This Is Why Everyone Is So Disappointed In The ‘Bama Rush’ Documentary

Spurned on by leaked deranged sorority emails, lately sorority rush season has change into a TikTok phenomenon generally known as #rushtok. Followers of all ages and backgrounds tune in and make celebrities out of aspiring sorority sisters. Even if you happen to’ve by no means deliberately searched out RushTok, you’ll in all probability acknowledge the singsong delivery of outfit details within the “Sneakers: Goal, Costume: Shein, Jewellery: Kendra Scott” format that’s common amongst speeding college students.

‘Bama Rush is the extraordinarily aggressive sorority recruitment season on the College of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. The Max documentary Bama Rush (2023) was introduced as a juicy deep dive into this viral spectacle. Nonetheless, the extremely anticipated documentary was met with unfavorable evaluations by followers and critics, and has an incredibly low 1.6 rating on Letterboxd. So why did everybody hate Bama Rush?

There may be loads of attention-grabbing drama that the movie might have coated. The frenzy course of is suffering from controversy like these leaked emails, racist official and unofficial Greek practices (in 1986 a cross was burned on the garden of a Black sorority at Bama), and the acute price of Greek life ($4-5k per semester). The issue is, the movie selected to not dive into essentially the most attention-grabbing features of Bama Rush and as a substitute spent loads of time on director Rachel Fleit’s lifelong battle with alopecia and her private fascination with becoming in and sorority tradition. Whereas her story is attention-grabbing, it’s no Bama Rush.

Viewers felt just like the documentary was a bait and swap. We had been promised salacious sorority content material and obtained the director’s private story as a substitute. One viewer said, “Utilizing Alabama sorority rush as a Malicious program to speak about your battle with alopecia is definitely one of the vital weird directorial selections within the historical past of movie.” Whereas the movie does a terrific job of humanizing the 4 younger college students it featured, it simply lacks a voice of cause that critically talks about all the things sketchy about Greek life normally and Bama Rush particularly. Another succinct review says “It is a recruitment industrial for Alabama, a remedy session for a filmmaker with alopecia, a TikTok advert. This isn’t a superb or attention-grabbing documentary.”

One creepy side of the documentary was its protection of “The Machine”, a secret society linked to members of Bama frats and sororities that purportedly controls all the things on campus. Director Rachel Fleit allegedly obtained loss of life threats from the group. But it looks like we barely be taught something about this extraordinarily attention-grabbing and essential subject. On the finish of this 100 minute movie, not one of the most attention-grabbing matters within the documentary had been coated in any satisfying depth.