BLOG #6 - Exploring Our Identity

“Perhaps it's impossible to wear an identity without becoming what you pretend to be.”
-Orson Scott Card

When reading Bracher’s book, Radical Pedagogy: Identity, Generativity, and Social Transformation, you can’t help but question your own identity.  Is your identity simply who you are and what you believe yourself to be? According to Bracher (2006), identity is “the sense of oneself as a force that matters in the world that involves the experience of several distinct qualities, including continuity, consistency, agency, distinction, belonging, and meaning” (p. 6). It is believed by some psychologists that each of these qualities is the prime motivator of human behaviour and if we can only achieve some of these qualities our identity will be compromised. Bracher (2006) believes that the most basic human need that underlies all of our behaviour is maintaining one’s identity.  Our behaviour is motivated by a continuous need to verify or receive feedback that we are the type of person we believe ourselves to be. We strive for recognition by others. “The most fundamental identity need is the need for recognition; the need to have one’s being appreciated and validated” (Bracher, 2006, p. 7). If we feel that our identity is being threatened we will do everything in our power to support and protect it.

My question is, what happens when we do not get the self-verification and recognition that we need or we simply do not like who we are? Some people are stable and strong enough to reflect on their lives and identify who they are or who they want to be and make changes to support their identity needs. On the other hand, some people may become depressed, socially isolated, or in some cases even attempt to recreate their identity in hopes of receiving the recognition they desire. The latter represents a very tempting and surprisingly increasing trend in the era of social media. The concept of creating false identities to escape the reality of who we are and to become someone we would like to be is something I thought would be very interesting to discuss in my blog. I watched a movie a few months ago that represents an excellent example of this concept and how far some people will go to maintain and support this new identity.  

In the documentary-thriller, “Catfish”, love and identity become twisted across lines of the internet. This documentary from filmmakers Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman follows the peculiar relationship that unfolds between Ariel’s younger brother, Nev, and a promising 8 year old artist and members of her family. 

  

Yaniv “Nev” Schulman, a 24 year old New York City photographer, receives an email one day from an 8 year old girl named Abby from Michigan. She wanted permission to paint one of his photographs that was published in a magazine. He gives his approval to paint the picture which she later sends him in the mail. She appears to be an artistic prodigy who intrigues him and he befriends Abby on Facebook. His fraternal relationship with Abby leads to a warm rapport with her mother, Angela, and he eventually becomes involved in an online relationship with Abby’s sexy older sister, Megan. The story of the film moves from Nev and Abby to the story of Nev and Megan, who he finds himself falling in love with.  They post messages to each other on Facebook, exchange intimate text messages, and talk on the phone. He is obsessed with this beautiful girl who is also a talented dancer and musician. She personifies his “dream girl” but the only problem is he has never met her.  

       So, Nev decides to travel to Michigan to meet Megan in person and this is where the story takes an unbelievable twist that borders on creepy. When he arrives at Megan’s house, he meets Angela (the mother) and Abby (the young artist) but unfortunately Angela says that Megan is not able to meet Nev because she has checked into a rehab facility. She has never mentioned any issues with drugs or alcohol and the truth quickly reveals itself.  The girl of his dreams that he was falling in love does not actually exist. Angela, does have an older daughter named Megan, but they are estranged and the Megan portrayed on Facebook is actually a model from Vancouver that Angela has never met. You would think that Nev would lash out at Angela for luring him into an online relationship full of lies and deception but instead he spends some time getting to know who the real Angela is.   

FACEBOOK MEGAN
(Megan Faccio)

THE REAL MEGAN
(Angela Wesselman)

Angela Wesselman’s true identity is revealed as a troubled housewife who spends her days caring for her two severely handicapped stepsons and her husband, Vince. She is an aspiring artist who posted her paintings online hoping for some praise and recognition of her work but instead was met with criticism. When she decided to create a new identity and post her paintings under her daughter Abby’s name she went from being considered a decent painter to an exceptionally talented painter.  However, her brief escape from reality would ultimately spiral out of control as her relationship started with Nev. She went on to create 21 online profiles of friends and relatives to complete Megan’s social circle.  To bring these personas to life, Angela assumed all of their identities posting messages on Facebook in the voice of Abby, Megan, their brother and friends, switching minute by minute.

I think Bracher would attempt to explain Angela’s behaviour by claiming that because people have different developmental experiences and endowments people have different vitality affects at the core of their identity. Angela is one of those “people that feel most alive when they are in a state of tension brought on by pressure or even danger. No matter what one’s identity-supporting vitality affects may be, every individual is constantly operating in such a way as to reproduce those affective-physiological states and their activation contours” (p. 31). In one of the final scenes of the movie, Angela’s husband Vince offers his interpretation of his wife’s behaviour through a story that gives the film its name. He claims that when live cod were shipped to Asia from North America, the fish's inactivity in their tanks resulted in mushy flesh in the Asian markets. Eventually, the fishermen discovered that putting catfish in the tanks with the cod kept them active. He goes on to say that “he feels people like Angela are catfish who keep us on our toes, keep you guessing, keep you thinking and fresh. And, uh, I thank God for the catfish, because we’d be droll, boring, and dull if we didn’t have someone nipping at our fin.”

While writing this blog, I found some alarming statistics about people creating false identities on Facebook. Nyberg (2010) reports that the user base of Facebook has reached a level that represents 37% of the total world population and along with this huge user base, the fake user base has risen to 27% of the total Facebook users.  What does this mean? This means for every 10 friendship requests you get, only 7 or 8 are real and the rest are fake.  While many of you are probably thinking I only add friends that I work with, know from school, socialize with, etc. there are many people in this world that use Facebook and other social media outlets such as MySpace to meet new people. To those people I ask, do you REALLY know who your friends are?   

**Even though I gave away all the spoilers for the movie. It’s still worth seeing. haha

Interview with Nev and the filmmakers on Ellen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loesprlsvng

Interview with Angela Wesselman on 20/20

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/video/catfishs-angela-wesselman-speaks-romance-fantasy-computer-11836656  

References

Bracher, M. (2006). Radical Pedagogy: Identity, Generativity, and Social Transformation. New York:  Palgrave Macmillan.

Nyberg, S (2010). Fake accounts in Facebook – How to counter it. Retrieved March 21, 2012 from http://ezinearticles.com/?Fake-Accounts-in-Facebook—How-to-Counter-It&id=3703889

Scott, O.A. (2010, September 16). The World Where You Aren’t What You Post. The New York Times. Retrieved March 15 2012 from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/17/movies/17catfish.html?scp=1&sq=catfish%20movie%202010&st=cse