Clickbait and Nine Perfect Strangers are perpetuating the same old story about sad, lonely women

Salon.com

"Netflix's Clickbait and Hulu's Nine Perfect Strangers don't seem to share a lot on the surface — the former is a twisty thriller about a local family man's apparent death-by-viral-video; the latter is a psychedelic mystery set at a creepy wellness resort," says Kylie Cheung. "But they do have one thing in common: the portrayal of hapless, pathetic single women as the victims of predatory online catfishing. Fictionalized catfishing storylines can make for such compelling storytelling that onscreen portrayals of this phenomenon are almost the 'clickbait' of streaming these days. Real-life catfishing on dating sites is the subject of MTV's beloved reality show, Catfish, in which its hosts travel across the country helping everyday, unsuspecting Americans decipher whether their online suitors are who they say they are. Part of the timeless allure of onscreen depictions of catfishing is the opportunity to present what we see in Clickbait and Nine Perfect Strangers — the pitiful spectacle of sad, often crazy, lonely single women being deceived in their desperation for companionship."