Interesting documentary
Going to school England, it was traditionally un-hip to flaunt prodigious academic ability. Most geniuses were snotty-nosed weaklings with thick spectacles and tank-tops who clung tightly to the dinner-lady's hand at break time and were habitually flushed and wedgied by the bigger, sportier and generally stupider pupils. Falling neatly between these two stereotypes, I had to be careful to keep my head down I did not want to provoke the leers and violence of the bullies but was equally not brave or rebellious enough to flaunt school rules. The result? I went through my school career steadfastly under-achieving. Sure, I could spell 'accommodation' I just didn't want to have my head kicked in to prove it.Things are very different in America. The jocks do not have a monopoly on school support and peer adulation. Talent in any field is nurtured, encouraged and celebrated. Success is demanded. Failure is not an option. In England, a child caught belching the national anthem in front of his snickering classmates would be given a detention; in the US, he would be whisked off to Washington in a stretch limo for the national play-offs with the final screened live on ESPN.
Spellbound follows eight regional Spelling Bee winners as they prepare for and compete in the National finals. Normally I am a sucker for quirky off-beat tales of small-town America and its rich, lurid tapestry: Mullets, big moustaches and ten-gallon hats; pristine lawns, white picket fences and trailer parks Hicksville, USA makes for great TV but this documentary is a bit more subtle than that. It is certainly a promising concept: a kind of cross between Best in Show and an episode of the Simpsons, but the pace is achingly slow and once you've seen one kid with his head in a book, you've seen them all.
That is my biggest grievance: the eight children they selected (one complete fruitcake aside) are far too normal. Freakishly gifted, yes, slightly geeky, certainly, but otherwise regular kids. The parents are marginally more entertaining. Whilst on camera they are nice as pie trying to present a loving, supportive image, gently coaxing and encouraging, buying dictionaries, that kind of thing. Off camera I reckon they are perpetually hovering over their terrified children with a slipper.
The Indian lad's dad takes a particularly hard-line on revision: eight hours a day on top of school work. His theory is that if his son memorises how to spell every word ever uttered, he can't lose. Nice idea, but in the cauldron of competition, one slip is fatal. It should also be noted that the words they have to spell are pretty taxing simply remembering how many s's there are in 'necessary' probably won't cut it. The scenes from the competition itself are where the film is at its strongest these trembling youngsters stuttering in front of a hushed auditorium, the tension etched on the faces of their loved ones in the audience.
The poor Indian boy has more even than the expectancy of a competitive father weighing on his shoulders it emerges that a wealthy uncle back home has promised to donate a large sum to charity if he wins. Indeed, the film makes an interesting point about this: Many of the contestants come from immigrant families. Their dedication and commitment to such an eccentric and frankly silly competition is proof of their desire to integrate into American life. It was touching to see how communities rallied and thronged behind their participants. What is more, the celebrations at the end are fervent and genuine. The winners get to sample the hysteria and reverence traditionally reserved for quarterbacks and pitchers if only for a moment. Still, they should enjoy it while it lasts. As one former spelling champ lamented: 'I don't think it really helped me, in my love live; my nascent love life. I think that having won something like that could be regarded as being a significant liability.'
7/10
score /10
tjcclarke 14 May 2004
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw0895845/35631
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