The College Admissions Scandal, Mills, and Power

The trailer image for the Netflix documentary, Operation Varsity Blues, features a background of scattered test sheets and hundred dollar bills. The documentary details how extremely rich parents ensured that their children entered highly prestigious schools through monetary schemes. The background establishes that without the money their children would not have been able to succeed at these tests. The second image is of two of the most famous people included in this scandal, Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, they are positioned behind a graduation cap made out of money. By placing them in this position, it represents how their money was able to buy their children a degree. Degrees are typically thought of as something that is earned through hard work and dedication, yet in this image it is illustrated that without the money their children are unlikely to have this symbolic article of clothing from a prestigious university. 

Mills refers to the interlocking nature of institutions, claiming that when the economic domain, the military domain, and the governmental domain interlock, there is a group known as  the “power elite.” Within the group of the “power elite” these people have access to more through a series of connections. Without these connections the elite would not have the power that they hold. As Mills stated, status in America is not based on heredity as seen in the monarchs of Europe, instead status exists based on the seat a person fills, without the role they are no longer considered to be something special. Therefore, these parents are willing to invest heavily into what they believe guarantees their children access to these status holding positions. By calling this a scandal, it is established that the lay citizen is unaware of these institutions of power which reproduce themselves. 

Furthermore, the “college admissions scandal” relates to the concept of conspiracy theories which is detailed in Mills' work. Mills differentiates himself from conspiracy theorists by noting that the power that the elite hold and what they do with it are not necessarily purposeful. Rather, they exist within this sphere that is inevitably intertwined in a capitalistic society. In this example, it can be challenging to distinguish between conspiracy and these inevitable powerful relationships, especially with the title of a documentary calling it a scandal. Rather than revealing a conspiracy, the scandal instead acts as a reminder that the power elite have the connections and money which give them access through doors that the average citizen is unable to grasp.