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By
DEBORAH NICOL
For $10,000, spell
"pteroylglutamic." Not so hard with the word in
front of your face. Now do it from memory, in
front of a large audience, with innumerable
television cameras aimed at the sweat dripping
down your face, all at the wonderfully awkward age
of 14 (or younger). Such is the pressured life of
eight kids who have succeeded in achieving
entrance into the Scripps Howard National Spelling
Bee.
All things being equal between whiz kid junior
high brains, it is telling how much environment
and parents influence the success of a child. In
director Jeffrey Blitz' first documentary,
children from all over the U.S. are followed
during their studying regiments and daily home
lives leading up to this pressure cooker
tournament in D.C. The contestants' parents vary
from strict determination to have their child
succeed, to worrying that the stress may be too
great at such a young age. In the end, the
children create their own fates.
Three of the children are first generation
Americans, whose parents' greatest wish is for
them to succeed in this land of opportunity.
Angela's parents are Mexican immigrants who do not
speak English themselves, but show exceeding pride
in their daughter's accomplishments. Nupur's
parents immigrated from India, and wish for their
daughter to lead a balanced life through all of
her interests, not focusing solely on spelling.
Neil's parents are also Indian-American, and
believe that the hard work he pursues in achieving
this goal will teach him a valuable lesson about
life's trials and how to surpass them. His parents
have arranged multiple tutors to help him,
including a private spelling coach and linguists
with disparate perspectives to help him target
certain words, and the best computer programs
money can buy. In this latter case, the parents
appear more determined to leave no room for error
than does the shy, quiet boy seen diligently
performing speed drills.
Some children seem to be awkward outsiders in
schools where athletics is a more popular option,
and meticulous studying is questioned. Ted attends
a school of 40, with few equally intelligent kids
to befriend. April spends the summer drilling
herself for 8 or 9 hours a day, perhaps viewing
her possible success as an escape from the small
town her parents could never leave. Ashley lives
in the contest town of D.C., and though she does
what she can to study, her family allows nothing
short of first place as her eventual outcome. They
seem to view this as a given rather than an earned
reward, and have no sort of scheduled study plan,
leaving the sweet, introverted girl to her own
devices. Emily is a returning contender determined
to get farther than before, and Harry is a spastic
chatterbox, enthusiastic from start to finish.
Despite any influence from the parents, all of
these children are driven. They cannot all win,
and yet they all have worked so hard while also
doing well with their regular school courses. This
is a fascinating anthropological study of stress
at an age that is already terribly difficult both
socially and emotionally. To attend a national
event such as this (one of ESPN's highest rated)
on top of everything else, shows great fortitude.
The DVD extras include both a text description of
each student and an update of what they have
accomplished since the contest. It is almost
reassuring that some of the more nerve-wracked
kids appear to have continued to be successful and
well-balanced. Also included are three other
student stories, text about the filmmakers, and
computer options for a hangman game and
educational guide. |
