Taylor Bembery
Blue & White Flash / Variety Editor
When you think of catfish you probably think of the tasty fried treat that is served every Friday in The Heritage Dining Hall, not a show about online dating that comes on MTV every Monday.
“Catfish: The TV Show” originated from a 2010 American documentary film. The film involves a young man named Yaniv “Nev” Schulman who is filmed by his brother and friend as he builds a romantic relationship with a young woman on the social networking website Facebook. He eventually learns that the woman he thought he was dating online was not the person he believes.
The show is built on the deceiving factor of online dating. “Catfish” uses his past experience with online dating to help others who want to unite with his or her significant other that they have met online.
Some JSU students had their own opinion about the show and online dating.
LaDarius Smoots, a freshman computer engineering major from Jackson, Miss. feels that online dating is stupid and that people should be very careful about dating people via social networks.
“You can meet anybody online. You don’t know who is who, what’s true or not, one of the main reasons why I would never try dating online,” said Smoots.
Ariel Kinsey, a junior psychology major from Jackson, Miss., said that some people who date online just want attention.
“People crave attention and when somebody shows them attention regardless that it’s on the internet they start to feed into it,” said Kinsey.
Devan Lewis, a senior mass communication major from Madison, Miss., had a different angle of online dating. Unlike Smoots and Kinsey, Lewis thinks there is nothing wrong with meeting people online.
Lewis said “Catfish: The TV Show” is far from odd but interesting. He even admitted to meeting some cool people online.
“This is the age of technology so most of everybody is online and we have some type of online communication with somebody, so when people are dishonest it puts fear in people about online dating,” said Lewis.
He added: “I would consider online dating as long as we meet up in person because there are people I have met online who I haven’t seen in person but we are really good friends.”
Amber Love, a sophomore biology pre-med major from Jackson, Miss. said that she loves “Catfish: The TV Show” because it is very funny.
“I try to watch “Catfish: The TV Show,” every time it comes on because it is so crazy. My favorite episode was when a female thought she was talking to a male online but she was really talking to another female who was trying to seek revenge on her for two years, her name was Mhissy,” said Love.
If you are still confused on why this show is named after a fish that taste good fried, it is because the participants are hooked by deception in the same way a fisherman uses a lure on a hook to catch a catfish.
According to MTV, “catfish” means to pretend to be someone you are not online by posting false information, such as someone else’s pictures, on social media sites usually with the intention of getting someone to fall in love with you.
If you haven’t seen “Catfish: The TV Show” yet, then you can tune in every Monday at 9 p.m. CT on MTV.
