MOVIE REVIEW
A cautionary
tale about making friends in the universe of 1's and 0's
T he tagline of the 2010 documentary CATFISH is,
"Don't let anyone tell you what it is." Unfortunately, in order to review it, I have to tell you what it is: an uncomfortable, though thoroughly entertaining, examination of several online relationships that turn
out to be very, very different from what the leading man is led to believe.
But wait — even if you're the type of moviegoer who
resists knowing a film's plot in advance, I promise that neither your enjoyment of CATFISH nor appreciation of its message will suffer the slightest from this knowledge.
72 www.iltanet.org Peer to Peer AN EXPANDING NETWORK
In 2007, a 20-something photographer in New York (Nev) strikes up a Facebook friendship with an eight-year-old prodigy artist in Michigan (Abby) after she mails him a beautiful, highly professional painting of one of his published photographs. Over time, their online network broadens to include Abby's mother (Angela), father (Vince), attractive older half-sister (Megan) and others — all of whom Nev develops friendships with via Facebook, email and telephone. As those
