Add to that continued economic disparity and political divide and the time has never been better for an exploration of how the rich and fake have been able to profit off the pain of others. In a 2021 article on The Ringer, true-crime documentaries was cited as one of the biggest and fastest growing markets of documentary out there. Some of these commonalities remain, like journalist Vivian Kent (Anna Chlumsky) slowly turning into Anna Delvey’s one friend in “Inventing Anna.” But more often than not these characters remain stuck in their bubble, not necessarily interested in being tamed or finding what’s real, but creating their own realities.īut why the uptick? There’s certainly a desire to capitalize on true stories, especially ones that would draw in the crime market. In the sharpest divergence between this era and our current one, screwball comedies often had a “real” character, usually a man, who was representative of the people who would corral and tame the (usually female) rich person. It’s not that they don’t know what’s going on in the world, it’s that their wealth has allowed them to stay safely away from the rampant homeless and “forgotten men” who litter the streets. Screwball comedies often presented the wealthy as similarly out-of-touch and zany. It’s reminiscent of the screwball comedies of the 1930s, a film genre heavily connected to the Great Depression. Netflix Sued by Former Vanity Fair Staffer Over 'Inventing Anna' PortrayalĤ5 Great Films That Failed at the Box Office Julia Garner Wins Third Emmy for Final Season of 'Ozark' The men confident, but entrenched in delusions of grandeur. The women of these stories are generally presented as lonely, awkward, and desperate to please. The audience is enthralled by seeing how much money can buy and how insular that world is. “ Inventing Anna,” Netflix’s buzzy retelling of the Anna Delvey story, sees leading lady Julia Garner wrap herself and her friends in expensive vacations and other trappings of sophistication. “ WeCrashed” follows Adam and Rebekah Neumann (Jared Leto and Anne Hathaway, respectively), the founders of WeWork, as they blithely remain out of touch to things like equal pay and gender imbalances. These shows generally depict not just a con, but the entitlement and ridiculousness of the rich. This isn’t a particularly new trend the conman, of course, is as American as apple pie. But what is it about grifters that is currently attracting us? It’s a soup as complicated as the characters we’re seeing. From Netflix’s “Inventing Anna” and true-crime documentaries “ Bad Vegan” and “ The Tinder Swindler,” to Hulu’s “ The Dropout,” and Apple’s new series “ WeCrashed,” audiences are flush for choice when it comes to the art of being bad. Editor’s Note: This post has been updated on April 6, 2022.
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