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...‘Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal’ on Netflix, a Documentary Indictment of American Higher Ed

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"Identity politics isn’t hurting liberalism. It’s saving it.
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What these critics lambaste as an attack on liberalism is actually its best form: the logical extension of liberalism’s core commitment to social equality and democracy, adapted to address modern sources of inequality. A liberalism that rejects identity politics is a liberalism for the powerful, one that relegates the interests of marginalized groups to second-class status.
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This is an important start, Young argues, but not nearly enough. The push for formally equal treatment can’t eliminate all sources of structural inequality; in fact, it can serve to mask and even deepen them. Judging a poor black kid and a rich white one by the same allegedly meritocratic college admissions standards, for example, will likely lead to the rich white one’s admission — perpetuating a punishing form of inequality that started at birth."
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By John Serba @johnserba
Mar 17, 2021 at 4:00pm

In America we love the wealthy and we hate the wealthy.
Operation Varsity Blues The College Admissions Scandal Official Trailer Netflix 2:40

[A different video insert]

'Operation Varsity Blues': Netflix’s College Admissions Scandal Doc Shifts Blame Away From Parents

Netflix documentary-drama Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal wants us to know who Rick Singer is. He’s the guy behind the blockbuster scam where Felicity Huffman, Lori Loughlin, and many heavily moneyed CEOs bribed universities to get their kids in the door — and did some time in the slammer for it. It’s a juicy story, and the film leans heavily on reenactments in which Matthew Modine plays Singer, an interesting choice for many reasons. However, the more notable, but less recognizable name behind the movie is Chris Smith, the documentary producer/director behind Netflix hits Tiger King and Fyre (and whose career launched auspiciously with 1999’s American Movie). If anyone can go beyond the headlines of this real-life saga and present it to us in an entertaining fashion, it’s probably him.

The Gist: Everyone knows the “front door” way to get into a university — study hard, get good grades, participate in extracurriculars, ace the standardized tests. You probably also know the “back door” method — have rich parents who can grease the wheels by writing a seven-or-eight-figure check to the school as a “donation.” Rick Singer wasn’t really interested in the former, and the latter, he was quick to inform families with yachts and Benzes, offers no guarantee. He could guarantee admission, and it would cost even less. It was the “side door” method, where he’d hand a modest bribe to a sports coach or athletic director and get the kid in the school as an athlete in a smaller sport. The kid didn’t have to be at all athletic; Singer would doctor photos to make them look like coxswains and sailors. And it’d ONLY cost the family a few hundred thousand bucks.

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Memorable Dialogue: A fascinating observation by test prep expert Akil Bello: “When you look at it in light of the scandal, you have predominantly rich families who (already) had every advantage… and yet they still cheated.”

https://decider.com/2021/03/17/college-admissions-scandal-netflix-review/

Where is Singer now?

Netflix's Operation Varsity Blues Focuses On Rick Singer, the College Admissions Scandal Mastermind

The documentary shows how a college counselor orchestrated the largest admissions scam in history.

By Lauren Kranc
Mar 17, 2021

In total, 50 people—33 wealthy and influential parents, two SAT and ACT administrators, one exam proctor, nine college athletics coaches, and one college administrator—were charged in “Operation Varsity Blues,” the 2019 college admission scandal. The years-long fraud and the largest college admissions scandal ever prosecuted made splashy headlines—largely about actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman’s arrests and convictions. But Netflix’s new documentary film Operation Varsity Blues, by Fyre director Chris Smith, refocuses the attention onto William “Rick” Singer—the college admissions counselor and confessed criminal mastermind behind the entire scheme. While many of the parents and college employees indicted in the scandal have been charged and sentenced, Singer, who pled guilty to all charges brought against him, is yet to be sentenced.

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The trials and sentencing proceedings in this sprawling case are ongoing, and Singer's case status simply states that “there is no sentencing hearing scheduled at this time.” According to CNN, he faces a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $1.25 million fine.
https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/tv/a35842833/operation-varsity-blues-netflix-true-story-where-is-rick-singer-today/