The documentary Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal prompts a disturbing reflection on the ethical values of contemporary society. While Rick Singer's orchestrated fraud shocked the public due to the level of corruption involving the American elite, what should provoke greater outrage is how this scandal mirrors the normalization of dishonesty in everyday life. As one watches the documentary, it becomes evident that the real issue is not merely the illegality of the actions, but how willing we are to turn a blind eye to small ethical breaches when they serve our own interests.

 

This gradual acceptance of unethical behavior can be perfectly analyzed through Broken Windows Theory, which argues that small, unchecked infractions pave the way for larger crimes. What Singer did was simply maximize this logic by offering a “side door” to elite university admissions: a shortcut for the wealthy that, despite being illegal, became morally acceptable within their social circle. The documentary highlights this reality by showing wealthy parents paying millions to get their children into prestigious institutions like Stanford and Yale, many of them justifying these acts as merely “leveling the playing field” in an already corrupt system. However, by normalizing small frauds, we are allowing a meritocratic system to be torn apart in favor of unjust privileges.

 

This is where the philosophy of Plato's Ring of Gyges comes into play. In The Republic, Plato tells the story of Giges, a shepherd who finds a ring that grants him invisibility. Realizing the power, it gives him, Giges uses it to commit immoral acts, including seducing the queen, killing the king, and seizing the throne. Plato's point is to question whether people would act morally if they knew they could commit crimes without being caught or punished. This raises the question: what would happen if we knew we would never be discovered? The behavior of the parents involved in the scandal shows that, for many, the answer is clear. Knowing that they could hide their actions behind a façade of legality (and money), they opted for fraud. One of the most striking scenes in the documentary is the phone call between Singer and Felicity Huffman, where Singer reassures her that the manipulation of the SAT scores was so “subtle” that no one would notice. Huffman, like many others, clung to the idea of impunity, believing that her actions would never come to light. What is frightening about this behavior is how easily people who consider themselves "good" justify crimes when they believe there will be no consequences.

 

However, what the documentary exposes, but perhaps does not delve into deeply enough, is how this corruption goes far beyond Singer's scheme. College Admissions fraud is merely the tip of the iceberg in an educational system that has long served the wealthy. The concept of meritocracy is often distorted by those with more resources. For the elites, education has become just another commodity to be purchased, and the documentary reinforces this critique by showing parents who believed they were simply “leveling the playing field.” This field, however, has never been level. It was designed to benefit those with money and power, and Singer merely found a way to profit from this corrupt structure.

 

The core ethical issue lies in complacency. It is easy to blame Singer, and the parents involved, but what the documentary forces us to confront is how society is complicit in this type of behavior. After all, how many times do we turn a blind eye to small injustices that, cumulatively, erode the social fabric? How many of us, in our daily lives, justify “small acts” of dishonesty, believing they are harmless? The Broken Windows Theory teaches us that when we allow these small slip-ups to go unaddressed, we create space for greater crimes. This is precisely what happened in the admissions scandal: an already flawed system was exploited to the extreme because no one bothered to correct the “small deviations” that were already taking place within it. Operation Varsity Blues is not just a portrayal of a specific crime; it is an indictment of a society that allows dishonesty to thrive when success is at stake. The documentary compels us to reflect on the small ethical compromises we make daily and how they contribute to a broader system of corruption and privilege. If we continue to justify these acts as “necessary” or “normal,” we risk living in a world where integrity is sacrificed for convenience.

 

Bibliography

 

• Plato, The Republic. Translated by Benjamin Jowett.

 

• Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal. Directed by Chris
Smith. Netflix, 2021.

 

• Wilson, James Q., and George L. Kelling. “Broken Windows.” Atlantic
Monthly, March 1982.

 

• ARIELY, Dan. Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape our
Decisions. London: Harper-Collins Publishers, 2008. Chap. 11 – The Context
of our Character, Part I.