The Fake Detective

by Chad Van Wagner

Along with Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and Metallica actually recording their bass player, there are some things we want to believe in. The Internet has provided us with a particular type of “don’t spoil my illusions with research” kind of thing in what is known as celebrity fakes.

For the Web-impaired, there have been sweaty geeks pasting hot actresses’ faces on the nude bodies of not-so-well-known women, resulting in occasionally impressive, but more often than not laughable, fake “nudes.” Generally, these fakes have been blatantly obvious, but now that Photoshop has become entrenched in Net society, these things are getting better and better.

Enter The Fake Detective. Basically, a giant site of nothing but debunking, it’s endlessly fascinating, despite the ritual slaughter of more than a few favorite pictures. While the layout of the site itself is nothing particularly impressive, it’s truly amazing the amount of dedication involved, both in the faker’s work, and in the encyclopedic knowledge of the detective himself in all things concerning Photoshop and female anatomy. Some of these are pretty damned convincing, and if it weren’t for some tiny, tell-tale sign pointed out by the Detective, they’d pass for real. Hours of, er, enlightening browsing, real or not.
(www.lairofluxlucre.com/detective)