Based on a story that is completely true, except for the parts that are completely preposterous.
Anna Delvey; a young German heiress in her mid-twenties emigrates to New York. As the daughter of a German billionaire, she naturally acquaints herself among New York’s most select social circles. Being part of NY high-society, it’s no surprise she quickly voices her ambitions to make her mark on the city. After all, if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.
All Anna needs to make her dreams a reality is $40 million(!) loan to secure her future, building one of the most exclusive and innovative private arts club in the world. Anna is moments away from her final hurdle when she’s arrested. How anyone could pull off a scam like this, without a penny to their name, is unbelievable. Least of all, a solo female immigrant.
What’s the story?
Julia Garner plays the fascinating Anna, whose story is picked up, after her arrest, by Manhattan Magazine journalist Vivian Kent (Anna Chlumsky). The true crime drama follows the supposed German Heiress on her journey of curating the perfect scam. The socialites end up being the least surprising victims of Anna, as she scams bankers, architects, and gallery owners out of hundreds of thousands of dollars and their highly-sought-after and billable time…without ever parting with a penny.
Shondaland, headed by Shonda Rhimes, has produced many of our favourite Netflix hits, including Bridgerton, How To Get Away with Murder, Greys Anatomy and Scandal. The recurring themes of these diverse and complex dramas are sensationalism, classism, capitalism and elitism.
It seems Netflix’s recent focus on scam culture has been fueled by the popularity of the infamous Fyre festival and the Tinder Swindler. Glorifying these incidents seems inevitably absurd and counterintuitive, albeit entertaining.
Fetishizing scam culture
The consequence of creating a spotlight for such thrilling commotion, has already become apparent in recent weeks as Shimon Heyada Heyut (aka the Tinder Swindler) has announced plans to ‘write a book, host a podcast and star on a dating show where women compete for his love’.
Netflix is obsessed with scam culture and we are living for it. But any obsession can easily become unhealthy. The importance of supporting victims and creating awareness surrounding issues like fraud cannot be overshadowed by entertainment-value.
We must be careful not to create a society that endorses and fetishises conmen (and women).
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