Zamiyha Fischer 6/3/18
English 114
Catfish Film Analysis
This movie Catfish demonstrates how people use their interpersonal communication skills to become an expert in catfishing behind a keyboard. The true meaning behind the creation of the movie Catfish, is to inform individuals both the positive and negative effects of using Facebook for social purposes and to catfish other people. The movie Catfish indicates interpersonal communication characteristics that consist of listening and empathic listening skills, social distance & halo effects, and nonverbal communication channels. Nev Schulman interpret Angela Wesselman’s reasons behind living a double life in the result of catfishing.
In the movie Catfish, Nev Schulman used his listening skills when he finally met Angela, and discovered she was a fraud behind a keyboard. Nev was in such total shock once he found out the truth about Abby and her mother Angela. Nev Shulman always had a high self-esteem and high hopes once he became interested and involved in “Abby’s paintings”. Nev found himself going on and on talking about Abby, her mother Angela, and Abby’s paintings. Nev became so attached to these paintings, he drove across the world to Michigan unexpectedly to Angela’s house just to find out that he has been Catfish by Angela who turned out to be a fraud. As Nev finally met Angela face to face, and found out Angela wasn’t the women in the Facebook pictures; Nev didn’t lose his composure when he realize the truth, yet Nev connected with Angela as he began to listen to her and try to understand why Angela kept this Catfish Facebook life going on for so long. Nev’s Interpersonal Communication skills allowed him to genuinely use his empathic listening skills towards Angela as she interpreted why she started painting and why she became an imposter on Facebook. Once Nev heard Angela’s explanation, he no longer saw her as a fraud, he became someone who took the time put to sit down and listen to Angela and ended up finding interests Angela’s true personality. The movie Catfish allows Nev and Angela to use interpersonal communication’s empathic listening skills for understanding and building new friendships and relationships.
Catfish’s main concepts of interpersonal communications and nonverbal communications are having a social distance relationship and engaging the Halo Effect to become close and create a comfortable relationship. Angela never thought of herself as someone who was sociable, so she began to catfish on Facebook to get attention from others including Nev Shulman. Eventually, Nev Shulman noticed Angela’s Facebook page and began conversations with Angela about her daughter Abby’s paintings and arranged ways to share her paintings being as though Nev was in New York and Angela was in Michigan. Nev and Angela’s conversations outside of discussing Abby’s paintings, caused them to grow close to each other mentally. In fact, Nev and Angela talked so often, they grew a social distance relationship. Angela used other people’s pictures to create her catfish Facebook pages: yet indeed Angela was secretive when she used interpersonal communication’s Halo effect to brainwash Nev in believing that was really her in those pictures she used on her Facebook page to make herself seem more attractive so he would fall for her and her daughter Meagan as well. Interpersonal communication’s social distance concept and halo effect concept are truly the reasoning behind why Angela felt nonsocial and ended up in a trustworthy relationship with Nev Schulman.
In the movie Catfish, the most used interpersonal communication skill was nonverbal communication channels. Throughout the first half of the film, Nev Schulman used his phone to send text messages and his computer to send emails and messages on Facebook to Angela, Abby, and Meagan as nonverbal communication channels. Nev began talking to Angela only on the phone and the computer: by Nev only using his electronic devices to communicate with Angela and “Meagan”, he also used emoticons to express his feelings towards Angela since he wasn’t physically there. People use Nonverbal communication channels mostly when they’re on the phones. For example, in the movie Catfish, Nev called Angela to speak with her daughter Abby and at the time Nev was shocked and surprised at how soft Angela’s voice was; he then realizes the pitch and tone of Angela’s voice was the same as Abby’s voice just a little clearer. Once Nev heard Angela’s voice while using nonverbal communication channels, he immediately knew she was posing as her daughter. The movie Catfish allows viewers to see how nonverbal communication channels benefits people in posting as someone else: Catfish also allows people to determine the different tones in people’s voices.
Nev Schulman used his interpersonal communication skills to expose Angela Wesselman. The movie Catfish indicates interpersonal communication characteristics that consists of listening skills, social distance, and nonverbal communication channels. Nev Schulman finally understood why people catfish; he in fact was one of those people who was catfished by someone else; and he learned that not all people have bad intentions when they catfish. In addition, to Nev exposing Angela as a fraud, he then used his empathic listening to look past Angela’s mistakes and create a trustworthy long-distance relationship.