Inventing Anna

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I thought the visit to Germany was interesting. There was a point where Russians could make money a lot of money during a certain time period exiting Russia. Still happening today. So Anna’s family had money for part of her young life this her upper class mannerisms but then it dried up. Most people benefiting from this emigration who made money were criminals so like father like daughter. But Anna didn’t quite have what it took. That’s partly why the family didn’t want to be involved.

It's not clear to me that they ever had a lot of money. Somehow she had to afford private school. The money bag was not real, was it?

I think all of the parts with the money bag and the Russian associates were flights of fancy by Vivian, who really wanted real intrigue in Anna’s background to explain her actions.

I liked the framing around Vivian reporting the story. I find it funny that Jessica Pressler, who also wrote the story that was the basis for the movie “Hustlers” has two fictionalized versions of herself in two movies. Julia Stiles played the Jessica-inspired reporter in “Hustlers.” Pressler was pregnant when she wrote her Anna Delvey piece, so that part is real.

[Anonymous]

So did she actually go to that expensive private school, or was that made up? If she did go there, how did her family afford it? So many questions.

[Anonymous]

A lot in the Netflix show is totally made up. Read the article for the ‘real story’ which remains incomplete. Read the actual articles if you want to know the truth.

Or the girl’s insta: https://www.instagram.com/p/CaGAPaBut6A/

Gosh is she unattractive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So did she actually go to that expensive private school, or was that made up? If she did go there, how did her family afford it? So many questions.

I wonder that, too, and think it was actually interesting to show the story, especially the trip to Germany from Vivian's perspective. It's easy to imagine hidden Russian money. There's still so many unknowns that make it easy to think "well maybe there was actually some real money," and we're missing the real con.

The whole show I had assumed Anna's mother wasn't in the picture, so was shocked to see both her parents. Did she mention multiple brothers earlier on? Making it seem like she had older brothers?

I also don't get why Neff was such a mix of "I get real life" and complete naivete. Still she came across as sympathetic to me. Rachel not so much.

[Anonymous]

Maybe we can trade her for basketball player Brittney Griner.

ICE wanted to deport her.

[Anonymous]

The journalist that wrote the Anna story is the same journalist that wrote the Hustlers story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The journalist that wrote the Anna story is the same journalist that wrote the Hustlers story.

Yep. That was posted above.

[Anonymous]

There is so much more to this story. I expect prostitution has to be involved.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is so much more to this story. I expect prostitution has to be involved.

No, there really isn't more to the story imo. Anna was just some serendipitous combination of traits that and shamelessness that allowed her to con many people. Many people we would expect to be extremely cynical, jaded, and suspicious, but nonetheless fell for her flimsy story. She may have been involved in prostitution, but I don't think that was critical to her con.

[Anonymous]

Is HBO still going to make a show based on Rachel’s book?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is so much more to this story. I expect prostitution has to be involved.

No, there really isn't more to the story imo. Anna was just some serendipitous combination of traits that and shamelessness that allowed her to con many people. Many people we would expect to be extremely cynical, jaded, and suspicious, but nonetheless fell for her flimsy story. She may have been involved in prostitution, but I don't think that was critical to her con.

I agree with you, the “con” wasn’t particularly slick or even successful. Most of the time it seems like run of the mill credit card debt and check-kiting until she was able to get that big overdraft from the bank. When I say there’s more to the story I don’t mean to her con, just there’s a lot of questions unanswered. Where did she get money when she first moved to New York? When she came for fashion week and never left, where did she stay? How did she meet “Chase”? How did she pay for things for over a year, before all the events of the show?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is so much more to this story. I expect prostitution has to be involved.

No, there really isn't more to the story imo. Anna was just some serendipitous combination of traits that and shamelessness that allowed her to con many people. Many people we would expect to be extremely cynical, jaded, and suspicious, but nonetheless fell for her flimsy story. She may have been involved in prostitution, but I don't think that was critical to her con.

I agree with you, the “con” wasn’t particularly slick or even successful. Most of the time it seems like run of the mill credit card debt and check-kiting until she was able to get that big overdraft from the bank. When I say there’s more to the story I don’t mean to her con, just there’s a lot of questions unanswered. Where did she get money when she first moved to New York? When she came for fashion week and never left, where did she stay? How did she meet “Chase”? How did she pay for things for over a year, before all the events of the show?

Did she meet Chase at his TEDx talk?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is so much more to this story. I expect prostitution has to be involved.

No, there really isn't more to the story imo. Anna was just some serendipitous combination of traits that and shamelessness that allowed her to con many people. Many people we would expect to be extremely cynical, jaded, and suspicious, but nonetheless fell for her flimsy story. She may have been involved in prostitution, but I don't think that was critical to her con.

My guess is that starting out she found rich "boyfriends". Some could argue that this isn't prostitution, but... There doesn't seem to be an answer for how she got started with her hustle in NY. To me the most obvious answer is transactional relationships with older guys.

I found the series compelling and entertaining. I read Jessica Pressler's article (did not read Rachel William's book). It's hard to watch these things and keep reminding yourself that it is fiction. I think one of the reasons that the story is not just about Anna is that at the end of the day, nobody really knows Anna. She must be extremely charismatic in real life to have been able to do this.

I read an interview recently by Rachel Williams who complained about how she was portrayed in this series. Other than the weird casting choice, I thought she was portrayed fairly. She was enjoying the party girl life on someone else's dime, was dumb to give her corporate card to the hotel as a form of payment, and then faced the consequences. She was young. Hopefully she learned from the situation.

I feel bad for the folks who got caught up in Anna's orbit. Unless you have experienced someone with this kind of charisma, coupled with a lack of ethics, it is hard to imagine how people get pulled into this nonsense.

[Anonymous]

I was thinking this weekend about how Anna kept saying things like "this is nothing compared with what men do all the time," and salt, I think she's right. I couldn't help but think about our most recent president who frequently did not pay people or pay for things and was proud of it. His grift is how many times larger than Anna's? Yet she's the one in prison and he became president.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was thinking this weekend about how Anna kept saying things like "this is nothing compared with what men do all the time," and salt, I think she's right. I couldn't help but think about our most recent president who frequently did not pay people or pay for things and was proud of it. His grift is how many times larger than Anna's? Yet she's the one in prison and he became president.

Of course.

On Wall Street they steal 100’s of million and pay a nominal fine. If you steal a car you go to jail. It’s all wack! Our laws let white males commit crimes and pay little to no consequences.