Documenting Operation Varsity Blues
PC: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
In 2019, an extensive college admissions scandal hit newspapers across the United States. Authorities arrested celebrities and other rich people who used their money to get their children into elite colleges. In March 2021, Netflix will release their documentary about the events that unfolded afterward.
The movie will show how Rick Singer got his clients’ children into elite schools across the country. Some methods Singer used include bribing admissions counselors, faking sports records and helping students cheat on admissions tests.
Chris Smith will be directing “Operation Varsity Blues”. Smith directed a documentary about the Fyre Festival scam in 2019. Then, Smith’s production “Tiger King” became an online sensation that symbolized the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.
Smith tells the story through narrative interviews as well as through recreated phone calls based on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) wiretapped recordings. The teaser trailer for the documentary featured one of these phone calls. In this recreated conversation, one parent tries to get assurance from Singer that they won’t get caught getting admission to a school by way of the water polo team.
It is likely that the movie will talk about Lori Laughlin and Felicity Huffman. The two women and their partners are the most famous people involved in the scandal. The media heavily covered both of their trials, making them a point of interest for people watching.
The reason that this documentary is important is because of the confusing context surrounding the college admissions scandal. For the average American, this secret side to college admissions is largely unknown. The film will make it easy to understand, allowing people to make their own opinions on what happened.
We may never know how impacted these crimes have affected the U.S. higher education system. However, “Operation Varsity Blues” will begin to inform ordinary people and will allow real change to happen.