OPERATION VARSITY BLUES & BRIDGERTON

“Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal” gives new insight into famous scandal

BY EMILY HELMUTH co-editor-in-chief

The college admissions world was rocked two years ago when an investigation that involved several wealthy Americans got their under qualified children admitted into top universities became public. The FBI investigation, code named Operation Varsity Blues, made national news as it involved several notable celebrities such as Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman.

Netflix’s recently released documentary, “Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal,” divulges into this enticing scandal. It centers around the ringleader of the entire operation: college counselor Rick Singer.

The film reenacts several phone calls and conversations used as evidence in the case and shows viewers just how Singer created his “side door” into these notoriously exclusive universities, such as Stanford and USC.

Singer’s career began in the late 90s, as while working as a college counselor he used methods such as over exaggerating details in college essays and lying about race on applications to further his clients’ chances of getting into these schools.

He evolved his deceptions into a self made approach that he called the “side door.” This approach involved his clients paying millions of dollars for Singer to help get their kids into schools. Singer would manipulate these kids’ way into schools by presenting them as recruited athletes for less popular sports, as he had connections and deals with many coaches of these sports. Oftentimes he would compensate these coaches to “recruit” his clients.

As the film continues, the immortality of these actions by Singer, the parents and the universities involved becomes increasingly obvious and is painful to watch.

It is made clear multiple times that the parents and the universities involved know that their actions are wrong, as many of Singer’s clients go through extensive efforts to ensure their kids do not find out about their meddling.

Besides the phone calls and reenactments, clips of real life high school and college students, including CPHS’ own senior Anne Gregg, are incorporated into the documentary as well. These clips are well placed and do an excellent job of capturing the emotion, hard work and dedication students put in when it comes to college admissions.

This film is very eye opening for many reasons. At the end, it reveals what legal punishment these families and universities faced, and, needless to say, I do not feel it is fairly distributed. In my eyes, it seems as if many of the wealthy people involved in the scandal only got a small slap on the wrist when it comes to being punished for their wrongdoing, especially in comparison to other lesser involved parties.

Another take that I have from this film is that the college admissions process keeps elitism alive in society. This system is the perfect example of the wealthy throwing money at a problem instead of working to solve the problem.

As someone who worked hard to get into my first choice university, the fact that people like Olivia Jade, Lori Loughlin’s daughter, who expressed little to no interest in furthering her education, were accepted over students who worked hard to achieve the test scores, grades and extracurricular success needed to get into prestige universities; it is frankly frustrating, and it delegitimizes the entire admissions processes at these universities.

The documentary definitely achieved its goal: it got people talking. Hopefully, the conversations started by this documentary will revive the frustration felt by people when this scandal first came out, which will result in real life action being taken by evening out the college admissions playing field.

The wealthy, legacies and athletes, such as the ones created by Singer, should no longer be given this unfair advantage for college admissions.

“Bridgerton” keeps viewers entertained with multiple story lines and colorful characters

BY ABBY GODSEN assistant editor

“Bridgerton” has brought life back into the world of period dramas. This Netflix original series is set in Regency era London during the extremely competitive debut season. “Bridgerton” is characterized by lust, betrayal and mystery in a way that gets you sucked in immediately and searching for more.

The first season of the show is based on “The Duke and I,” the first book of the “Bridgerton” series by Julia Quinn. I have personally never read the books but I thoroughly enjoyed this series. I loved the emotional development between Daphne Bridgerton and Simon Bassett, the Duke of Hastings. The fact that their relationship has flaws is what makes them so likable and more human rather than just characters on a screen.

The couple originally creates a deal to appear as though they were courting so that Daphne would have suitors lining up for her and Simon would be able to evade the relentless mothers looking for eligible young men to court their daughters.

Simon does not desire marriage or children, with his reasons being a mystery to the characters and the viewers at first. This is something the couple must work through, as Daphne wants nothing more than marriage and children. You can truly see how the emotions between the two begin to develop and, despite never intending it, they truly do love each other, which is really sweet and makes the bumps in their relationship much more impactful.

The secondary storylines portrayed in this series are just as gripping as the storyline with Daphne and Simon. The oldest Bridgerton son, Anthony, must quell with the responsibilities of being the head of the household after their father passed away while also being romantically involved with Sienna Rosso, an opera singer, who is disapproved of by the Bridgerton family for her lower class. The couple has an on-again-off-again relationship that leaves you rooting for the unlikely couple, who are faced with a difficult decision at the end of the season.

There are also more secondary storylines involving Daphne’s two other older brothers, Colin and Benedict, which are unique in their own right as they too deal with their own version of high society London and its trials and tribulations.

The neighbors of the Bridgertons, the Featheringtons, become a crucial part of the story. The Featheringtons take in Marina Thompson, who is a distant cousin of theirs.

Immediately after Marina’s late arrival, she becomes intense competition for Daphne who was proclaimed the “diamond of the season” by the Queen herself. Unbeknown to everyone outside of the Featherington home, Marina has a dark secret that could ruin her if exposed.

The second eldest Bridgerton sister, Eloise, is a constant force throughout the entire series. Unlike Daphne, marriage is not a priority for her and she struggles with not wanting to be “diamond of the season” but she has no way to get out of the constraints of the Regency era in London. In this situation, she looks for ways around this. Eloise begins to idolize Lady Whistledown, an anonymous gossip writer who is unmarried and lives a free, independent lifestyle.

Eloise becomes obsessed with finding the true identity of Lady Whistledown, and, throughout the season, she tries to investigate this mystery with her best friend Penelope Featherington, who is very disinterested. I love how it shows there were people who didn’t fit the social norm, even in the seemingly picturesque Regency era.

Lady Whistledown has to be my favorite component of the whole series. Her identity is not revealed until the end of the last episode, but, like Eloise Bridgerton and the Queen, I was constantly trying to puzzle out who could hear about all the latest gossip in London and yet be able to hide in plain sight.

When Lady Whistledown’s identity was finally revealed I was shocked, as the answer was right in front of my face the whole time.

There are a lot of turning cogs that go into the “Bridgerton” series, making this show irresistible. There is truly a storyline for everyone whether you like enemies to lovers, hopeless romance, the fight for independence from societal norms or a tragic backstory. The costuming for it is well matched to the types of characters portrayed in the drama.

The historical accuracy of the clothing is not the most important, as none of the characters besides the most of the royals existed in real life, but it is nice to see some of the more intricate Regency era fashion staples, such as the empress cut dresses.

Overall, I really enjoyed the series. for this series in particular, I enjoyed the secondary storylines more than the main storyline between Daphne and Simon. That isn’t to say I did not like them as characters, because I do, but there is something about the unconventional that always keeps me entertained.