Photo courtesy of Capital FM
By Christiana Corporon
Grifter, con artist, wannabe socialite and fraudster are just a few of the words used to describe the subject of Netflix’s newest and controversial series, Inventing Anna. In case you missed it, Inventing Anna tells the (mostly true) tale of how fake German heiress Anna Delvey (Sorokin) weaseled her way into New York’s high society. Her blunt yet witty sense of humor paired with her signature act of tipping in only hundred dollar bills captivated everyone in her path and now, a nationwide audience.
While there are certain parts of the nine-episode mini-series that were fabricated, the majority of it was completely true. The show follows journalist Vivian Kent as she tirelessly works to write a redeeming feature piece on the one and only, Anna Delvey. Vivian’s character is based on the real-life journalist Jessica Pressler who incited a social media frenzy in 2018 as a result of her introduction of Anna into the world through her New York Magazine article. While many critics weren’t a fan of her character development, I beg to differ. Some argued that by the end of the show, Vivian’s infatuation as well as sympathy towards Anna played into a harmful narrative and distracted viewers of the severity of crimes she committed. In my opinion, Vivian’s controversial desire of wanting to help Anna only reinforced just how good this girl was. She was a master manipulator that could get away with anything, until she couldn’t anymore.
Each episode introduces a new friend or acquaintance who had one thing in common—they had been tangled up in Anna’s web of lies. There were certainly some standout stories. One of the characters, Neff, was rather sympathetic towards Anna even since she’s been behind bars. Neff’s character is one of the few that were completely non-fictional, even down to the name.
Perhaps the most talked about character, besides Anna, was Rachel. Rachel, based on Anna’s former friend Rachel DeLoache, was arguably the most impacted by Anna’s schemes. The last episodes of Inventing Anna display how Anna left Rachel with over $60,000 in debt after failing to cover the expenses of their lavish Morocco getaway. The show makes you almost angry at Rachel. She helped put her friend behind bars, never paid for a thing, and was portrayed as excessively dramatic. It’s important to differentiate the character from the real Rachel, who’s life was completely flipped upside down because of Anna. It shouldn’t be any surprise she wanted her to be reprimanded for her actions.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the show (I binged it in a day), but I do wish there was more background on Anna rather than unnecessary embellishments. We never really learn how Anna was able to get all of her money in the first place or when her scheme started.
The series is a Gossip Girl meets true crime-esque comedy. It perfectly captivates the domino effect of Anna’s obsession with money and fame. It additionally, however, shows the extent of what went into keeping up the socialite image she created for herself. Anna did a lot of bad things. Really bad things. You can’t fight facts. But there were plenty of people in her socialite circle who likely did way worse and got away with it.
