In the American spelling bee competitions, for quite
sometime now, students of Indian origin have been winning laurels, beating
their American counterparts. However, the pain and hardwork that goes into
achieving that feat is anybody’s guess. Spelling bee is not just another
competition. Preparation for it needs a scientific approach, learning the root
of the words, their formation, understanding as to from which language they
have come to English and so on.
Director: Doug Atchison
Film clip
However, can this competition also be fun, if taken with the
right sportsmanship? Why not!
Here is a film Akheela
and the Bee. The protagonist in the film, a black girl Akheela Anderson
(Keika Palmer), wants to achieve something more than mere name and fame for
herself, by winning the spelling bee at the highest level. She is the daughter
of a widow, who struggles to make ends meet. The family has several internal
problems. However, for Akheela playing with spellings is a passion.
The film is somewhat like a sports thriller. Of course, here
the contenders do not play with balls and bats, but with spellings. And it is Akheela
who steals the show, teaching a lesson or two in sportsmanship to her main
opponent, a boy of Chinese origin.
The message that the film sends across is that it is
important to work hard with determination to reach the highest goal that you
have set for yourself. However, life is not only about that. There is more to
life than just achieving the only goal of your life. How true! To those scores
of young people who easily give up when they fail to achieve the aim of their
life, perhaps this film has a message. Yes, Akheela goes on to achieve what she
values most in life – a prize in spelling bee at the highest level. But, not at
the cost of cherishing the beauty of life, unlike the more ambitious parents who
make the life of their children miserable by setting unreasonable and unrealistic
goals. May Akheela’s tribe increase.
- Melwyn Pinto SJ
