History Series / InventingAnna

A journalist based on Pressler, Vivian Kent (Creator/AnnaChlumsky), with a lot to prove investigates the case of Anna Sorokin (Creator/JuliaGarner), posing as Anna Delvey, the Instagram-legendary German heiress who stole the hearts of New York's social scene - and their money as well. The series was released on Creator/{{Netflix}} on February 11, 2022.

[[OvershadowedByControversy The series had some controversy due to the fact Sorokin was paid $320,000 for the story that she primarily used to pay off her creditors.]]

* EatTheRich: Zigzagged and deconstructed. While many people in the series and real life do admit to holding at least some base level of respect for Anna's cons on the uber-wealthy, especially considering her background as the daughter of a working-class immigrant family, she's ''far'' from being JustLikeRobinHood and her mooching off others ends up causing all kinds of collateral damage to the lives and finances of people like Rachel who aren't super rich.

* EatTheRich: Zigzagged and deconstructed. While many people in the series and real life do admit to holding at least some base level of respect for Anna's cons on the uber-wealthy, especially considering her background as the daughter of a working-class immigrant family, she's ''far'' from being JustLikeRobinHood and her mooching off others ends up causing all kinds of collateral damage to the lives and finances of .

* CommonalityConnection: Anna's defense attorney Todd admits he relates to her actions more than he'd like to admit, having struggled amidst the socialite scene that his wife was born into and he has been brought into as well, admitting that when he goes to such events, he feels like a waiter or valet rather than a guest.

* EveryoneHasStandards: Their brief interactions in episode four make it clear that even Anna doesn't like Billy [=McFarland=] and finds him a crass, unpleasant lout and his planned Film/{{Fyre}} [[Film/FyreFraud Festival]] gaudy.

* {{Expy}}: Aside from Anna, all of the people on the show are based on real-life figures.

* PoliceAreUseless: Rachel attempts to report Anna to the NYPD who completely dismiss and brush her off. While claiming they aren't able to help her due to no official crime having been committed wouldn't be too bad, they make a point of being incredibly rude and callous about her situation, snidely telling her to "start a [=GoFundMe=] and get better friends" and treating her like an entitled, vapid elite rather than a clearly stressed out and frightened woman in desperate need of help.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic / UnintentionallySympathetic: Rachel DeLoache Williams depending who you ask.

* WoundedGazelleGambit: Anna is pretty quick to turn on the waterworks or appeal to people's better natures when she is caught out. It eventually stops working.

* UnitentionallyUnsympathetic / UnintentionallySympathic: Rachel DeLoache Williams depending who you ask.

* FatalFlaw: Anna's is her pride and ego. She regularly shows herself as being totally unable to fathom being in the wrong or things going against her and acts like a criminal mastermind, even when in prison for her frauds, and she is insistent on being seen as a genius con artist even while Todd is desperately trying to help her defense by insisting she is just a mid-level hustler whose actions barely inconvenienced most of her victims, basically making it impossible to get her to accept any kind of deal for a limited sentence, seeing the trial as her opportunity to prove her brilliance and refusing to accept anything less.

* TooCleverByHalf: Anna screws herself over by not taking a plea bargain due to {{Pride}} and believes she can talk her way out of any problem. She fully believes that her ability to con the wealthy makes her a genius who will be able to beat the charges against her easily and wants everyone to see her do so. It's also mentioned she likely could have kept up her scams going for a long period of time had she not attempted to get her business loan.

The series had some controversy due to the fact Sorokin was paid $320,000 for the story that she primarily used to pay off her creditors.

* UnitentionallyUnsympathetic/UnintentionallySympathic: Rachel DeLoache Williams depending who you ask.

* PoliceAreUseless: Rachel attempts to report Anna to the NYPD who completely dismiss and brush her off. While claiming they aren't able to help her due to no official crime having been committed wouldn't be too bad, they make a point of being incredibly rude and callous about her situation, snidely telling her to "start a GoFundMe and get better friends" and treating her like an entitled, vapid elite rather than a clearly stressed out and frightened woman in desperate need of help.

* TheThingThatWouldNotLeave: Anna has a bad habit of forcing herself into friend's homes and staying long after she was overstayed her welcome. She even works her way back onto an expensive boat and stays a week after everyone else, including the owner, has left and runs up massive costs in doing so and can't understand why this would be a problem.

** In her first interview with Vivian on Anna, Nora claims she "saw through [Anna] at once" and wasn't fooled at all. Later, Vivian confronts Nora about how Nora was majorly scammed by Anna running up a huge bill on her credit card to the tune of $400,000. She declined to press charges because she didn't want anyone to know she was taken by Anna as everyone else. She also studiously ignored Anna and when she deigned to talk to her, she constistently treated her like an assistant, only to change her tune later when Chase proved to be a fraud and talk about "uplifting young gemale entrepreneurs."

** In her first interview with Vivian on Anna, Nora claims she "saw through [Anna] at once" and wasn't fooled at all. Later, Vivian confronts Nora about how Nora was majorly scammed by Anna running up a huge bill on her credit card to the tune of $400,000. She declined to press charges because she didn't want anyone to know she was taken by Anna as everyone else.

* NoSocialSkills: Anna, ironically enough. From the time she overstayed her welcome at the yacht to bluntly asking Vivian whether she's pregnant or "just really fat", it's a wonder she managed to endear herself to so many people.

* SmallNameBigEgo: Anna is undeniably very intelligent but she regularly talks herself up as a genius that no one else could ever begin to match or understand despite the obvious counterpoint that she is in jail because she was caught out for her numerous cons, particularly her attempt to secure funding for a business that was shot down almost instantly. This proves to her undoing as she refuses to let Todd make the case that Anna is just a minor criminal, not the mastermind the DA is trying to paint her as, and who never had a chance of doing anything worse than petty fraud and brings unnecessary media attention to her case to feed her image of herself.

* {{Jerkass}}: Anna is described as a jerk by even her close friends like Val, who claims she was self-centered, distant, blunt and anti-social and her interactions with Vivian confirm it as she is haughty, rude, and generally deeply unpleasant. Rather than impede her cons, she was able to use this to her advantage with Val describing her as someone others were desperate to gain the approval of due to her coldness and those who did feeling especially trusting and protective of her.

* KickTheDog: [[spoiler: Anna's treatment of Rachel. Saddling her with a sixty-thousand dollar debt on her company credit card would be bad enough but she strings her along for months with false promises of paying her back, doesn't seem to care at all that Rachel is under serious strain about it or that she could be fired or even sued and when confronted by Rachel and Kacy, tries to flip it around and guilt them over it and then tries to run away and flee town completely.]]

* MirroringFactions: Anna makes a somewhat credible argument that the only difference between her nonexistent club "business" and the "legitimate" WAKE business (that seems to be vaporware) or lifestyle line is that the latter were founded by already wealthy people. A parallel is made that a lot of wealthy people are wealthy for absolutely no reason other than people give them money for smoke and mirrors.

** Anna uses Nora's credit card to buys hundreds of thousands of dollars of clothes at an exclusive store under the guise of them being for Nora. When Nora finds out, she's less upset about the store not checking the purchases at all and more about how they think ''these'' are the kind of outfits Nora would want.
** Anna is on trial, facing years in prison, and her biggest concern? Not ''enough'' media attention so she has her allies spreading the news so before long, reporters are focusing on her outfits, ignoring that all this attention also highlights her crimes.

* UndyingLoyalty: Anna gets this from the few people she hasn't completely screwed over, namely Neff, Vivian, and her lawyer Todd Spodeck (and still, they express exasperation with. Even Rachel has this until it becomes a BrokenPedestal.
* UnintentionallyNotoriousCrime: Anna's story in a nutshell. In her attempt to defend herself, she turns a very minor case of fraud (mostly unpaid hotel bills) into a world-famous story that causes the courts to throw the book at her. PlayedWith as Anna did attempt to defraud Fortress of forty million dollars in loans. However, it was so easily prevented that its arguably not an actual crime (and was thwarted by a simple background check). She also was apparently going to legitimately start an art gallery with it so the fraud was purely in her representation of assets.

* Hypocrite: Chase asked Val to look at Anna's passport, feeling that something is not quite right. After Val does as asked when Anna can't pay a bill, both Chase and Anna chastise and snub him for supposedly betraying their trust. This is despite Chase being the one who ordered him to check and Anna both lying about her identity for years and conning her friends.

** Vivian openly marvels at how it would have been ridiculously easy for anyone to figure out Anna was a fraud yet no one bothered to do a basic background check on her.
** Notabe is Alan Reed, a veteran Wall Street executive, a man who has seen one fraud after another come and go, yet totally fell for a fake phone call to a bank to believe Anna was worth millions and thus signed off on a loan.

* TheFashionista: Anna is very good at dressing well, and has been since she was about thirteen when she became a fan of designer fashions. It's one of the reasons she succeeded.

* WineIsClassy: One of Anna's entourage describes how she was obviously OldMoney from her wine orders, always selecting specific, exceptional vintages rather than going for the most expensive bottles like NouveauRiche. Ironically, she's neither.
* WoundedGazelleGambit: Anna is pretty quick to turn on the water works or appeal to people's better natures when she is caught out. It eventually stops working.

** Vivian openly marvels at how it would have been ridiculously easy for anyone to figure out Anna was a fraud yet no one bothered to do the basic checking of her background.
** Notably is Alan Reed, a veteran Wall Street executive, a man who has seen one fraud after another come and go, yet totally fell for a fake phone call to a bank to believe Anna was worth millions and thus signed off on a loan.
** Likewise, Kacy admits she kicks herself on how, in a trip to Marrakesh, none of their group found it odd that Anna insisted on staying at the hotel (where she could charge everything to the room) rather than tour the city, where she would actually have to pay on her own for things she couldn't afford.
* TheFashionista: Anna is very good at dressing well, and has been since she was about thirteen when she worked at a Vogue internship in Paris (or so it seems). It's one of the reasons she succeeded.
* FatalFlaw: Anna's is her pride and ego. She regularly shows herself as being totally unable to fathom being in the wrong or things going against her and acts like a criminal mastermind, even when in prison for her frauds, and she is insistent on being seen as a genius con artist even while Todd is desperately trying to help her defence by insisting she is just a mid-level hustler whose actions barely inconvenienced most of her victims, basically making it impossible to her any kind of deal for a limited sentence, seeing the trial as her opportunity to prove her brilliance and refusing to accept anything less.

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Despite Anna showing amoral behavior in all kind of ways, Vivian and Todd refuse to believe that Anna can be such a cold-blooded con artist and try to look for something about her that is redeemable, even when Anna, herself, said on many occasions that there is nothing there to redeem. [[spoiler: Vivian even goes to Russia, hoping to find out that Anna was the daughter of a gangster or came from an abusive home. She discovered Anna was a problem since childhood, and her parents are good, hard working, middle class people who after years of trying to reach Anna finally gave up on her.]] Neff on the other hand, knows Anna is a hustler and respects her for it, as long as she isn't one of her targets.

* {{Jerkass}}: Anna is described as a jerk by even her close friends like Val, who claims she was self-centered, distant, blunt and anti-social and her interactions with Vivian confirm it as she is haughty, rude and generally deeply unpleasant. Rather than impede her cons, she was able to use this to her advantage with Val describing her as someone others were desperate to gain the approval of due to her coldness and those who did feeling especially trusting and protective of her.

* KarmaHoudiniWarranty: Anna gets away with fantastic amounts of fraud, lying, and cheating but is eventually sentenced to [[spoiler: four to twelve years.]] While she served only the minimum term (including the time spent in remand), she was re-arrested six weeks after her release and has been held in ICE custody since then, pending her deportation to Germany and a probable lifetime ban to enter the United States.
* KickTheDog: [[spoiler: Anna's treatment of Rachel. Saddling her with a sixty-thousand dollar debt on her company card would be bad enough but she strings her along for months with false promises of getting the money soon, doesn't seem to care at all that Rachel is under serious strain about it or that she could be fired or even sued and when confronted by Rachel and Kacy, tries to flip it around and guilt them over it and then tries to run away and flee town completely.]]

* PokeThePoodle: Anna undoubtedly stole hundreds of thousands of dollars and lied constantly about her path but given her "victims" were hotels and the super-rich paying for her upkeep, most audiences will find them less than heinous. Her lawyer even points out most people would sympathize with her. [[spoiler: This changes with her attempt to get a forty million dollar loan and her cheating her friend Rachel of a small house's price.]]

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Anna's lawyer Todd delivers a blistering one to Anna when she refuses to enter the courtroom and throws a tantrum, delaying her own criminal trial because she doesn't like her ''wardrobe options''.
--> '''Todd:''' Anna, shut up and listen. What is your problem? First of all, taking the stand would be legal suicide. Questions that you don't want to answer. Questions that make you look even more like a greedy, lying, sad-sack scammer with a creepy fucking accent. But that's not why you're not taking the stand. You're not taking the stand because taking the stand is my fucking decision, not yours. But that's still not why, this may be your reputation- You useless, incompetent excuse for a con artist! I've known a shit-ton of criminals in my day and you are below fucking average at crime so, fuck you and fuck your reputation. And fuck your fake-ass life and fuck your freedom. This is my reputation, my identity, my ability to provide a life for my family you're fucking with, and now I look like a fucking hack because I can't control my client! Can't get baby dressed in the morning! I let you take the stand, and it's the nail in your coffin and in mine. You will get the maximum sentence, and no one will ever hire me again! -Your father? Your fucking father? You're not stupid. So what is it? Full-on fucking delusion that makes you believe he's coming anywhere near here? Do you believe your lies? Are they for me or for you? Must be you! Because everyone else in your life who hasn't abandoned you yet is way past believing them and could give a fuck, so long as your checks don't bounce. Even your father is done with this shitty act of yours. That's why your clothes are dirty. Your delusion must be on some epic level to imagine for one second that he would show up here, let alone pay for a fucking fancy-ass stylist to dress you up like a courthouse Barbie doll!

** Anna is on trial, facing years in prison and her big concern? Not ''enough'' media attention so has her allies spreading the news so before long, reporters are focusing on her outfits, ignoring that all this attention also highlights her crimes.

* TheSocialExpert: Anna is extremely good at getting people to trust her and buy her lies.

* TooCleverByHalf: Anna screws herself over by not taking a plea bargain due to {{Pride}} and believes she can talk her way out of any problem. She fully believes that her ability to con the wealthy makes her a genius who will be able to beat the charges against her easily and wants everyone to see her do so. It's also mentioned she likely could have kept up her scams for a long period of time had she not attempted to get her business loan.

%%* UndyingLoyalty: Anna has the ability to compel this in her associates like Neff, Vivian, and her lawyer Todd Spodeck. Even Rachel has this until it becomes a BrokenPedestal.

** The early episodes involving Chase were largely fictional and the character of Chase was largely invented for show, though Anna did have a tech boyfriend[[note]]tech entrepreneur Hunter Lee Soik[[/note]] around that time.

Creator/ShondaRhimes' ''Inventing Anna'' is an American drama streaming television miniseries inspired by the New York magazine article "How Anna Delvey Tricked New York's Party People" by Jessica Pressler.

A journalist based on Pressler, Vivian Kent (Creator/AnnaChlumsky), with a lot to prove investigates the case of Anna Sorokin (Creator/JuliaGarner), posing as Anna Delvey, the Instagram-legendary German heiress who stole the hearts of New York's social scene - and stole their money as well. The series was released on Creator/{{Netflix}} on February 11, 2022.

The series had some controversy due to the fact Anna was paid $320,000 for the story that she primarily used to pay off her creditors.

* AssholeVictim: Anna's victims are uniformly snobs and have more money than they know what to do with. [[spoiler: Until she cons her friend Rachel out of $62,000.]] This is why Todd is able to initially get her a fairly good deal as he convinces the DA that no jury is going to convict someone for scamming the ultra wealthy.

** In her first interview with Vivian on Anna, Nora claims she "saw through her at once" and wasn't fooled at all. Later, Vivian confronts Nora on how Nora was majorly scammed by Anna running up a huge bill on her credit card to the tune of $400,000. She declined to press charges because she didn't want anyone to know she was taken by Anna as everyone else.
* BrutalHonesty: Nicole sees right through Anna and, having no relationship with her, does not hesitate to tell her.

* ExactWords: When she discovers [[spoiler: Chase is a con artist himself]], Anna yells at him on lies like saying [[spoiler: his parents were immigrants. Chase says they are...from Canada]].
* {{Expy}}: Aside from Anna, all of the people on the show are these of real-life figures.

* FailedASpotCheck: Vivian openly marvels at how it would have been ridiculously easy for anyone to figure out Anna was a fraud yet no one bothered to do the basic checking of her background.

* IRejectYourReality: Anna isn't very good at accepting what she doesn't want to hear and carries herself as though everything worked out exactly as she planned, even when in prison. Other characters have to put up with varying levels of frustration at her inability to accept even basic facts that go against her self-image.