General Information:
Director – Rachel Fleit
Where to Watch – Max
Synopsis – #BamaRush took over social media in August of 2021, but why did it become such a hit? And why do thousands of women go to the University of Alabama just to be in a sorority? And is Greek Life hiding secrets that need to be uncovered? We follow four young potential new members to find out during the 2022 recruitment season.
Review:
Even though I may not have been in the heart of #BamaRushTok when it was popular in August of 2021, I still heard about it. I occasionally came across some of the popular videos that were trending, but I did not think much of it. I knew that Greek Life culture at the big southern schools was intense and having gone through the process myself at a smaller southern school, I did not really give the hype of it a second thought. That was until I found out that HBO Max (now Max) was going to be doing a documentary on it. The online rumors that surrounded this was that they were going to be planting girls as Potential New Members (PMNs for short) and get all of the secrets that goes on behind recruitment. As much as I would love to see it from the inside of another school, I did not think this would be the case. But everyone else on the internet did, and you can tell it definitely impacted what the documentary wanted to do towards the end, but I think its message still came across.
One of the most interesting things about this documentary was that the director put herself into the picture. She was not just a figure asking questions in the background; there were parts when she was front and center talking about some of her experiences. Fleit has the condition alopecia, where your body attacks the hair follicles making it so you are not able to grow hair. As a woman, this can be an especially hard condition to have. A lot of the criticism that has come for the documentary makes the point that Fleit seems to insert herself more than is needed. I really liked this choice of filmmaking as it brought the more behind-the-scenes crew to the forefront and focus on why they wanted to make the documentary. Now, people have complained saying that Fleit’s alopecia as it was her personal story to tell and had no purpose in being in a documentary about sorority recruitment. I actually liked this aspect of the documentary, as the director is bringing in her personal story to go along with why some of the recruits go through sorority recruitment in the first place – a sense of belonging. Growing up as a young woman, you are always judged by the way you look before anything else. Not having hair is not normal for your average woman, so growing up with that kind of condition is not an easy task. The message that came across to me is that girls who are PMNs are trying to find their place on campus – it is a new school and they may know little to no one – so having that support system is crucial. When you feel accepted and a part of something, you have a better chance of thriving in your future. This is why I think Fleit decided to talk about her personal journey and struggle with her hair; she just wanted to find a place of acceptance just like PMNs.
The main issue that took me out of the documentary was that they tried to touch upon so many different topics that surround Alabama Greek Life that it felt like I was just reading a Cliff Notes version of the actual events. There is so much that goes behind the specific life of being in a fraternity and sorority at the University of Alabama specifically, and the documentary wants to talk about each of them. However, a lot of the interesting things about The Machine or how racism was heavily involved until recent years when they have attempted to desegregate their Greek Life. That was all of the information I was most looking forward to learning more about as it involves things that I have heard rumors about online. This is where I think the documentary would have benefited more from being a docuseries. We could have had the overall through line of wanting to be accepted still there but have each episode focus on a major topic. One could focus on The Machine and how they tried to run the entirety of the Student Government at Alabama, leading into potential political futures for the candidates they were campaigning. Another could focus on the racist history of Greek Life at Alabama while shining a bigger light on the historically Black fraternities and sororities on campus (called The Divine Nine). There could also be one focusing on the PNMs going through the training with the rush coordinators and how much time and effort goes into the rush process. But because it was restrained to an under two hour documentary, a lot of the interesting ideas were lost in the final product.
With a good message that could have been executed better, “Bama Rush” is an interesting look at how girls find comfort in sororities because they need to find a sense of belonging, but the documentary tries to also include University of Alabama-specific components that do not go anywhere. Overall, just pretty average with entertaining bits here and there.
