This whole story is completely true, except for the parts we totally made up.
This phrase appeared at the beginning of every episode of the Netflix miniseries, “Inventing Anna.” The series is based on the real story of a fake German heiress but the second part of that statement makes it so that all the facts need not get in the way of making a compelling story.
For anyone interested in learning about the real Anna Sorokin, a quick Google search will reveal a plethora of informative articles. I particularly enjoyed those by New York Times reporter, Emily Palmer, who followed Anna through her trial and gave her thoughts on the accuracy of the Netflix version.
While I do not know exactly what in the series was true or made up, Anna’s story fasinated me. One of the parts of the show included Anna talking to the fictional journalist, Vivian Kent, about how ultimatly, she wanted to become famous. While I don’t know if this was a conversation that actually happened, the fact that the real Anna sold her story to Netflix suggests it could have been.
The show features the character of Anna played by Julia Garner, alongside Vivian Kent played by Anna Chlumsky. The show follows Kent working on a feature story about Sorokin after she had been arraigned and sent to Rikers without bail before her lengthy trial for fraud and larceny. Kent follows Sorkin’s fall from grace as the twenty-year-old goes from socialite to businesswoman on the rise to a 4 to 12-year prison sentence.
The main question everyone is trying to answer in the show is “Who is Anna Delvy?” And yes, this is different from the last name mentioned previously because for most of her time in America, Anna decides to go by this last name.
She was born in Russia but moved to Germany at age 15. For whatever reason, she decided to bury her Russian roots and proclaim herself to be a German heiress right down to the accent. In her early 20s, she arrives in New York and quickly becomes a part of high society. She befriends all the right people, and not only those that will pay her way, but those who can introduce her to more of the right people.
She is ultimately trying to open an exclusive art club called the Anna Delvy Foundation. Not only does the promise of her fortune back in Germany help her recruit a team of talented architects, curators, chefs, etc., and nearly receive a 40-million-dollar loan, it also makes it so that nobody questions the line, “I will pay you back.” Not paying people back or not paying them at all for services is what gets her into trouble for the grand sum of $200,000. That was just the money she owed to people who bothered to press charges. There was also the theft of a plane mixed in there.
What was interesting about the portrayal of Anna Sorkin, was that as a viewer, I was not convinced she was the con artist her conviction suggests. In one scene she says that if a man had done what she had done, people would have praised his intelligence instead of questioning the legality. At least in the show, it was very rare that Anna actually lied. She did have a father living in Germany who came into money after fleeing Russia during the fall of the Soviet Union. How much money he actually has now was a little questionable but people heard German heiress and saw the way she dressed and acted and immediately assumed, she has money.
If the show truly portrays the extent of Anna’s real-life crime, I believe the sentence she received was ridiculous. Twelve to four years just for making people believe she was richer than she was. Who has never pretended to be a little more than they are?
After her trial, Anna infamously told the New York Times that she was not sorry. While this may not be something you want a parole board to hear, I say good for her. She did what she did to get what she wanted, and she was not going to apologize, especially because nobody was actually hurt by her actions. The only thing she damaged was the ego of some finance men.
She embraced her infamy to the point where an Instagram account was made, to show off her courtroom looks during her long and dramatic trial.
From this show and the story of the real Anna, I think as women we can take this away: Do what you need to do to accomplish what you want. Try not to break the law, but never apologize.