So if you hadn’t heard, back in 2019, huge news broke out about rich parents paying a man named Rick Singer to get their kids into these prestigious colleges. They would cheat their way into getting these kids in via sports team “recruitment” or cheating on SAT scores. Basically just exploiting the educational system any which way they can to sneak their kids into these schools. The media went into a frenzy since there was clearly people out there gaming the system, and lots of people were outraged. So, where does this documentary leave us? It shares with us the timeline of events that occurred and how Rick Singer came to rise under the guise of being a somewhat student life coach under his foundation that was basically a front for his illegal activities.
The documentary plays out like a movie. They have actors reenact full on real wiretapped conversations that took place between Rick and his clients aka the wealthy parents discussing ways they were going to sneak their into kids into a “side door” for these schools. I love documentaries, and I think the way this was set up to tell the story was very engaging! I was glued the entire time to what was happening because it flowed very well and really shows how things went down. What I especially loved about the doc, is that yes, they showed us how bad it was for the wealthy parents, Rick, and all the people who were involved that helped these kids cheat their way into the schools, BUT, it also highlighted just how corrupt these schools really are. They willingly accept over thousands and thousands of dollars in “donations” and never really ask where its coming from. I especially loved that by the end of the documentary, they make it well known, that despite having caught Rick Singer and all the culprits who were involved in this scandal, these schools continue to do this shady business behind closed doors.
If you’re thinking of checking out this documentary I highly recommend it!
Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandals will release globally on Netflix, March 17th, 2021.
Fandom Lair 