Apple Cider Vinegar - Netflix

[Bankholidayhelp]

Any one else watched it?

Binged it over a couple of days. I'm not sure what to think.

I wondered if he had quietly worked with Netflix which could explain why he got quite a favourable character and his real name was used.

Ooh that’s a really interesting point actually that I hadn’t considered. You could be on to something there.

I felt very sorry for the Jess character by the end. She was only 23 when she was diagnosed, it was easy to see how she got sucked into the wellness movement when she was presented with the prospect of losing an arm.

No way that Clive was more behind it than shown and he was the driving force behind it, is there?

I finished it a few days ago. I had previously read the book it is based on (‘The Woman Who Fooled the World’) as well as Jess Ainscough’s ‘Make Peace with your Plate’ - Jess being the character Milla. I also own a copy of ‘The Whole Pantry’ book.

i was very impressed with the way they stuck to the story and also they way they made it flow so well with flashbacks within flashbacks etc. I thought it was an excellent production.

Interestingly, I had always thought Belle was a terrible scammer and deserved the public dressing down, but had sympathy for Jess/Milla, as whilst she effectively did a similar thing, my thoughts were that she ‘put her money where her mouth was’ and ultimately, if she did deter anyone from seeking treatment, she ended up paying the same terrible price as them for it. However, after watching the series, I felt less sympathy for her. Her line to her Dad about her mother “why did you let her listen to me?” Was a real moment - her character had been so headstrong and made it impossible for them NOT to listen to her, and now it hadn’t worked out she wanted to again shift the blame and say it was someone else’s fault that they did do so.

However, I judging from the YouTube videos of Jess, and seeing her character from that, I suspect this was a bit of dramatic licence of her character and in a few days I’ll go back to my original sympathetic opinion.

Regarding Clive - the portrayal in the tv series is similar to that of the book written by the journalists. His age means you would think he would have more power/influence in the relationship, but that isn’t portrayed in the book at all, and the journalists in that speculate briefly that him staying with Belle was out of concern as to what would happen to her child if they separated.

I thought Milla said 'Why did she listen to me?'
Looking forward to Scamanda next!

Do you know when that’s out? I think it’s going to be on Disney plus. In the meantime I’ve been watching ‘Anatomy of Lies’ about a writer on Greys Anatomy that faked cancer and a whole host of other things. Definitely worth a watch.

Hmmm interesting idea

I’ve just started this today and I’m about halfway-ish through. It’s fascinating, and I can see myself falling down a rabbit hole with this. I was similarly fascinated with Inventing Anna too, and was equally curious how much of that was real. It feels almost like you couldn’t make it up.

@FanofLeaves I think it's 21st February

Oh! Fab x

I also liked Inventing Anna. (The journalist character annoyed the hell out of me though) I think the actress who played Anna in that would have made an excellent Belle Gibson.

Cancer grifters are awful, but so hard to call out. Who wants to risk accusing someone of faking cancer and being wrong.

I really enjoyed it, I'd forgotten a lot of the detail from the real case.
I thought it was very well done, not overly sentimental and very good at giving and idea of what Belle was getting out of it. Thought the love bombing emojis were especially effective when paired with Belle's reaction.

I've just finished it, binged in one sitting 🙈

How is she not in jail? Surely shes guilty of fraud? Especially the money people donated for the sick child.

Clive is complicit in the deceit 🤷‍♀️

This is very difficult as I think in Australian law they were saying it wasn’t theft as she didn’t force people to give/outright steal, pledging you’re going to gift money isn’t legally binding…I know she’s racked up a lot of interest and still says she has no means to pay. However she’s been on trips to Africa and Bali in the interim!

I must be a bit broken but I felt sympathy for Belle (having only watched this series and knowing nothing about the case in RL). So I'm just commenting on the series and how the characters were portrayed in that.

She obviously had a very tough upbringing. Extremely tough to grow up with no love and no support, not surprisingly it leads to maladaptive behaviour. I think she would be diagnosed as having EBPD?

Interesting to see how it contrasted with Millas character who had the opposite, loving supportive parents and partner.
She also monetised her cancer & cure(?) but obviously wasn't successful because of her illness sadly taking her life.

Obviously Bella's fraud was completely immoral, it's a shame because she clearly was talented, creative and very hard working, but she obviously felt throughout her life that no one cared or thought about her and she needed the attention the 'leg up' the fake illness cancer diagnosis gave her.

The one question I have from it all, why couldn't the $60k for Hunters surgery be found from somewhere? It's £30k? Surely someone would have helped the family fundraise that? The newspaper? TV interviewers? The hospital/surgeon themselves?
Obviously that surgery may be just as unlikely to save the poor lad as juicing all day & enemas, but it was so tragic what that family went through, unbelievable to have to deal with all the fallout from the Bella thing on-top of what they were going through and really sad that on the back of the publicly the money couldn't be raised a second time.

Edited my response: I've done some digging today and Hunter's character seems to be based on a child called Joshua who unfortunately did not survive.

Hunter's surgeon was very obviously based on a well-known Sydney figure, Charlie Teo, who was renowned for being a cowboy but very successful, and charging desperate people extortionate amounts. He recently came under a lot of media scrutiny for his approach, and eventually fell out of favour and left the country.

Tbf to Belle, she was actually very driven and smart - imagine what she could have achieved if she hadn't been a scammer and used her talents.

Tbf she did achieve great things, pretty amazing to develop and sell the app to Apple ,I seem to remember it was on the phones as bloat ware before they realized what was going on!

Is there anything about where all the money went?

I thought this, she could have been successful without having to lie. She definitely has personality disorder imo from an emotionally abusive upbringing.

I thought it was telling that Milla had an eating disorder when she was younger, I think that goes some way to explaining the obsession with food, delusions and desire to be in control as well as her focus on appearance (not wanting her arm cut off.)

My dd has an ED and I can see some similarities in how they would think and behave ie her loosing her temper at the organic cafe because some minor ingredients weren't organic.

I think Milla was just as culpable as Belle in influencing vulnerable people, I was also raging at the older lady in Mexico who would always find a way of blaming the individual if their 'suggestions/diet plans' don't work.

I was reminded of Patrick Swayze saying when he was dying of pancreatic cancer that the better nutrition you have when you have cancer the faster the cancer grows (or something along those lines). Cancer is like a parasite and will take all the goodness you feed it 😢

I have The Cold so am feeling too awful to leave the sofa and have just binged Anatomy of a Lie,omg I enjoyed it more than ACV!!!

Thanks for the heads up. I've been meaning to watch this for a while.

I was like this 😱😱😱😱😱😱😱 the entire 3 episodes!

@LoafofSellotape 30 mins in. Oh my god 😳😳😳😳😳😳😳

It gets worse. She was a real trip.