Why is Atlanta the 'Catfish' capital of the world?
When host Nev visits the campus of Georgia State University this week, I imagine it'll be one of the first questions out of students' mouths
- screen shot/"Catfish" MTV
- Whatchu mean I ain't Bow Wow?
If you're addicted to "Catfish," the MTV reality show that exposes the lifestyles of the desperate and deceptive looking for love while hiding behind fake online profiles, you've probably noticed a recurring theme: Atlanta is full of catfish.
Show co-host and camera-wielding sidekick Max confirmed as much during the opening of last week's episode when he referred to Atlanta as "the catfish capital." But what's in the dang water down here that seems to be producing more televised catfish per capita than any other American city? When host Nev visits the campus of Georgia State University this week (3:303 p.m., Thurs., Oct. 24), I imagine it'll be one of the first questions out of students' mouths.
By my count, at least three episodes have led the pseudo investigators to Atlanta in search of the real people hiding behind the lies.
And Atlanta is responsible for some of the show's best episodes - the most recent being the one in which ATL-based lesbian and wannabe rapper Dee Pimpin went so far in her online portrayal of the diminutive rapper Bow Wow that she even sent Keyonnah, the object of her affection, $10,000. If you haven't seen Dee Pimpin's new music video "Stunnaz," which premiered last week on BET's "106 & Park" when Dee and her would-be boo sat on the interview couch with the real Bow Wow, check it out to see her pimp walking her way through Little Five Points. She actually favors Bow Weezy in real life.
Celebrity doppelgangers aside, the other two Atlanta-related episodes were equally WTF'ish. Like the one in which Rod from Mississippi fell in love with a transsexual female. Or so he thought. Though Rod informed Nev and Max that he was and had always been heterosexual, he seemed to have no qualms about documenting his new sexual awakening on national TV. As he told his best friend during a sit-down after shooting a round of hoops, "She got what we got, dog."
? ? ?
But when Rod visited Atlanta to meet his online amore, she revealed the truth: She wasn't a female transsexual at all but a lesbian who hadn't dated men in years but was ready to try again because she was so in love with Rod. But upon learning that she didn't actually have what he had between his legs, Rod was pissed. It was as if he'd gotten his nerve up to try a transsexual - and kinda sorta come out on national television - all for naught. [Watch the full episode.]
The other Atlanta ep. was straight-up ratchet revenge theater. One girl who wanted to lure a second girl away from the boyfriend they both claimed started a fake profile pretending to be a guy who then swept the second girl off her feet. Imagine the surprise of Girl No. 2 when Girl No. 1 came out to meet her in the apartment parking lot instead of her supposed lover. That's when the ratchetness ensued.
So why is Atlanta the Catfish Capital of the World? Hell if I know. But if our laundry list of reality TV exports accounts for anything, we seem to have a knack for bringing the drama. It almost makes up for all those years MTV never saw fit to record a season of "The Real World" in our fair city.
"Catfish" airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on MTV.