Bama Rush

What was supposed to be a documentary about young women rushing sororities at the University of Alabama turns into a documentary about hair, and that’s not a bad thing. It’s incredible how important the hair color and the hair style matters to the pledges. Hair is so important to these women being accepted that the filmmaker herself, Rachel Fleit, can’t help but fold herself into the story. As a woman with alopecia, the importance of the hair catches her off-guard in a very personal way. The doc also touches on the special treatment and privilege that the Greeks seem to have during and after college, and the secretive nickname for that – “the machine”, which the interviewees aren’t allowed to talk about. Those of us who went to college and know a thing or two know that, yes there are people who get special treatment in this world, and it’s no coincidence that they care very much about their hair.