Notre Dame insists Manti Te'o was the victim of what they referred to as "catfishing." If you're not an avid MTV fan, then a rod and reel may come to mind. But this type of catfishing is all-together different. This type of "Catfish" is actually something you can rent at the video store.
"Catfish" is a documentary about a guy who falls for someone online only to find out he'd been duped. MTV also has a show called Catfish featuring similar stories.
Not everyone in the South Bend area understands catfishing. Nick Rich said, "I had never heard of it before. Kind of a new thing to me." But when asked about the Manti Te'o girlfriend hoax Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick responded with, "I would refer all of you, if you're not already familiar with it, with both the documentary called "Catfish," the MTV show which is a derivative of that documentary."
So we did exactly that. Here's a look at the trailer for the documentary. And here's the trailer for the MTV show catfish. UrbanDictionary.com defines Catfish as, "someone who pretends to be someone they are not online to create false identities, particularly to per sue deceptive online romances."
Notre Dame Fans familiar with the term say the MTV show is the first thing they thought of when hearing about Manti Te'o. "I just started watching that show. It's just like what's happening to those kids," said Taylor Armington. And Brady Weaver said, "I think it really relates to the show. those people had no idea they were fake people."
For those less familiar, the documentary and the show have suddenly become more intriguing. At Family Video in Mishawaka, Assistant Manager Stephanie Mott said before Thursday the movie just sat on the shelf, but now, "So far today I've had two phone calls looking for this movie." One of the callers told Mott, "she did ask I want to see this movie Catfish that everybody's talking about this whole Manti Te'o thing."
The Family Video we spoke with does only have one copy of "Catfish" and it's currently rented so if you're looking for it you may have to search around.
The creator of the MTV show "Catfish" has also commented on the Manti Te'o situation. MTV news did an interview with Nev Schulman and put it on their website. In the interview Schulman said, "It doesn't really change anything for me that this victim is a high-profile football player. I think it can and obviously does happen to anyone. When you make a connection with someone online, oftentimes it feels a little limited, but also safe."
We should point out that right now it's Notre Dame that says Manti was the victim of catfishing.
We, like everyone else are anxious to hear what Manti has to say.
