and out of people's homes. The memory that sticks out to me the most(finally remembered something) is the time some hooligans from a couple of streets further down from ours knocked over little Denise Coal's bin and we all got together put the bin back in its place and then proceeded to not only knock their bins over but also pour everything out(What a badass thing to do). We were all united and that sense of community was really buzzing in us. Think I only did that because I fancied her though, but the point is we were united.

Another memory that sticks out(They are flooding back now!!) is summer evenings, playing football on the green near my house with almost every kid, the ones who weren't playing were in wheelchairs, shout-out Aaron, Chanel and Danny. Anyways back to the point, we would be playing and then one after the other, the adults would all start coming out either to play with us or just sit on the grass and watch us as we play. There was a real sense of togetherness within us but that era is now long gone.

I remember the times when I wanted to see if my friend Larry was home i just scream his name out the window, something that if I were to do now I'm sure i would get ridiculed for. Nowadays when my little brother wants to check for his friend, he either calls, text, Facebook, bebo, tweets or skypes him, none of this requires him to get off his lazy backside and go to his frontdoor.

The Internet is a major factor in this change because that is where the younger kids who can make a neighborhood a community spend most of their time and in doing this they are turning their social activity on the internet into a community. For example, on Facebook, when someone writes something insultive about your friend on their wall, you and your group of friends will attack them in order to defend them, notice how this is similar to what my street did for Denise Coal back in the day. This leads me to my conclusion that community isn't gone. it has just moved from the streets to the internet. Even though i say this, is there not a way where a balance can be reached between the two??