Shonda Rhimes’ lastest miniseries with Netflix was released earlier this month. Inventing Anna is the first miniseries produced by Rhimes based on a true story. Amid lies, heirlooms, and Instagram photos, the 8 episode series is a fun watch. Dealing with many exciting subjects, such as how this girl scammed the most prominent hotels and banks when she was 25, also explores what is essential in today’s society: image.
What’s The Miniseries Inventing Anna About?
Regarding Anna Sorokin, she called herself Anna Delvey, a Russian-born middle class that scammed New York’s elite into thinking she was a German Heiress. Befriending a lot of essential people, Sorokin was able to infiltrate into New York’s elite and truly become a part of it. She became famous after journalist Jessica Pressler wrote an article about her when her trial happened, called ‘Maybe She Had So Much Money She Lost Track Of It’. She then became a national sensation – and is now known in the world due to the miniseries.
Anna was brilliant and knew what she wanted: money to start her exclusive art foundation, The Anna Delvey Foundation. She was able to get a whole team of architects, art specialists, and even famous chefs to help her with her project. She got a $40 million loan, but she lost everything once the bank tried to check the money she supposedly had.
How Did Anna Delvey Scam Everyone?
There is only one more powerful thing available today than actual money: the image that you do. Sorokin’s brilliancy was not her project (even though it had a chance of working due to the big names that were interesting in it) or who she wanted to befriend. Anna used social media, such as Instagram, to create a lifestyle and a persona that people who needed to be convinced or could help her would be interested in. She made a powerful persona that no one dared question. How could they if she posted everything she was doing (trips, shopping sprees, luxurious dinner, etc.) daily?
There is not anything more modern, more current, than using social media to pretend to have a kind of life that can be interesting to other people. Maybe seeing how easy it was for Anna to pretend to have a life she didn’t have, using only social media, can make us think about what’s real and fake on the internet. Or even maybe if we should believe in what we see. There is nothing wrong with being active in social media, but the amount of power and importance in the last couple of years is worrying.
How Can We Conclude?
Inventing Anna is a fun miniseries to binge-watch over the weekend. The actress, Julia Gardner, did a fantastic performance portraying someone as iconic as Anna. The show can become more than an enjoyable watch and, if taken seriously, can showcase many intricate issues we deal with as a society.
