Inventing Scammers Pt. 2
Review on 'Inventing Anna,' Saba's new album and video and more.
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Let's start where you know I am going to start, Netflix's ‘Inventing Anna,’ which Shondaland produced. If you haven't been following the series and the real-life events that inspired the series, let me give you a quick summary.
The series follows the scammer Anna Delvey, whose real name is Anna Sorkin. Anna frauded banks, businesses, and even friends out of money by pretending that she was a German Heiress who was starting a business - which was a lie. Eventually, all of Anna's lies caught up to her, and she went to jail, and has since been held by ICE and is facing deportation.
That's the summary; now, let's discuss the series. Inventing Anna is based on Jessica Pressler's (Vivian Kent in the show) magazine article, "How Anna Delvey Tricked New York's Party People," and the victims that Anna scammed. The series shows a girl around the town who was strategic in the relationships she cultivated with power players who could "help" her launch her business. I had many thoughts about the show - so here they are:
I found it somewhat dull and would give it a six out of 10.
The episodes were way too long. Although the episodes were technically about an hour in length, they felt like one hour and 17 minutes long. They could've easily been 30 minutes to break them up some.
Also, I get that the story is fascinating because, like last week's note, it's a fascinating look into the lives of the rich and gullible and touches on how she had the audacity even to do that. But in a way, watching the series felt more salacious than quality to me.
I read Rachel DeLoache William's book, "My Friend Anna," which also helped bring this story to the mainstream. I read her latest article about the case in Time and get why she wasn't necessarily participating in this series, BUT the angle they took, following the author who wrote the New York Magazine article I didn't enjoy. I found her to be annoying although we stan an adult Anna Chlumsky.
I did like the cameos from actors from Scandal though. Shonda keeps her people employed.
I also read too much about this case that some of what I read made me feel a way, honestly. I've included those links below. If you watched or have any feelings - let me know in the comments below or email me.
“Is she evil, or is society evil? Which is it? I don’t know. She was kind of allowed to become this because this is the way the world is. And it’s pretty fascinating.”
Read: ‘Inventing Anna’ Review: The SoHo Scammer, Explained at Length
“There are also some lessons, which are unstated but hard to miss because you’ve seen them so many times before: Everyone uses everyone else, especially journalists and lawyers; a con artist succeeds by making herself whatever her marks want her to be; flattery and the appearance of wealth will get you everywhere, or at least agonizingly close.”
Read: Seen ‘Inventing Anna’? Here’s What It Gets Right (and Wrong)
“Sorokin’s virtually untraceable accent is among her most distinguishing features. Born in a town 20 minutes outside Moscow, she moved to Germany when she was 15 but struck out on her own at 19, flitting from Paris to New York. Her accent is a mélange of influences, from everywhere and nowhere at once.”
“Millions will watch as Anna is portrayed as a complex anti-heroine fighting against her personal demons and a world that constantly underestimates young women. It will be seen by more people than will ever meet Anna or do the work to understand her real nature or what really happened. And that is a dangerous reality.”
Read: Anna Sorokin on ‘Inventing Anna’ and Life After Rikers
“With the benefit of hindsight, I would have changed lots of things, but this is just not how life works. So I am just building on my experiences and learning from them.”
“I’m not trying to encourage people to commit crimes. I’m just trying to shed light on how I made the best out of my situation, without trying to glorify it. This is what I’m creating out of that story.”
Read: It’s Your Friends Who Break Your Heart
I have seen this article everywhere and for good reason, it’s a great read. Friendship is an interesting and beautiful thing to me. Some of my most meaningful and beautiful relationships have been with my friends. I have had some friends for 20+ years which is baffling because I am still so youthful and beautiful, but nonetheless, it’s true. I think one thing that has become very clear throughout the pandemic is how friendships somewhat shift, and how as you get older your relationships with your friends sometimes shift and potentially even fade away. Here are a few quotes that I found to be great notes from the article.
“Were friendships always so fragile? I suspect not. But we now live in an era of radical individual freedoms. All of us may begin at the same starting line as young adults, but as soon as the gun goes off, we’re all running in different directions; there’s little synchrony to our lives. We have kids at different rates (or not at all); we pair off at different rates (or not at all); we move for love, for work, for opportunity and adventure and more affordable real estate and healthier lifestyles and better weather.
Yet it’s precisely because of the atomized, customized nature of our lives that we rely on our friends so very much. We are recruiting them into the roles of people who once simply coexisted with us—parents, aunts and uncles, cousins, fellow parishioners, fellow union members, fellow Rotarians.”
“But friendship, generally speaking, is the redheaded stepchild of the social sciences. Romantic relationships, marriage, family—that’s where the real grant money is. They’re a wormy mess of ties that bind, whether by blood, sex, or law, which makes them hotter topics in every sense—more seductive, more fraught.”
Here are some additional articles about friendship that I have read recently that somewhat correlate with this article:
Read: The Age of Anti-Ambition
Again I thought this was an excellent read and believe it resonates with some of the feelings and thoughts I've been having over the past few months. I have also stopped wearing makeup for my virtual meetings because I think many people are feeling meeting overload now that we are working from home and no longer coming on video calls. I've seen more black screens in the past year than in my whole professional career. Also, there's an excess of meetings, I think, as a way to subconsciously micromanage employees to be sure they are working. This article also made me remember that I need to go back and watch Succession.
“Essential or nonessential, remote or in person, almost no one I know likes work very much at the moment. The primary emotion that a job elicits right now is the determination to endure: If we can just get through the next set of months, maybe things will get better.
The act of working has been stripped bare. You don’t have little outfits to put on, and lunches to go to, and coffee breaks to linger over and clients to schmooze. The office is where it shouldn’t be — at home, in our intimate spaces — and all that’s left now is the job itself, naked and alone. And a lot of people don’t like what they see.”
“Now, though, it’s as if our whole society is burned out. The pandemic may have alerted new swaths of people to their distaste for their jobs — or exhausted them past the point where there’s anything to enjoy about jobs they used to like.”
“When “Succession” was over, the office workers of America got up off the couch, and they turned off the TV. They dozed off thinking about the psychological abuse the Roys heap on one another and their Waystar Royco underlings, then sat on the same couch Monday morning.
It’s important to acknowledge that some people have reacted to this moment by becoming less cynical about the possibilities of work. The broader world is getting darker — climate change, crumbling democracy. It feels impossible to change it. But work? Work could change. An idealistic generation has set about demanding a utopian world, on a local scale, in their own little Busytowns. More diversity, more attention to structural racism, better hours, better boundaries, better leave policies, better bosses.”
Watch: Kanye West’s Jeen-Yuhs Netflix Docuseries
I’ll admit, Kanye West is currently doing the most on social media these days with his attempt to get his wife back. If that was his goal, I don’t think the manner in which he is trying to do so is a compelling case. It’s also disheartening to see because he is harassing her and none of his people (so I think) are doing a good job at making him moonwalk out of that territory. It’s really sad to see and I feel bad for Kim and the kids. That was a tangent because what I wanted to talk about is his new three-part Netflix series which premiered yesterday. The series looks at decades’ worth of BTS and rare footage of Kanye’s journey into the music world through the eyes of director and videographer Clarence “Coodie” Simmons.
The first episode shows Kanye as a producer who had his big break with Roc-a-Fella Records and Jay Z with the production “Izzo (H.O.V.A).” You can see Kanye’s hunger for more with the desire to move from a producer to a rapper eventually getting signed to Roc-a-Fella Records.
I think this review of the first episodes sums up beautifully what we see through the series:
“The best thing I can say about jeen-yuhs is that it’s essential viewing, especially if you’ve had a tough time grappling with this man’s words and actions for the last five years.”
“The story that Coodie wants to tell us is about how he got more than he bargained for—how Kanye not only succeeded at his goal, but kept on succeeding, beyond what anyone could have considered possible.”
What I loved about watching the documentary are two things. First, you can say what you want about Kanye and his public antics but Kanye believes in himself so much to the point that he makes everyone believe in him too. Kanye is a prime example of you show people how to treat you. This doesn’t go without saying that he is one of the greatest to do it but it was endearing to see how confident he was, and how much pride he had in his music and his art. The second thing I loved about watching this episode is the relationship with Kanye and his mom, Donda. It’s clear that Kanye’s world was rocked when his mom passed and I believe, some of his comfort and sanity left with his mom and their relationship dynamic was just so beautiful to see.
Kanye doesn’t like the series though but I think it shows him in a light that we haven’t seen in a long time, or honestly, since before the passing of his mom.
Unlike my feelings on Inventing Anna, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you watch this.
Listen: Moonchild - Starfruit
I don’t have much to say here aside from I LOVE THIS ALBUM SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much.
Listen: Saba Few Good Things
Since its release a few weeks ago, I have had Saba’s new album Few Good Things on repeat. It’s my first time really listening to Saba, but I am now a fan. The album has some great features like Black Thought, Smino, 6LACK, and Mereba just to name a few, and also includes a really cool short film.
Read/Vote: What Was the Best Verzuz of All Time
On Tuesday, Verzuz hosted another battle to celebrate Valentine’s Day with one of my favorites Musiq Soulchild and Anthony Hamilton. I won’t hold you, after watching the super long DJ-sets, I didn’t make it through any of the battle because I fell asleep. I will still have to spend some time watching the recording on YouTube because honestly, anything over 7 PM I probably will fall asleep on.
This article has a poll looking at which were the best battles and honestly my favorites are still E-40 vs. Too Short because as a bay area honey, that spoke too much of my childhood and upbringing. I also loved the Erykah Badu vs. Jill Scott one. I would also love to say the E-40 and Too Short battle was iconic because it gave us some of my favorite gifs ever:
Here are a few more links I thought were worth sharing this week:
LISTEN: My Cozy playlist is still alive and thriving
READ: These Influencers Are Quitting Instagram, And They Want Others To Join Them
READ: Rap Takes Over Super Bowl Halftime, Balancing Celebration and Protest
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I enjoyed the newsletter and the bio on Anna Sorkin. I just started watching the series, which I find fascinating.
Great issue! So relieved I don't have to watch Inventing Anna after all.