Speakin’ Spell
If you’re reading this paper, chances are you’re more literate than the average American. But what if you were confronted with something like cephalalgia? Do you know off the top of your head whether distractable or distractible is correct?
Now imagine you’re not yet a teenager and this knowledge is expected of you. Such is the lot of the competitors in Spellbound, an Oscar-nominated documentary that plays like a sports movie but centers on the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee, in which children from schools around America battle for bragging rights over the ability to spell out loud. Consider it an athletic contest of the mind. ESPN does; the sports network regularly televises the finals.
The movie opens with a particularly theatrical youngster contorting his face in all manner of positions as he attempts to spell what sounds like the simple word bands. We laugh at this apparent choke, only to find out that the word in question is banns, a term likely familiar only to frequent churchgoers.
After that, we meet eight local champions, then follow them to the finals. In Texas, there’s Angela, daughter of a Mexican-immigrant cowhand who speaks no English. One of her father’s senile employers opines that he always knew Mexicans weren’t all lazy: “There’s a lot of good ones mixed up in ’em.” Nupur, who made the third round the previous year, is an Indian-American girl whose small town is so proud of her that the local Hooters has put up a “Congradlations” sign on its marquee. Neil, an Indian-American from San Clemente, California, prepares most methodically: His father analyzes previous bees for patterns and hires foreign-language tutors to teach him root patterns that have found their way into English.
Ted lives in a trailer, and his family keeps a cage full of peacocks in the backyard. Ashley is from the inner city in Washington, D.C. April is distinguished primarily by her cornball mom, who gets way too much enjoyment from puns involving the word bee. Emily enjoys spelling because it’s the one field in which she gets to be the best. Harry, the aforementioned banns kid, is the most stereotypically nerdy of the bunch.
The contestants get no second chances; once a letter is uttered, it cannot be taken back. The suspense borders on sadistic — a bell is rung when a contestant is dismissed, but a correct spelling is greeted only by a pregnant pause. Regis Philbin and Anne Robinson look like benevolent therapists compared to “official word pronouncer” Alex Cameron, a man who looks like a cross between radio commentator Dennis Prager and a bullfrog.
Reservations about the kids or the subject matter are quickly washed away. You may not believe how tense a spelling competition can be to watch. If you were ever academically inclined during your school days, or even if you weren’t and wondered how hard being a smart kid might be apart from all the beatings, you owe it to yourself to get Spellbound.
