"Bama Rush" Aimed To Expose The Inner Workings Of Greek Life At The University Of Alabama. Here's Everything It Did And Didn't Tell Us.
Content warning: This story discusses incidents of sexual assault and acts of racism.
By now, you've probably heard about the infamous Bama Rush documentary, which premiered on MAX on May 23.
Rachel Fleit's documentary focuses on a handful of young women as they prepare to rush Alabama sororities in 2022. The film was highly anticipated; once it came out, it was met with mixed reviews.
Give it to me NOW https://t.co/no06Nnp807
— Rose Dommu (@rosedommu) May 5, 2023
Some reviewers really liked it: One Letterboxd user described it as "a compelling study of why young women gravitate toward sororities...and what it means to figure out who you are while you're trying to conform."
Others disagree. "The #bamarush doc was unfocused and overhyped. They really glossed over the history, racism, SA. It didn't reveal or really expand on much," wrote one Twitter user.
The #BamaRush director had the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist that outed the Machine, a founding member of Bama AKA who saw a cross burning outside her sorority house, and a PNM who had been roofied 3 times, but made the whole thing about her alopecia..?!
— FrankOceansZamboni (@lalalalala493) May 24, 2023
The film also drew some criticism for the director's discussion of her own alopecia. "I feel like I rushed, because I have alopecia," she says, pointing out that she and the women in sororities face the same dehumanizing beauty standards. Many people just thought that this took up too much of the documentary.
Bama Rush should have been about:Rush Rush consultants are a scam The two women roofied while filming Where all the money these sororities make goThe racism that the Divine 9 was subject to// how that affected their campus life The MachineInstead it was about:Alopecia
— alex (@alex_abads) May 28, 2023