History Film / BamaRush

* NeverTrustATrailer: The trailers for Bama Rush made it seem like the documentary would be an absolute take down of Sorority Life and exposé of the controversial rush process. One girl in the trailer even dramatically says "This could be the end of Greek Life as we know it." In reality, while there is some discussion on the complexities and faults of Greek life, there certainly isn't any thing here that we don't already know. The rush process isn't even shown. Oh and did we mention the director grew up with alopecia?

* {{Squee}}: A sorority girl staple. One interviewee claims that on bid day the screaming was so loud the ground began to shake.

* DeathByOriginStory: Holliday and Makayla’s fathers body passed away when they were young.

* DeathByOriginStory: Makayla explains that her father passed away when she was in middle school.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Holliday is introduced via B-Roll of her apologizing to a friend for her behavior the night before then bragging about doing shots with “this DILF” establishing her as our resident HardDrinkingPartyGirl.

* GovernmentConspiracy: More accurately a student government conspiracy. It’s explained that within Greek life at Bama, there exists a secret society called Theta Nu Epsilon, also known as The Machine. The group apparently has wide influence in student affairs and are widely respected and feared by the rest of the campus.

** After news of the Bama Rush documentary being filmed gets out to the school and causes a mass controversy, Shelby opts out of being interviewed for the remained of filming for fear it would hurt her chances of being accepted into the house of her choice.

** After new of the Bama Rush documentary being filmed gets out to the school and causes a mass controversy, Shelby opts out of being interviewed for the remained of filming for fear it would hurt her chances of being accepted into the house of her choice.

* SouthernBelle: Many consider sorority life at Alabama to be a modern performance of this trope.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Holliday is introduced via B-Roll of her apologizing to a friend for her behavior the night before then bragging about doing shots with “this DILF.”

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* GovernmentConspiracy: More accurately a student government conspiracy. It’s explained that within Greek life at Bama, there exists a secret society called Theta Nu Epsilon, also known as The Machine. The group apparently has wide influence in student affairs and are widely respected and feared by the rest of the campus.

* AuthorAppeal: The director, Rachel Fleit, goes so far as to appear on camera and explain that she feels a deep connection with the subjects of the documentary as they remind her of her experiences of being ostracized due to her alopecia.

* BaitAndSwitch: “We lost Shelby.” Rachel Fleit’s somber delivery, the dramatic editing, and the droning music all seem to imply that Shelby has died. It’s then explained that she simply dropped out of filming the documentary

''Bama Rush'' is a documentary produced for HBO Max which recounts the experiences of four college girls going through the controversial sorority rush process at the University of Alabama. The documentary also explains some of the inner workings of Greek life on campus including its history of racial segregation, the extensive list of rules and standards set in place by sororities, and the mysterious “Machine.”

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