Catfishing is probably the one place the work of Tegan and Sara and Erin Lee Carr might collide. In any case, the previous are a Canadian indie pop duo and the latter is a real crime documentarian. Whereas the titular twin singer/songwriters ship stunning and achingly catchy songs about break-ups and sapphic craving, the latter filmmaker has explored the darkish depths of stunning circumstances just like the Bling Ring thieving spree, the despised “cannibal cop,” the homicide of the infamous DeeDee Blanchard.
In Fanatical: The Catfishing of Tegan and Sara, the musicians and the moviemaker come collectively to research a case that is much less violent, however nonetheless haunting. In search of to catch the hacker/catfish that has been toying with the hearts and minds of the band’s followers for 16 years, what’s uncovered is the place the highs and lows of web fandom collide with the fragile underbelly of superstar.
Fanatical: The Catfishing of Tegan and Sara permits us to come back a bit nearer
This intriguing documentary takes audiences again to the late 2000s, when Tegan and Sara Quin have been on the rise as artists, as was social media. The place the band — and the outgoing Tegan particularly — used to make an look on the merch desk or stroll the road of followers ready to enter the venue to present autographs and selfies, they might now work together on message boards, Tumblr, LastFM, and Fb. However over 16 years, many followers have found that the Tegan they thought they have been speaking to was an impostor, masquerading because the pop star for causes all their very own.
It is easy to catfish strangers on relationship apps
Lee steps out from behind the digicam right here, participating onscreen with Tegan (and to a lesser diploma Sara) in addition to victims who’ve come forth to share their tales. Shared amongst these ladies is a superb emotional intelligence, as they reveal their damage whereas recognizing the painful experiences of others. As Lee has for tabloid-favorite killers and victims, she extends a profound empathy to her topics that gives a supportive area for individuals admitting they’d fallen for the con. A few of them thought they’d made a cool new good friend — who was a pop star! Others believed they have been in a secret romance with one. All have been tricked by Faux Tegan, or “Fegan” as they’re referred to within the doc, whereas the investigative group tracks them down.
For the primary time, Tegan herself speaks out on the catfishing, and the way it’s impacted her personally. And that is the movie’s strongest revelation.
In Fanatical, Tegan Quin shares the ache of poisonous fandom
Tegan is fast to level out that a lot of her fanbase is fantastic, supporting her music and one another. Nevertheless, she additionally makes clear there is a horrid darkish facet for public figures, maybe particularly after they’re queer. Followers tackle a way of possession over a celeb that may flip judgemental and even scary.
For Tegan, the information of the catfishing was a penetrating betrayal, making her doubt her associates and self. Because the catfisher(s) had accessed non-public photographs, unreleased demo tracks, and even private household information, she started to fret if somebody she beloved had turned on her — or if giving a lot consideration to her followers had enabled this catfish to abuse the belief of her followers and associates.
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Followers tackle a way of possession over a celeb that may flip judgemental and even scary.
Essentially the most jolting second in Fanatical is a tense cellphone dialog between Tegan, Lee, and a perhaps sufferer/perhaps suspect, who denies their unstable on-line habits towards the artist was dangerous. “You weren’t affected in any capability,” they angrily declare to Tegan. It is a remark that feels reflective of a typical assumption about celebrities and what they have to give up for fame. Just lately, queer pop princess Chappell Roan confronted on-line backlash after going to social media to inform followers to present her area and depart her household out of their efforts to succeed in her. Some urged she “signed up for” this intrusive lack of privateness by being well-known, as if fame have been acquired by signing a sketchy contract with the satan himself.
Being well-known does not make you impenetrable, and Tegan exhibits that by sharing her story — and even her doubts about doing so within the doc for concern it will simply make issues worse. Whereas she consists for a lot of her interviews, there isn’t any denying the emotional burden she’s carried with no sign of ending. That, in all this time, Tegan has continued to not solely put out music but additionally a memoir along with her sister and a subsequent TV adaptation known as Excessive College is a testomony to the pair’s resilience. They refuse to let these violations outline them or upend their artistic drive.
Fanatical confronts stan tradition
To create context for the digital waters by which this catfish swims, Lee presents a broad abstract of how fan tradition has developed during the last 130 years. This sequence begins with the backlash from followers of Sherlock Holmes (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s unique model, not the extreme Johnlock fandom of the 2010s). From there, an knowledgeable tries to contextualize how fandom overreach has grown from 1893 to Eminem’s seminal tune “Stan,” which detailed an obsessive fan who turns to violence, to the present re-contextualizing of the time period to principally imply “superfan.”
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Fanatical suggests this transformation of “stan” dangers muddling the excellence between followers who say they’re going to do “something” for his or her idol and followers who really dox so-called “haters” or stalk the thing of their obsession. In a rush to attach these dots, the documentary loses the nuance of on-line dialog and parasocial relationships, and its love for hyperbole is misplaced. A collection of reconstructed tweets (with clean avatars and no time stamps) are offered as a slippery slope, the place on-line threats of violence may result in harmful real-life reactions. Right here, Lee cuts to clips of pop stars being grabbed on stage or pelted with objects by the gang, then to footage of trials of convicted stalkers.
Maybe this part is meant as a second for each fan to self-reflect on how they is perhaps casually poisonous. However conflating threats of violence and doxxing with tweets like “In my family we stan Lana Del Rey and whoever disagrees can choke,” may trigger eyerolls. Such a tame tweet feels misplaced amid the small print of the Tegan and Sara assaults, which embody threats to out the previous as a “horrible individual,” sharing their private paperwork with others, and creating disturbing, sexually specific fanfiction.
Fanatical: The Catfishing of Tegan and Sara is a must-see
Maybe, Lee takes on an excessive amount of when she tries to use what’s occurred to Tegan and Sara to a broader fandom dialog. (It is easy to think about the movie as a restricted collection due to the sheer massiveness of that matter.) However regardless of this wobble, Fanatical: The Catfishing of Tegan and Sara is an enchanting movie due to the steadiness in empathy between the celebs and their followers. When fandom goes poisonous, either side of that equation endure. Lee exhibits that by means of considerate interviews and in addition interactions between the actual Tegan and Fegan’s victims, introduced collectively to select up the items of this weird betrayal of belief.
Fandom needs to be a spot of group, not in-fighting and catfishing.
These conferences vary from therapeutic to tense. Shrewdly, Lee exposes the “unnatural” setup of such interactions by permitting digicam gear and lightweight reflectors in body. It is to not expose the artifice of the interview, however to bolster why a specific topic — who was a Fegan suspect — may really feel insecure at this second. There is a literal highlight on them, they usually really feel it. However from this place of discomfort, arduous truths and damage emotions lastly are aired so solace can observe.
Fandom needs to be a spot of group, not in-fighting and catfishing. By Fanatical, Tegan and Sara attempt to reclaim the enjoyment of group by means of sharing and shaking off the embarrassment of the entire state of affairs. In that, they not solely warn their followers about this curious hacker, but additionally urge the viewing viewers to think about how shady on-line habits can have real-world affect. Sure, even to the well-known.
Fanatical: The Catfishing of Tegan and Sara was reviewed out of its World Premiere on the 2024 Toronto Worldwide Movie Competition. The documentary will later debut on Hulu.
