Inventing Anna - Netflix

[HeyItsPickleRick]

I've been obsessed with this case since listening to The Fake Heiress on BBC sounds. Is anyone else watching?! I love the casting of Anna.

She's just a gambler/scammer who crossed a line isn't she? Not that special really, there are many such, they usually grab a rich man to underwrite their escapades en route to wealth and fame. I'm surprised she missed the more obvious route.

@LemonSwan

She also tends to come across as almost sociopathic and genuinely doesn’t seem to think she did anything wrong. It’s all very weird.

I am on episode 4; and whilst the credit card fraud and trust fund loan fraud is obviously illegal - I do struggle to see how the rest is anything but start up culture.

I know friends of friends who do 'startups'. Its a pyramid scheme of scamming IMO. Companies with millions of £ in investment with turnover less than eligible for VAT and no stock, no cash in the bank but being promoted in Grazia, Times and other big mags. I dont know who is scamming who tbh. I find the whole thing perplexing.

One thing she got right in the first episode was 40% of nothing is nothing.

When you have a shit load of money you dont actually care about the money. Its all about not being the last one in on something or missing out. If you loose money - so be it - so did everyone else. But you hit on investing in the next big thing and its an ego thing.

I think this series is about so much more than Anna.

Yes I was intrigued about how seemingly easy it was to raise capital - assume not much of it was personal wealth but likely financiers playing fast and loose with pension pots no doubt

The friends storyline and how they befriended her just doesn’t add up, did neff became her friend for money?

Ya THINK??

Yes, of course they did. This link to Jessica Pressler’s (‘Vivian’) story in The Cut (‘Manhattan magazine’) makes that clear.

www.thecut.com/article/how-anna-delvey-tricked-new-york.html

Neff Davis was a wannabe film maker working as a concierge. She thought she could use Anna’s connections to get a film made, and meet influential people. She accepted $100 tips from Anna at the hotel she worked at, and where Anna was staying, and zeroed in on Anna’s loneliness to befriend her. Anna paid for all the dinners and drinks and bought Neff gifts. Neff would have been ligging on that trip to Morocco if she’d been able to get time off work.

Since the story broke, she’s been trading on it, presenting herself in a flattering light, naturally.

Neff Davis is a despicable person, clearly, but she’s a consultant on this series and consequently comes off rather well, as a loyal friend.

Rachel Deloache Williams is another hanger on of Anna’s who wanted the good life on the cheap. She’s written a few articles whining about her misfortune, which naturally she doesn’t think was anything to do with her own behaviour. She got stuck with a $60k credit card bill for the trip to Morocco and some extras. She happily accepted all the free dinners and drinks whilst she was friendly with Anna, though, playing at being a mover and shaker, and was quick to grab the chance at a free luxury holiday.

She’s currently complaining about her own portrayal in Inventing Anna. Not brave or clever enough, see? Rachel has written a book about her friendship with Anna. I haven’t read it but I anticipate that Rachel is the tragic heroine.

Maybe Shonda should have passed this to someone willing to make it look less superficial and fluffy.
When it broke out I don’t remember the story being about shopping and expensive trips , it was more about the money she took from the banks.

The journos over expressive rubber face was irritating

🤣 I said exactly this! Got sick of her constant gurning! She reminded me of a Spitting Image puppet (showing my age there 😁)

I suppose in the context of the show Neff is something of a foil to Anna. They're both ambitious women, though neither are from wealthy backgrounds. They're both trying to make their dreams happen. While Neff is shown to be taking the more traditional route to reach her goals, by starting at the bottom and working to raise her own funds. Anna is aiming straight for the top. However both women are opportunistic and willing to use people to reach their end goal. However Neff, unlike Anna is shown to be a people person and is able to use this to her advantage, whereas Anna is like a bulldozer with zero personal charm.

@GruffaloSolja I was telling my Dh that she may not have gotten into quite so much trouble if she had hoodwinked the bankers to give her a job rather than a loan and then worked her way up from there. She probably couldn't afford the heiress lifestyle but could have afforded some designer items and a decent pad in Manhattan. More if she had also gotten one of the bankers to marry her a la Melania Trump.

My DH said that it was precisely believable because she was shooting for the stars and the assumption was that no one who wasn't seriously rich would have dared to do that.

I'm now watching the Netflix Fyre Festival scam. Instructive. If you want to rip off tech-hypnotised America. Start your own scam. Sell the idea of it to as many as possible. Get money up front. Go bankrupt before due date. Spend cash and start another. Snake oilers.

Fyre doc was amazing,
I think of all the people, it was only the models in their first promo who got paid ,

I want to see this, as we are still watching ozark.

Finished it. I thought the actress playing Anna was great but the one playing the journalist was awful - so much gurning and overacting. Overall, way too long and didn’t really hold my attention.

Dropping back in for a last post, if you were fascinated by Anna, do have a look at the Fyre documentary on Netflix. Its not about her but makes her a lot easier to understand and how she got so far with it. Plus if you haven't seen it, it's a boggler in its own right.

Don't get the hate for the actress playing the journalist. I found it so refreshing to see a woman in her 40s with a face... that.... MOVES! Give me animated over frozen any day.

@ESGdance

I honestly dont know. It is mind boggling.

The more I seem to find out about these 'startups' - the less I seem to understand.

@Fritilleries

Don't get the hate for the actress playing the journalist. I found it so refreshing to see a woman in her 40s with a face... that.... MOVES! Give me animated over frozen any day.

Agreed. She is playing a part. Whereas Anna is studied and calculated, always controlled, Vivien is the everywoman who inhabits the normal world, has babies, lives in a tiny apartment, has work problems and, yes, occasionally gurns, like we all do! It’s a really good contrast between the two leading female characters, both of whom are well acted.

[quote LemonSwan]@ESGdance

I honestly dont know. It is mind boggling.

The more I seem to find out about these 'startups' - the less I seem to understand.[/quote]
The Elizabeth Holmes/Theranos case has got everything. I recommend reading about that. Corporate madness writ large. Or the We Work story.

totally agree

But Elizabeth Holmes got a lot of help from her father who was the Vice President of Enron , and later held numerous high positions in government.
They were not no bodies ,

Just came on to mention the Fyre Festival scam and see I've been beaten to it! Agree it's fab and shows a pretty easy to follow guide on how easy it is to set up this type of scam It certainly doesn't take a genius- just someone in the right circles with the gift of the gab. Yes - some of the first big influences were paid though obviously this was behind the scenes. So in effect were paid to advertise.
Did you see the passing reference to the Fyre guy (now in prison) who shared a flat with Anna - and others - for a few months. If the story is to believed, she crashed there for a few days, which turned into (rent free) months and the other occupants actually had to leave the flat and move elsewhere to get shot of her.

@queenofarles

But Elizabeth Holmes got a lot of help from her father who was the Vice President of Enron , and later held numerous high positions in government. They were not no bodies ,

Who said that they were? The PP is talking about business start-ups that involved fooling lots of people who should have known better. The Theranos case is a great example of one of those.

Going against the grain here - I can’t get enough of this. I don’t think I’d be bored if they’d stretched it out to 15 episodes. I find I enjoy vicariously being immersed in Anna’s world so I’m not in any hurry to rush through the plot points.

I’m half way through Rachel’s episode (7) and so far Val, Alan and Kacy have been the best episodes. Neff a bit disappointing as her story wasn’t as high tension as the others.

I did read an article at the time it all came out, but don’t remember much of the detail so I’ve just accepted all of this as it unfurled. She makes Simon Leviev and the other Netflix-famous con artists look like rank amateurs with the scale of her ambition!

The Puppet Master (also Netflix) is the best of all of these “scam” doc / dramas IMHO.

So close to home.

@JunkIsland

Going against the grain here - I can’t get enough of this. I don’t think I’d be bored if they’d stretched it out to 15 episodes. I find I enjoy vicariously being immersed in Anna’s world so I’m not in any hurry to rush through the plot points.

I’m half way through Rachel’s episode (7) and so far Val, Alan and Kacy have been the best episodes. Neff a bit disappointing as her story wasn’t as high tension as the others.

I did read an article at the time it all came out, but don’t remember much of the detail so I’ve just accepted all of this as it unfurled. She makes Simon Leviev and the other Netflix-famous con artists look like rank amateurs with the scale of her ambition!

Scale of her ambition or delusion?

Was she also an addict / alcoholic?

@Newrunner29 - that’s the tantalising question, isn’t it. Not sure if the podcast sheds any light on her thought processes, but where I’m up to in the Netflix series at least has this as an enigma.