Photo courtesy of The Boston Globe

People across the United States were shocked to find that wealthy families and well-known celebrities, including Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, were paying large sums of money to cheat their children’s way into some of the top universities in the country. Rick Singer, the ringleader of this operation, was highly connected and able to admit students to these universities through agreements with their athletic departments and supplying fraudulent scores on standardized tests.

Netflix’s new documentary, “Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal,” dives deep into the controversy that appalled people across the country. Consisting of interviews with people involved in the scandal and reenactments of the actual conversations wire-tapped by the FBI from Singer’s phone calls, this film gives an inside look at what people were willing to do to get their children into high-ranking universities.

Singer had what he called a “side door” method for admitting kids to these schools. He said the front door was them applying on their own, the back door was bribing the school with a “donation” and the side door was essentially cheating. His methods included photoshopping images of the students playing certain niche sports that they did not actually play and paying a proctor of the ACT and SAT standardized tests to manipulate the answers of the students’ exams to produce a higher score. Many of these students were completely unaware of what was going on behind the scenes to get them into these universities.

This movie brings to light the unrealistic expectations placed upon high school students when applying to colleges. Every year, the pressure to be accepted to the “best” school increases, but universities’ acceptance rates drop. According to college admissions counselors featured in the documentary, Ivy League schools are not the end-all be-all. The college ranking system is based on prestige, not quality of education. Many factors go into prestige, including wealth, selectivity and the perception that they are “the best.” According to these counselors, there are so many universities that will supply just as good of an education and students should stop limiting their preferred schools.

In 2019, when these salacious events were released to the public, many people wondered why the celebrities would cheat when their children were already at an advantage with access to highly expensive schools, tutors and admissions counselors. This documentary plays with the concept that once someone is at the top, they can no longer settle for less. With the advantage of money and power, they can do whatever necessary to produce the results they desire. 

Everyone known to be involved in the scandal was tried, with many spending months in jail. However, the point is made that no good or change will come from these wealthy people being imprisoned for a mere few months. When released, they will return to their money and lifestyles. Thus, the immense wealth gap so prevalent in America remains and the wealthy will continue to cheat in a society that already favors them.

“In America, we love the wealthy and we hate the wealthy,” said Naomi Fry, a New Yorker staff writer featured in the documentary. “They disgust us and they fascinate us.”