DVD Spotlight on Documentaries Part 3: Spellbound

February 22, 2010

For anyone who knows me, you’re probably surprised that I haven’t seen this movie before now. Spelling is one of my “things,” in fact probably to an obsessive/compulsive degree. I don’t use spell check – I take proofreading as a personal challenge. I get mad when I miss a word that is misspelled, and I have to retype emails and text messages if I find I’ve misspelled something. It makes me sad when I see people misspell words, especially when the words are for publication or print or broadcast. I see it as either being lazy, being in a hurry, or just not caring, all of which are poor excuses for not spelling properly. Even if you are not a good speller, in today’s world with all the resources available (internet, spell check, dictionaries), there is hardly an excuse for misspellings.

I think I first got turned on to the Scripps-Howard National Spelling Bee in 1996 or 1997. I was working as a bartender in a restaurant in Cincinnati, and during the slow part of the lunch shift, we would all sit around and eat and watch the spelling bee. To me, it was almost as compelling as the Super Bowl or the World Series or March Madness (if you haven’t already, feel free to make fun of me now). With the single elimination format, though, the event provides as much tension and suspense as any sporting event. Add to that the fact that the players are just kids competing on national television, and you have the makings of a great event.

Spellbound takes the viewer behind the scenes with eight of the competitors, following the kids from qualification in regional events to the final rounds of the national championship. The film does a great job of establishing the identities and personalities and backgrounds of the children while it builds the tension for the main event – the Scripps-Howard National Spelling Bee. By the time the kids reach the televised rounds, the viewer has already picked his/her favorite(s), and you are crushed when one of the kids is eliminated. I remembered some of the tournament that was featured in the documentary (1999), and I was pretty sure that I knew who won – it didn’t stop me from cheering for some of my other favorites.

Another interesting aspect of this film is the family life of some of the children. Angela’s parents are Mexican immigrants who work on a farm to give their kids a better life, Ashley comes from a single parent family living in the projects of D.C. There is April, an overly shy girl who lacks self-confidence and whose mother is obsessed with collecting “bee” paraphernalia, and Emily, who comes from an upper middle-class family that seems well-adjusted if not a bit intellectually “snobbish.” Nupur and Neil come from Indian families, and two very different approaches in child-rearing are evident. Nupur’s parents want her to do well, but seem to put very little pressure on her. Neil’s father comes off as almost psychotically driven, making his son spell at least 4000 words a day and turning the kid into a nervous wreck by the time the competition arrives. Ted is large for his age, and seems scary smart. His family lives in a rural area of Missouri that has fallen on hard times, and he seems like an outcast because he doesn’t play sports. And of course there’s Harry, the little guy who acts like he just downed a dozen pixie stix and periodically starts talking like a robot.
I loved this movie. The filmmakers do a great job of staying objective – it’s impossible not to pick favorites, but I felt like I made the choices, I wasn’t steered into them. Most of the kids have a pretty realistic and healthy view towards what is nothing less than a nerve-racking and high-pressure competition. The film stresses effort and perseverance over achievement and success, and you just hope by the end that these kids make it through to the other side without having a nervous breakdown.

Overall rating: 5 cheeseburgers