Catfish: The TV Show exposes the aspect of identity within online relationships. The hosts of the show Nev and Max, work with individuals who believe they are being “catfished” to help uncover the truth. Specifically reviewing Season 6: Episode 1, Shawny, the individual who wants help, met an online man named Jack. She explains it was first just a flirtation but then developed into much more. Jack and Shawny have only texted and never talked on the phone leading to some questiona
bility of Jack. But the pictures sent back and forth from Shawny are also not her true self. Through further digging of Nev and Max, Jack turns out to be her ex-husband, Brandon. Shawny turns out to really be named Ebony who catfished Brandon, as well as Nev and Max to try and get her family back together.
The idea of identity is seen in this broadcast as both Ebony and Brandon were posing as people they were not. Ebony posed Shawny as a musical personnel who was always busy traveling from show to show, city to city. This is what caused her communication to be limited by text and never able to talk on the phone. The identity of Shawny was posed and shaped not only with a different name but a different lifestyle, occupation, and personality. The ability for individual
s to make online profiles and to manipulate others shows a real injustice within online relationships and dating sites. In general within society nowadays, people have to be careful with who they meet online because you never know the true identity of a person. How are online identities really built? Is identity perceived by a physical picture or is it the person behind the screen?
The idea of catfishing relates back to the Asian American identity of Daniel and Deming in The Leavers by Lisa Ko. When Deming was adopted by Peter and Kay, they changed everything about Deming that made him Asian American, just like Ebony did to Shawny. Peter and Kay stripped away his identity of being an Asian American, trying to change him into someone he truly was not. When changing one’s identity, it takes a piece of originality away from that individual. Did Ebony enjoy being someone else’s identity? How did Deming feel for his identity to be changed by his adopted parents? Did Brandon enjoy the identity of Shawny or Ebony better? Overall, Catfish: The TV Show sparks the conversation to the audience that identity can be manipulated and misconstrued in the online relationship world.