Lost opportunity

 I finally watched Inventing Anna. Throughout the series the journalist kept looking for the story. Even after printing her article she felt she hadn’t gotten it.

For different people, Anna means something different. To me Anna is the story of lost opportunity and potential. Based on everything the series portrays, it feels like this was a woman with the potential to be an influential business magnate. What she needed was a better moral compass and the right guidance - someone who could keep her excesses in check or help her keep them in check while helping her hone her business acumen. At the root of the issue, all businesses start as ideas and a lot of people who start from nothing have to figure out a way to make them work. Whether it is by taking numerous careful and smaller risks or by taking fewer but bigger leaps of faith or a combination of both, they have to find a path where none exist. Based on what the series portrays, Anna was good at finding the path. She took big bold steps and got things done. She had vision and an instinctive understanding of the subject matter. Her smarts and photographic memory were awesome perks as was her ability to deal with people. Given the right guidance and a better moral compass in her life she would have been ruthless. She would have made a lot of money and not just for herself. And maybe that’s why she drew so many people in. They saw her potential and didn’t realize that she didn’t have the skills necessary to live within the moral framework. And she didn’t come from a business background or wealth. Honestly if she hadn’t gone to the Morocco trip and worked hard on her business, she would have made something of herself… hustling is not always wrong if done for the right reasons. Although I am sure some folks will argue that she never had the intention of ever launching her business and that she was going to mooch off that money. We will never know. 

Note that my opinion is based purely on what the Netflix series portrays. I did not do any more research before I wrote this. So the facts may be different. The show said that this was a real story except for the parts that were totally made up. And the first question I had was… what parts are made up? I haven’t found out yet. But once I do, I may add or update to this post.

My desire to write this post in the past tense was intentional. Because now that the world has wised up to Anna, I am not sure she will have the same leverage she had before - her anonymity. However I am curious to see if she will get creative and find a new path.