I don’t think I’ve worried about spelling since third grade. Watching the documentary Spellbound can certainly change your perspective. The movie follows eight children preparing for, and competing in, the National Spelling Bee. I had heard that the finals of the Bee are covered live by ESPN, with very high ratings. This movie shows why. Kids and their parents are consumed by this competition, and it highlights the best and worst about academic achievement. Spelling is hardly the ticket to greatness, but it’s easy for everyone to imagine and understand, so the movie invites just about anyone to participate. If you watch the World Series or the Super Bowl, you don’t feel like you could be part of the action. Watching people spell words, you know you could do some of this, if not with the skill displayed at the national finals. Fun, fun movie… especially appealing for parents. Where’s the line between reinforcing education and pushing too hard? Most of these kids seem to dance on that line.
FYI, the winning word the year of this documentary was logorrhea.
Final note: I wonder whether the filmmakers followed more than these eight kids and just were fortunate to choose one of the winners, or whether all the filming was done after the event? It certainly seemed chronological, with various vignettes prior to the competition. But there are 249 finalists, so choosing the winner (even though she was a repeat finalist) seems fortunate.