I am one of those unsocial butterflies who likes nothing more than to stay in my little bubble hanging out with the hubby and our two kitties, and largely ignoring the wider world around me. I very rarely pay much attention to the goings on in the news which means that a lot of the world’s big events pass me by with barely a flutter. Honestly, when it comes to world I’m like Shaun heading to the shop for a cornetto whilst the rest of the world succumbs to the zombie apocalypse.

Although the college admissions scandal of 2019 fell completely under my radar I have, for the most part, been pretty impressed by a lot of Netflix’s documentary offerings over the last couple of years so as soon as I saw the trailer for Operations Varsity Blues it made it’s way straight onto our watchlist.

Now the idea of the wealthy elite throwing around a whole lot of money at America’s top tier colleges (or universities, if you’re from the UK) to get their kids in through the ‘back door’ is not exactly new – it’s something of a common staple in the world of cinema – but the concept of a slightly cheaper ‘side door’ was pretty much unknown until the scandal broke back in March of 2019.

Despite the staggering sums of money that are thrown around using the ‘back door’, there is still no assurance of acceptance but Rick Singer’s side door approach uses inflated test scores, phony athletic profiles and bribes to college coaches to guarantee an applicant’s place at the school, all for the cut price of only a couple of hundred thousand dollars. Lifestyles of the rich and famous, am I right?

What all this means, is that students who wouldn’t necessarily stand a chance of getting accepted on their own merit are still able to get ahead thanks to the bank of Mum and Dad.

Singer’s enterprise spanned more than two decades and pocketed him over $25 million but when the FBI caught wind of his scheme, he quickly rolled over and cooperated in their investigation, throwing fifty people under his bus including accomplices, corrupt coaches and the pushy parents. Although some prison sentences and hefty fines have already been handed out, many others indicted are still waiting to find out their fate…

Delivered largely in the form of a dramatised reenactment, interspersed with archival news footage and talking head interviews, Operation Varsity Blues is an interesting watch but doesn’t have the same impact as some of Netflix’s other documentaries. There is already something of a predisposed animosity towards those in the upper echelons of society and this film plays on that but personally, I feel as though more focus on the children would have improved the story. From those who were deserving but ultimately lost out on places at their dream schools, to those who unknowingly benefitted from the scam due to their parents lack of faith; it is the children’s stories that would have elevated the emotional impact of the film as a whole.

For other documentaries from Netflix, check out this post.