I have so much affection for this portrait of the young “scammer” Brandon. In those early days of the internet a lot of us were scamming, to various degrees.
There’s almost a defense posture to this denial of the interior world of a scammer or thief. I haven’t finished Inventing Anna, but I had similar disappointments around Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring. By denying any deeper motivation, The Bling Ring elides certain truths that are obvious when you’re on the outside of wealth looking in: how much waste and excess there is (which can be collected by the canny individual), and how much of wealth creation and maintenance and culture is itself a scam. And by ignoring these truths, it also erases the real reasons that people, rich or poor, scam each other: sometimes simply to be horrible, sure, but more often in a desperate attempt to achieve some fantasy version of their own life that they think will finally make them safe/okay/loved. That’s what you wrote about here, and it’s what matters, in a story about scammers. The rest is noise.
OMG THANK YOU. I have been scouring the internet and social looking for this commentary: “ But I am not certain the show actually…dwells in complexity so much as it muddles through actual character development.” I could spend all day unpacking Shondaland and my feelings about its expansion as opposed to evolution, and you nailed every bit of it here. Perfectly. Thank you.
Separately, I need to see Laverne Cox in more roles like this!!!! She is the only reason I stuck around past episode 2
(This insight is Tressie McMillan Cottom's who is going to write about scams in her NYT newsletter for most of the semester) If you think of for-profit schools or crypto in the frame of scams people are suspended between believing in the scam and not believing in the scam. So the level of social trust becomes very low.
I wanted to like the show. In not being entertaining, the show makes Netflix as more obviously a grifty scam: pay and get content to churn through with only some of it high quality.
I wanted to be entertained [or grifted] by the Shondaland Players into understanding a possibly complex woman. The martini glasses were filled too high. The aesthetics of journalism aren't the same as a good paperwork drama.
When I started this post, it did not feel promising-- I would not watch that show anyway. But I read you, always, and, as ever, I was completely caught up in your storytelling. Which was what you were doing in those sex-chats too. You are just so damn good at this--my gratitude that you do it for us and can now do it while being black.
I had no interest in this when it was journalism but am now becoming seriously alarmed that "Fleishman Is In Trouble" will come out very flat despite the wonderful cast.
Wow, thank you for sharing this. This is the first piece I've read by you, and I think you're one of my favorite writers. You have this almost soul nurturing style of writing, that makes me so deeply happy anytime I come across it. So, thank you. I know this comment is unrelated to the piece, but I wanted to share it anyway. <3
I have so much affection for this portrait of the young “scammer” Brandon. In those early days of the internet a lot of us were scamming, to various degrees.
There’s almost a defense posture to this denial of the interior world of a scammer or thief. I haven’t finished Inventing Anna, but I had similar disappointments around Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring. By denying any deeper motivation, The Bling Ring elides certain truths that are obvious when you’re on the outside of wealth looking in: how much waste and excess there is (which can be collected by the canny individual), and how much of wealth creation and maintenance and culture is itself a scam. And by ignoring these truths, it also erases the real reasons that people, rich or poor, scam each other: sometimes simply to be horrible, sure, but more often in a desperate attempt to achieve some fantasy version of their own life that they think will finally make them safe/okay/loved. That’s what you wrote about here, and it’s what matters, in a story about scammers. The rest is noise.
OMG THANK YOU. I have been scouring the internet and social looking for this commentary: “ But I am not certain the show actually…dwells in complexity so much as it muddles through actual character development.” I could spend all day unpacking Shondaland and my feelings about its expansion as opposed to evolution, and you nailed every bit of it here. Perfectly. Thank you.
Separately, I need to see Laverne Cox in more roles like this!!!! She is the only reason I stuck around past episode 2
Thanks for another great read. What a great story you tell, and how insightful it makes the review.
(This insight is Tressie McMillan Cottom's who is going to write about scams in her NYT newsletter for most of the semester) If you think of for-profit schools or crypto in the frame of scams people are suspended between believing in the scam and not believing in the scam. So the level of social trust becomes very low.
I keep re-reading this piece and love it harder every time.
I wanted to like the show. In not being entertaining, the show makes Netflix as more obviously a grifty scam: pay and get content to churn through with only some of it high quality.
I wanted to be entertained [or grifted] by the Shondaland Players into understanding a possibly complex woman. The martini glasses were filled too high. The aesthetics of journalism aren't the same as a good paperwork drama.
oh how i miss the aol chatrooms!!!
When I started this post, it did not feel promising-- I would not watch that show anyway. But I read you, always, and, as ever, I was completely caught up in your storytelling. Which was what you were doing in those sex-chats too. You are just so damn good at this--my gratitude that you do it for us and can now do it while being black.
I'll always remember the turkeys. Thank you, and I'm sorry.
I had no interest in this when it was journalism but am now becoming seriously alarmed that "Fleishman Is In Trouble" will come out very flat despite the wonderful cast.
breathtaking criticism and stunning personal reflection. dissembling is a sport we all take part in though not everyone is willing to share..
Beautiful
Omg Brandon, were you on the Virtual Hogwarts message boards from around 2003-2007??
Wow, thank you for sharing this. This is the first piece I've read by you, and I think you're one of my favorite writers. You have this almost soul nurturing style of writing, that makes me so deeply happy anytime I come across it. So, thank you. I know this comment is unrelated to the piece, but I wanted to share it anyway. <3