{"id":18755,"date":"2022-02-15T01:18:43","date_gmt":"2022-02-14T21:18:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/?post_type=articles&p=209451"},"modified":"2022-02-15T01:18:43","modified_gmt":"2022-02-14T21:18:43","slug":"anna-delvey-netflix-series-review","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/anna-delvey-netflix-series-review\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Inventing Anna\u2019 Is About Money And Power, But It\u2019s Also About Men Under-Estimating Women"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Anna Delvey limited series, <\/span>Inventing Anna<\/span><\/i>, premiered on Netflix<\/a> over the weekend. Helmed by television mogul Shonda Rimes, it was always going to be exquisite for a weekend binge. But what surprised me is that the series is about more than just the juicy story of a faux-heiress. \u201cAll men underestimate women,\u201d Anna says to journalist Vivian in one episode. <\/span><\/p>\n

This is the real story <\/span>Inventing Anna<\/span><\/i> is telling.<\/span><\/p>\n

In case you need a refresher (I certainly did), Anna Sorokin (played by Julia Garner<\/a>) was a 20-something Russian-German woman who moved to New York, took on the name Anna Delvey, and manipulated her way into the elite circles of the city, swindling money from the rich by pretending to be a wealthy heiress with a trust fund. In reality, Anna was just a regular girl born in Russia to a truck driver and convenience store owner, who was interning at a fashion magazine when she then made the leap into fake heiress life. Eventually, her lies caught up with her and she was charged with fraud. <\/span>New York<\/span><\/i> writer Jessica Pressler made Anna a global name with a viral investigative piece<\/a> in 2018, and Anna has also been the subject of podcasts, a play starring Emma Corrin and there\u2019s even another film in the works, with <\/span>Lena Dunham reportedly attached to produce<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Inventing Anna<\/span><\/i> follows two stories – that of Anna, obviously, but also that of Vivian, a fictional representation of Jessica Pressler. As Vivian (Anna Chlumsky) chases down leads, going deep into Anna\u2019s story, we see flashbacks of the (stolen) private jets, super-yacht trips taken without the owner\u2019s knowledge, and other wild highlights from Anna\u2019s time pulling the wool over the eyes of the rich.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Anna manages to deftly immerse herself in the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Image: Netflix.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We also see how similar Vivian and Anna are. At their base level, they\u2019re fighting for the same things – to stand their ground in\u00a0 male-dominated spaces and be valued, successful. For Anna, that looks like fame. For Vivian, it\u2019s about repairing a damaged reputation.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is very in line with Shonda Rhimes\u2019 other creations – <\/span>Grey\u2019s Anatomy <\/span><\/i>was full of strong women, and <\/span>Scandal <\/span><\/i>sees mega-successful \u201cfixer\u201d Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington) wading through the murky, misogynistic waters of American politics. It makes sense that she saw beyond the glitzy action of a young socialite toying with the rich, and found a story about two women who repeatedly come up against sexism, but who also find ways to climb above it.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
The glamour is there, but Anna’s story is about more than parties and designer dresses. Image: Netflix<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The sub-plot involving Vivian and her out-of-touch editor was more gripping than I expected. Every step of the way, Vivian is shut down and patronised as she tries desperately to pitch the story of Anna Delvey, by an editor who, as she points out, missed the boat on the Harvey Weinstein case because he didn\u2019t believe there was a story there. He\u2019s not just stubborn, he\u2019s miles behind on current affairs – and yet he holds incredible power he doesn\u2019t really seem to deserve in terms of merit.<\/span><\/p>\n

Anna, on the other hand, is operating within arguably the most male-dominated space of all – finance. She struggles to be taken seriously by investors and partners, until mentor Nora introduces her to connections as her protege. Even then, she feels pressure to dye her blonde hair auburn and dress more conservatively to get a foot in the door. As she says to financial advisor Alan Reed, would it have been so difficult to obtain interest in her business if she was a man?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Inventing
To be taken seriously, Anna even dyes her hair. Image: Netflix.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As women, we know that feeling of frustration all too well. How many times have you felt boxed in due to men in power? So often we\u2019re at the mercy of men who make the big decisions, feeling like we have to put up with patronising mansplaining and sexism because pushing against it has historically led to being pushed out of opportunities or even industries. So we have to work within these systems – where men are assumed to be competent, women have to prove their competence.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The only problem with this being the story <\/span>Inventing Anna<\/span><\/i> is telling, is that Anna\u2019s story is way more complex. Yes, she was a pretty young woman who was trying to make it in the tycoon world and came up against plenty of sexism. But really, Anna Delvey\u2019s story is also about illusion. Anna knew how to <\/span>pretend<\/span><\/i> to be rich. That\u2019s how she swindled people, and it\u2019s how she made it so far into the finance world. I really wanted the series to examine this, too – how obsessed we are with image, to the point where a 20-something with no connections can acquire incredible influence and almost land million-dollar investments without anyone questioning her authenticity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Inventingt
We see plenty of Anna’s luxe lifestyle, but little commentary on how it’s appearances, not money, that holds real power. Image: Netflix.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Still, it\u2019s great to look at Anna\u2019s story through a feminist lens. While Jessica Pressler\u2019s piece was as balanced as Vivian\u2019s in real life, Anna was still very much a caricature within the media – the pretty socialite who wormed her way into parties and powerful places. It doesn’t feel too dissimilar to how Pamela Anderson was reduced to a Baywatch<\/em> bimbo – Pam & Tommy<\/em><\/a> is another series currently airing that is giving us a feminist re-telling of a widely known true story.<\/span><\/p>\n

Anna Delvey had ambitions beyond $10,000 dollar a night hotels and Cartier watches, and ultimately I think it’s good that Inventing Anna<\/em> is focusing on this, and not just the glamour. Seeing Anna’s bigger goals played out on screen, at odds with our perception of her,\u00a0reminds us just how much this world loves to minimise women to stereotypes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":18826,"template":"","format":"standard","categories":[36],"yoast_head":"\n'Inventing Anna' Gives New Depth To Anna Delvey's Story<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Netflix series 'Inventing Anna' takes a closer look at socialite and faux-heiress Anna Delvey (Anna Sorokin), painting a portrait of a talented woman struggling to be taken seriously in male-dominated industries.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/anna-delvey-netflix-series-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Inventing Anna\u2019 Is About Money And Power, But It\u2019s Also About Men Under-Estimating Women\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Netflix series 'Inventing Anna' takes a closer look at socialite and faux-heiress Anna Delvey (Anna Sorokin), painting a portrait of a talented woman struggling to be taken seriously in male-dominated industries.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/anna-delvey-netflix-series-review\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Grazia Middle East\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2022\/02\/anna-delvey.jpeg?fit=1280%2C722\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"722\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/anna-delvey-netflix-series-review\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/anna-delvey-netflix-series-review\/\",\"name\":\"'Inventing Anna' Gives New Depth To Anna Delvey's Story\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-14T21:18:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-14T21:18:43+00:00\",\"description\":\"Netflix series 'Inventing Anna' takes a closer look at socialite and faux-heiress Anna Delvey (Anna Sorokin), painting a portrait of a talented woman struggling to be taken seriously in male-dominated industries.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/anna-delvey-netflix-series-review\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/anna-delvey-netflix-series-review\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/anna-delvey-netflix-series-review\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u2018Inventing Anna\u2019 Is About Money And Power, But It\u2019s Also About Men Under-Estimating Women\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/\",\"name\":\"Grazia Middle East\",\"description\":\"Grazia's Middle East Site\",\"alternateName\":\"Grazia ME\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"'Inventing Anna' Gives New Depth To Anna Delvey's Story","description":"Netflix series 'Inventing Anna' takes a closer look at socialite and faux-heiress Anna Delvey (Anna Sorokin), painting a portrait of a talented woman struggling to be taken seriously in male-dominated industries.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/anna-delvey-netflix-series-review\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u2018Inventing Anna\u2019 Is About Money And Power, But It\u2019s Also About Men Under-Estimating Women","og_description":"Netflix series 'Inventing Anna' takes a closer look at socialite and faux-heiress Anna Delvey (Anna Sorokin), painting a portrait of a talented woman struggling to be taken seriously in male-dominated industries.","og_url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/anna-delvey-netflix-series-review\/","og_site_name":"Grazia Middle East","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":722,"url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/16\/2022\/02\/anna-delvey.jpeg?fit=1280%2C722","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/anna-delvey-netflix-series-review\/","url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/anna-delvey-netflix-series-review\/","name":"'Inventing Anna' Gives New Depth To Anna Delvey's Story","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-02-14T21:18:43+00:00","dateModified":"2022-02-14T21:18:43+00:00","description":"Netflix series 'Inventing Anna' takes a closer look at socialite and faux-heiress Anna Delvey (Anna Sorokin), painting a portrait of a talented woman struggling to be taken seriously in male-dominated industries.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/anna-delvey-netflix-series-review\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/anna-delvey-netflix-series-review\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/articles\/anna-delvey-netflix-series-review\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u2018Inventing Anna\u2019 Is About Money And Power, But It\u2019s Also About Men Under-Estimating Women"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/#website","url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/","name":"Grazia Middle East","description":"Grazia's Middle East Site","alternateName":"Grazia ME","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Grazia Middle East","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/18755"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/me\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}