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Re-Inventing Anna

Rachel DeLoache Williams was friends with Anna Sorokin when Sorokin was still “Anna Delvey,” living large on borrowed credit cards. Now she’s watching the fraudster become a star again.

For Anna and Netflix alike, attention is stock-in-trade. Consider that whatever scruples audiences may have with Inventing Anna, whether they celebrate or scrutinize its dubious depictions, any controversy that ensues is sure to attract an even wider audience.

If controversy is good for ratings, why not re-cast the villain as the victor, a stick-it-to-the-man feminist icon? Why not glow-up the felon, gloss over the gaslighting, and go for a story line, as teased in Inventing Anna’s trailer, that’s “completely true … except for the parts that are totally made up”?

We all want to be entertained. After the past two years, who doesn’t crave an escape, an all-expenses-paid adventure that takes us from frigid Manhattan to sun-drenched Marrakech? The invitation’s allure is hard to deny.

Take it from someone who knows: This is the art of the con, a shell game that proffers irresistible thrills for low stakes, while a sleight of hand carries out the high-roller business unseen. Netflix isn’t just putting out a fictional story. It’s effectively running a con woman’s P.R.—and putting money in her pocket.

TIME | TELEVISION

Why "Inventing Anna" Is a Damaging Story

This is what I’ve learned: people, like ideas, only have as much power and influence as we give to them. Without even realizing it, I gave Anna enormous power and influence over me—power and influence I then spent years working to reclaim. Anna is clever. She can be funny. I, too, used to find her amusing. Like others do now, I once marveled at her audacity, at the way she plays by her own rules, at the grandiosity of her dreams, and at her ridiculous, outsized confidence. It’s easy to be captivated by larger-than-life characters who defy our expectations, especially when we think we have nothing at stake.

But I have come to understand that your attention is an investment. Giving someone your attention is the act of being influenced, whether or not you’re aware of it in the moment. And especially in this age of constant stimulation, with endless people and stories competing for your clicks, likes, follows, and time, your attention has value. It has power. It’s worth something—it can even put money in someone’s pocket. Be careful where you spend it, and understand the cost.