Online interactions are based on trust because there are few accurate ways to confirm the identity of the person being communicated with. Naturally, such a situation can lead to deception and manipulation, which has a painful effect on Tegan and Saraa popular indie rock duo whose lives were turned upside down by a mysterious, unscrupulous actor who posed as Tegan to fans, friends and business partners for over a decade.
Zealot: Catching Tegan and Sara's Cats is an investigation into the many ways the Internet can be used for nefarious purposes. Moreover, it is an anatomy of crime and the complex devastation it causes, not only for famous artists, but also for innocent fans who have been tricked into believing that fiction is reality.
It will premiere on Hulu on October 18, following its premiere on Toronto International Film FestivalErin Lee Carr's documentary is a chilling snapshot into the unholy marriage of corrosive fandom and internet duplicity. It centers on Tegan and Sara, identical twin singers who began making a name for themselves in the early 2000s, both for their talent and for being openly gay. This earned them a loyal fan base of queer women and men who saw themselves reflected in Tegan and Sara, and that bond was reinforced by the siblings' active interest in personal interaction with fans—Tegan chatted with showgoers in line and at the merchandise table—as well as on LiveJournal and other up-and-coming messaging platforms that previously provided inaccessible degree of contact.
Tegan and Sara Queen.
Disney
IN Zealot: Catching Tegan and Sara's CatsTegan admits that this accessibility was very important to her and helped the band become a sensation, so it was a big shock to her when, in 2011, she and her management team (led by Piers Henwood and Kim Pursley) learned that there was a fake Tegan, whom they dubbed Fegan, who had developed long-term relationships with various fans. In these communiques, Fegan asserted her legitimacy by revealing private information (say, Tegan's mother's cancer diagnosis) and sharing personal photos and unreleased demos.
Tegan and company might never have heard of it if it weren't for a fan named Julie who, after befriending Fegan, received images of Tegan and Sara's passports that didn't seem right to her. When she approached a friend associated with artists about this, he said that Tegan did not know her. To Julie, this meant “Tegan has a big problem.”
Which she did and Zealot: Catching Tegan and Sara's Cats reveals how, after that bombshell, additional fans came forward and admitted that they believed they had been communicating with Tegan for years via email and text messages.
Unsurprisingly, Tegan was not too happy about this situation, especially since the evidence indicated that the criminal was in possession of confidential documents, recordings and other materials. She and everyone else initially assumed that the culprit might be someone in her inner circle, fueling paranoia and suspicion that inevitably made her feel like she had mistakenly opened the figurative door too wide for fans.
It's based on just two questions. Zealot: Catching Tegan and Sara's Catsand none of them are easy to answer. The first is someone who lured Tegan's fans and acquaintances, including a woman named JT, who had met Tegan by chance years earlier in the Vancouver music scene and was led to believe she was in a sexual online relationship with the artist.
Tegan Queen and Sara Queen perform at The Wiltern on September 29, 2016 in Los Angeles, California.
Harmony Gerber/WireImage
Despite numerous cease-and-desist letters and the hiring of cybersecurity specialists and detectives, Tegan found it extremely difficult to track down online scammers, especially when they were as sophisticated as Fegan, who posed as Tegan, as well as imaginary fans, those fans' parents and perhaps even their lawyers. In fact, it was unclear (and still is) whether multiple Fegans were acting simultaneously, alone or in concert, to pull the wool over everyone's eyes.
The larger issue raised Zealot: Catching Tegan and Sara's Cats That's why someone decided on this crazy ploy, considering there was little to gain from it in terms of money or proximity to the real Tegan. Social psychologist and cyberterrorism expert Max Kilger offers a potential explanation, arguing that such scams provide cat catchers with many things: connection; possibility of intimacy; the ability to act confidently; and the psychological rewards of having power and control over others, which can be addictive.
Of course, Fegan was obsessed with pretending to be Tegan and was intent on interfering with (if not ruining) her life, going so far as to write wild accusations to her then-girlfriend and spread so much misinformation that even the victims of this madness (like JT) didn't fully believe Tegan's claims that she wasn't Fegan.
Zealot: Catching Tegan and Sara's Cats aims to end on a certain note, with director Carr and Tegan digging so deep into the case that they eventually find a legitimate potential suspect: a person referred to here as “Tara”, who asks that her identity remain anonymous. Tara's behavior is strange and questionable enough to make her the focus of his efforts, peaking during Carr's trip to Maine to interview Tara, only for the woman to suddenly back out of the meeting at the last second. The subsequent phone conversation between director Tara and Tegan turns out to be quite tense, but to Tegan's disappointment, it leaves her with the impression that Tara is not Fegan – meaning, of course, that the one who was driving her crazy is still around.
The ramifications of this catfishing scam are numerous and extend to the fact that Tegan and Sara have been forced to cut back on informal interactions with those who love them most – a byproduct of their new industry position and magnetic pull, of course, but also their understandable distrust of fans, whose zeal sometimes leads to insanity, such as Tara's incest fanfiction about sisters. Zealot: Catching Tegan and Sara's Cats gives Tegan the opportunity to reunite face-to-face with some of her biggest fans. However, Carr's film suggests that if such damage is done, it will be permanent.
