There's this really interesting documentary directed by Rachel Goslins called Bama Girl that's been making its way around the Indie film festival circuit. The film is about Jessica Thomas (pictured above), a student at the University of Alabama and president of the school's chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. Bama Girl documents her campaign journey to win the title of 2005 UA Homecoming Queen, an honor that's normally awarded to upper-class, white sorority girls, many of whom are members or chosen by members of "The Machine," a kind of superfraternity that's like UA's version of the Yale secret society Skull and Bones. The Machine is made up of roughly 27 fraternities and sororities on campus that pretty much dominate the student government, much like the members of Skull and Bones dominate the corporate and political worlds (I'm looking at you, Bush). There's this article from Esquire Magazine that talks all about the Machine. It's a little outdated (April 1992), but it takes a good look at race issues, "southern traditions" on the UA campus, and the often times corrupt greek system that tends to control college campuses across the nation. The documentary is making its Alabama debut at the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival in Birmingham on Sunday.
The festival opened tonight with Adventures of Power, which is directed by and stars Ari Gold (not to be confused with Vincent Chase's high strung, fast-talking, egomaniacal agent on Entourage - although I do believe the character was named after him) and Adrian Grenier (who plays Vincent Chase on Entourage) in a Napoleon Dynamite-esque comedy about a dude whose goal in life is to play air drums.
Also check out Ari and Adrian's band, The Honey Brothers. They're like a mix between Ween, Weezer, and Flight of the Conchords. My favorite song of theirs is "Some of Them Are Nice Days."
[Crimson White]
