I'm episode 6. The first one was good but then it seemed very drawn out and a bit boring. It was only because the title makes clear what its about (that you know there will be a 'reveal') that I have kept going. I think this could have been done in four episodes.
That man has totally creeped me out. I don't know why she was pursuaded to go out with him any way. He isn't at all attractivie, has dreadful skin and tiny eyes. Plus he has that really sinister quality - the same style that David Tennant has when he is playing serial killer types.
When you watch something like this, it really makes you wonder why anyone would internet date. It's the total downside of internet dating - you meet someone in a vacuum and they can tell you anything about themselves and create a limited backstory. Eg. Someone who has been in prison in Scotland could move to England, spin some sob story about his parents dying and being an only child, set up a fake Linkedin profile and there you go.
It's really horrific how she kept buying his excuses for failing to turn up for so long.
I read an interview with the writer of the book who said she'd written 3 articles about herself - one was about being lonely, one was about being childless and the third was this catfish dating situation - but then realised they were all part of the same story
But midway through writing Fake I came to understand something: my three essays were actually one, separated only in time. They form a continuum. They tell the story of how one woman’s life has unfolded at a point in the 21st century. Mine has not been an uncommon trajectory.
In my 20s and 30s, I spent too long in relationships that were doomed to fail (who hasn’t?). I travelled for work. I lived in multiple cities as I built my career – Brisbane (twice), London, Melbourne (twice), Hong Kong. In each city, I knew no one and battled loneliness as I built social circles. It was years before I realised how detrimental that transience had been to the growth of substantial and stable relationships, to the sense of belonging in a community, to the chance to meet a man with whom I could establish a family before it was too late.
...
I see now that my three essays have been one story told in chapters. The label “lonely childless woman who fell for a con artist” may be factually correct but texturally, not so. It does not tell the truth of my story at all. I am anything but a poor damaged soul. My story is not one of failure. I have a rich and interesting life. I have work that I adore. I have dear friends, although too many in other cities.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/jul/18/after-being-catfished-i-lost-trust-in-the-world-but-i-am-anything-but-a-damaged-soul
Interesting read.i
Anyway I am now totally freaked out by how evil men on dating sites are and very very creeped out by this man/actor in Fake.