Movies
“Bama Rush” Misunderstands Its Own Assignment
“It centers on women as they rush the sorority system at the University of Alabama in 2022.” Director: Rachel FleitRelease Date: May 23, 2023IMDB What a fucking HUGE swing and […]
“It centers on women as they rush the sorority system at the University of Alabama in 2022.”
Director: Rachel Fleit
Release Date: May 23, 2023
IMDB
What a fucking HUGE swing and a miss. Good lord. Fucking christ. Bama Rush (2023) is a downright terrible documentary that absolutely stream rolls its most interesting aspects and highlights a blatantly selfish point of view.
The catalyst for the film’s failure is its director Rachel Fleit. She deserves if not all the blame, at least 95% of it. The fact that the movie says it centers around women who are rushing at the University Of Alabama is an absolute lie. The final 30 minutes has nothing to do with sororities. The women who were recruited to be a part of this movie are just vessels for Fleit and her public therapy session.
Yes, I am skipping to the end because that is where all the conversation gravitates towards. Fleit has alopecia, and she no doubt has had a tough life adjusting to this medical condition. While I can empathize with Fleit’s struggles, this is not the movie I, or anyone, signed up to watch. We want to see the inside of the sorority houses. We want to get inside the interviews that happen in a rush. We want to get to know the leaders of these sororities and how they operate within “The Machine” or within the overall Greek Life culture.
We got absolutely none of that. Bama Rush feels like a movie that had GRAND expectations but could not live up to any of the expectations. It is like they set out to get all the good juicy juice but instead it was just pulpy pulp. There was nothing of substance come the end of Bama Rush. We are left with just one freshman to follow who gets into her sorority, and she is the fakest rookies of them all.
Bama Rush is really frustrating as all hell. The first half of the movie brings with it some interesting context about preparing for rush week. I didn’t know there were sorority prep courses. Hell, I didn’t even sign up for SAT prep classes when they were offered. There is only a slight seasoning of Fleit to begin the movie. It was just a quick double-take moment that jarred you but didn’t alienate you.
What was established at the onset of Bama Rush doesn’t matter at all come the end. Fleit talks in the movie how the rumors (somewhat true) affected the documentary. Reports of an HBO documentary infiltrated the greek life community and made things very difficult for the ladies who volunteered to be a part. This part is true. However, how did you not plan for that? How did you not plan out contingencies for when shit goes bad? You have to have a plan B and a plan C when you are trying to make an infiltrative documentary. I am of the belief that Fleit and the production team didn’t have a plan, and her own insertion into the movie was an attempt to wrap it all together.
In an article written by the New York Times, the director defends her choices saying
“In order for me to express the empathy that I had for what these young women were up against…I needed to stand shoulder to shoulder with them and say, ‘You know what? Me, too. This is what I did to belong.’”
I am here to say that you can feel empathy for these women, but you do not need to make that a stated fact in your documentary. You can’t portray your documentary to be one thing and then switch it all up.
I feel like I am lecturing someone who I don’t know, but I am cooking (in my head at least), so let me finish.
Let your story telling ability illuminate how you feel. Don’t push your initial documentary subjects off to the side. Bama Rush fails on so many fronts. It doesn’t pass the entertainment pass. It doesn’t pass any educational success. It doesn’t pass the recommendation test. It fails all the tests.
STANKO RATING: D-
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