"Catfish" Analysis

The film “Catfish” is the depiction of a social network that has no limits. While a young dance photographer by the name of Nev comes across a woman on Facebook in which he finds intriguing, he begins to pursue her. The friendship began when Abby sent Nev a painting of one of his photographs. Abby was the face behind each and every person Nev became acquainted with in her “so-called” family through Facebook. This lead Nev to find Meg, who in reality was actually Abby and the two, became very intimate through the social network. Soon enough Abby began to send boxes of her work to Nev in which their friendship grew to be that of an intimate relationship through texts, phone conversations and IMing. Sooner or later Nev begins to realize the truth about Abby and what she has done behind the closed doors in order to achieve what she always wanted.

            The documentary was a perfect analysis of anonymity in the virtual world. One does not always portray who they are exactly, leading into the classification of a fake identity. Revealing this message may leave the audience with questions and a sense of uneasiness because of how much we’ve been exposed to this same exact social network, Facebook. It is not a written rule or law that one needs to justify exactly who they are and reveal truthful information for others to see. Instead it is up to the individual to portray him or her however they please, whether it be faking their identity or truly exposing their own image and thoughts. Most people who use the social network are honest and revealing of their true selves but that isn’t always the case. There are those who take pleasure in undertaking a completely fraud identity to encourage interest of people they might not appeal to in the first place. This was the case in the documentary “Catfish” allowing us to see the extreme depths people would go in order to get what they want in life.

            This portrayal may have struck that of Marshall McLuhan’s ideas and concepts behind the use of different mediums and how they have a major impact on the way we act as a whole. The virtual world is freely open to any person who has access to a computer or a Smartphone. Individuals have the opportunity to embed themselves into a world that has no boundaries and is the home to over 500 million active users. Facebook has been a great source of finding friends and greatly contributing to pursuing intimate relationships. The social network as a whole has benefited our society in terms of connecting one another and forming bonds that have given us the image we want; for the most part.

Although this documentary may in some cases be considered a mockumentary, it still holds insight in which we may have been victim to. Not every person we befriend on Facebook reveals who they truly are. Although they may come across as someone that interests you, they may only be exposing exactly what they want you to think is their true self. These are the consequences of meeting people through the use of a social network. Not everyone is who they say they are and pictures can’t do it any justice.

            At the end of the film when Nev concludes the truth behind Abby’s hidden identities, he begins to feel sympathy for her. He realizes that this is what she needed to do in order to fulfill her depressing life with some excitement. Either way, by making this film he equally exposed Abby, determining that both of them had failed miserably in trying to achieve what they truly wanted. In the end, it is easy to say that any semi-intelligent human being can fabricate a fake identity and engage with others on a social networking site leading us to believe that it may be very difficult to come across the truth with the continually advancing Internet. 

Exit Through The Gift Shop

The film “Exit Through the Gift Shop” encounters a variety of street artists in the making of their very own street art projects. The film directed by Banksy focuses on a French immigrant in Los Angeles, Thierry Guetta as he follows the world’s best street artists and captures their work throughout the film. Thierry made a comfortable living owning a vintage clothing shop while sharing a strange obsession of carrying around his camera constantly filming what went on around him. While in France for the holidays he runs into his cousin Invader who is an internationally known street artist. Fascinated by this, Thierry began to follow around Invader and his friends documenting the adventures they embarked upon in the world of street art.

Guetta was still in search for one of the more prominent street artists by the name of Banksy, who is also the director of the film. Banksy was very secretive about his work which made it extremely difficult for Guetta to get in touch with him. Finally after meeting Banksy the two head off to England so Thierry can film him in his homeland. The two become close friends leading into the process of creating the documentary “ Exit through the gift shop”.

         The film shows how street art was not just a hobby but also a lifestyle for those who took the time to portray their artwork for everyday people to view. This type of art was very attention grabbing, which is why many of these street artists became notoriously known through their work. Many of their tasks were extremely dangerous because they had to climb great heights while trying to avoid being seen by the police. I find street art to be even more interesting then ordinary artwork because of the risks and skills put into each individual project.

         The fact that any type of street art is illegal almost everywhere goes to show what great risks these artists are taking. In my opinion I feel that most street art is just as unique as any art you may find in museums. Most of the big name artists make a living off composing artwork and putting them on the streets. Although it is illegal to put up art in the street I feel that it gives the art more power and meaning. Any ordinary artist can make decent art and pay for it to have it put up in a museum or store, but these street artists go above and beyond limits risking their lives to do what they love.

         Thierry’s obsession with street art sparked his intrests in creating his own type of art that he put out on the streets. Many may argue that he isn’t an actual artist because he did not in fact make the art instead had aritists produce pictures for him to post on the streets himself. This may be true but his dedication and obsession for street art pushed him to basically live the life of a true artists. His passion for filming allowed him to form friendships with some of the more famous street artists that have become notoriously known through anonymity. These street artists could only claim their fame through the work itself therefore their faces were never known.

         The film is a great indication of how different the life styles of these street artists are compared to the average everyday artists. The risks they undergo in order to pursue their individual goals have driven them to be who they are today. The consensus may say that these projects are no where near to as valuable as a Van Gough or a Picasso but the hard work and quality of the artwork can be very comparable. Banksy’s documentary gives us insight into what street art is all about concluding that anyone can make art and express there feelings for others to see.         

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