Comedy
Dead Boy Detectives
Dead Boy Detectives targets teens in style and story. But it comes with very adult, problematic content.
Who is Anna Delvey? Or Sorokin, or whatever her name is? Is she a rich German heiress? Or is she a flat-broke wannabe socialite who also might be Russian?
The truth is nobody but Anna herself actually knows. And that’s what disgraced journalist Vivian Kent aims to find out.
Anna was arrested under charges of grand larceny, scamming some of the biggest hotels and financial institutions in the world. Tabloids have labeled her as a “dumb socialite.” But Vivian knows better.
Nobody swindles banks and hotels out of money unless they’re smart. And nobody fits into New York’s elite social class unless they somehow belong there.
Vivian wants to know who Anna really is and how she wound up in prison to begin with. The truth could save Anna from a life in prison. But more importantly, if the story is as big as Vivian suspects, it could restore her own reputation as well.
This limited Netflix series starts with the disclaimer that the entire story is completely true—except for the parts that are totally made up.
Not a great start, but I digress.
Shonda Rhimes (creator of such shows as Grey’s Anatomy and Scandal) created the series after New York Magazine published an article in May 2018 titled “Maybe She Had So Much Money She Just Lost Track of It.” That article serves as the basis for Inventing Anna, which “chronicles the unusual rise of Anna “Delvey” Sorokin.”
Language is the most obvious concern here. At an ultrasound, Vivian shouts the f-word about a dozen times in succession when she realizes that she may not have time to fix her broken career before her daughter is born.
But there’s also some sexual content to look out for. While critical body parts are hidden, characters remove clothes and have sex. Anna allegedly had sexual encounters with other women, and it’s strongly suggested that one of her friends is gay. Another friend is played by trans actor Laverne Cox (who we see in bed with male characters), and we see characters who display gender fluidity with their style choices.
Underneath all that is a story about money and what people are willing to do to get it. As Jessica Pressler put it in that New York article mentioned above: “Anna looked at the soul of New York and recognized that if you distract people with shiny objects, with large wads of cash, with the indicia of wealth, if you show them the money, they will be virtually unable to see anything else.”
Inventing Anna serves as a cautionary tale. But something tells me that most of us shouldn’t allow ourselves to be distracted by Shondaland’s shiny new show.
Vivian tries to convince Anna Sorokin to give her an exclusive interview to save her own career.
Married couples kiss. We hear about two women kissing. A man makes crude sexual comments about women. Another man crassly talks about the birth process. Some women wear cleavage-baring outfits. People talk about Anna’s sexual preferences. Vivian refuses to do a story about the #MeToo movement because she doesn’t want to traumatize the women involved for “clickbait.”
Anna says she is scared of prison and hints that she might harm herself. A woman threatens to smother someone.
People drink throughout. Someone talks about karma. A courtroom wall has a sign that says, “In God We Trust.” A woman says, “Not today, Satan.” People lie, bribe and manipulate. We hear about Anna’s actions that led her to being charged with grand larceny. Anna is rude to Vivian about being “poor” and asks whether she is pregnant or fat. Someone talks rudely about Melania Trump. A man says he could smell a woman after she used the restroom because there was no toilet paper.
We hear multiple uses of the f-word, as well as the s-word, “a–,” “a–hole,” “b–ch” and “h—.” God’s name is also abused. Someone makes a crude hand gesture. Two adults change their foul language around a child, saying “bull-shorts” and “flaking” in place of their corresponding profanities.
Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.
Dead Boy Detectives targets teens in style and story. But it comes with very adult, problematic content.
An elf mage contemplates on connection and regret as she watches her human friends grow old and pass away.
