Media attraction to NY high society misguided

By Rong Xiaoqing Source:Global Times Published: 2019/5/23 18:38:40


Illustration: Liu Rui/GT




One would think that between the impeach-Trump-or-not argument, the increasing risks of war between the US and Iran, the intensive trade conflict between China and the US and other nerve-racking major news in the world, the media would have little time for a 28-year-old woman named Anna who is known for nothing more than being vain and deceitful. That assumption is wrong.

And judging by the headlines Anna stole in the past two months, and the obsession the media has with her outfits every time she appears in public, one would think she is a princess or at least some sort of celebrity. That assumption is also wrong.

Anna Sorokin is a con artist. The Russia-born working class woman packaged herself as the heiress of a wealthy German family, and identified as Anna Delvey in New York, living in boutique hotels, dining in high-end restaurants, and befriending rich people. The bills for her luxury lifestyle were either paid for by her duped rich friends who thought she'd pay them back or were just left delinquent.

But even as a fraudster, Anna is not that impressive. The money she managed to bilk was a mere $275,000 altogether, according to the estimation of the prosecutors. The sentence she received in early May, after a trial lasting about a month, was four to 12 years.

But she did live like a diva even in jail. Every now and then, she'd throw a tantrum and refuse to appear in court because the clothes her lawyer prepared for her didn't fit her fashion taste. The media not only seemed to have been tolerant but also fascinated by this and covered her behavior with great interest and in great detail.

The saga may sound unbelievable in any other place. But in New York, it is not a surprise at all. This may be the city that, a few years ago, briefly played the role of the makeshift headquarters of the Occupy Wall Street movement that sought to transform the outrageous income disparity in this country.

But most people coming to this city from anywhere in the US or the rest of the world dream of not occupying Wall Street but landing on it. The desire for and admiration of wealth does tend to beautify and romanticize people who are close to money and status and creates an insatiable appetite for the daily trivia of high society, be it real or fictional, be it law abiding or illicit.

To be honest, the worship has incubated many great literature works from The Great Gatsby to Breakfast at Tiffany's. Indeed, American novelist Truman Capote might be the ultra master of exploiting the rich and prominent community. When he turned the gossip he heard from his cafe society friends into the sensational story "La Côte Basque 1965" in Esquire in November 1965, the whole high-end of New York vied to figure out who were the thinly veiled original models of the characters who committed all sorts of sins from extramarital relationships to murder.

The same shortcut to the center of attention is still not outdated these days. In 2015, when Wendy Martin, a college teacher, published Primates of Park Avenue under the pen name Wednesday Martin, the memoir based on her experience of being a mom on the posh Upper East Side of Manhattan became an instant bestseller.

The voyeuristic details of the $25,000 to $35,000 a year day care, the $400 an hour behavior tutor who helps toddlers pass the interview for such day care, the $4,000 a year Pilates class for the well-groomed moms, their must-have $150,000 limited edition Birkin bags and their worries about their husbands' infidelity were so intriguing that even the ensuing questions of whether all the details are true seemed to have only further boosted its market.

Even criminals who had the audacity to climb high on the totem of wealth often got a salute. The Wolf of Wall Street, the five Oscar nominated and Golden Globe winning film was adapted from a memoir of Jordan Belfort, who spent 22 months in prison for a penny stock scam. The Emmy and Golden Globe winning The Sopranos, well, that was based on the real mafias living in New Jersey. Nevertheless, the protagonists in these shows were all depicted more heroic than guilty.

Anna has the same plan. Some media coverage of her story has been sold to producers to make a TV series for Netflix. At least one person who was cheated by her will tell the story in a book. And she herself plans to write two books in prison. Everyone gets their share of fame and royalty.

After Anna's sentence, her lawyer Todd Spodek told The New York Times, "I'm confident that this won't be the last time we hear from Anna."

No, it won't, because such a story has been going on without an intermission on the stage of New York, and the curtain will never drop.


The author is a New York-based journalist and Alicia Patterson fellow. rong_xiaoqing@hotmail.com

Posted in: VIEWPOINT

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