My Fav Movies? Let me spell it out for you

My go-to favorite movie is Kiki’s Delivery Service, but if you ask me further I’d also add the likes of Holes, Ponyo, Hercules, and Princess and the Frog. If you didn’t notice, yes, these are all children’s movies. I don’t know, even if I’m impressed by the cinematography or story of a movie meant for teens/adults, I rarely feel like it’s something more meaningful to me, which is what makes a movie a favorite to me. If I had to choose though, I’d say American Beauty and Cléo de 5 à 7. I also recently watched Frances Ha, which I could see becoming a favorite (I don‘t tend to call something a favorite after a single watch).

But ANYWAYS, the point of this post was to tell you about a film topic that I think will forever capture my attention and wonder: spelling bees. Just yesterday, I watched what I think is the third and last main movie out there about the fascinating americana tradition. In the order I saw them:

• We have the fictional movie starring the incredible Keke Palmer, Akeelah and the Bee (2006). I saw this probably in elementary school and I was so moved by it. My life wasn’t like Akeelah’s in many respects, but I felt drawn to her character and personality as a kinda nerdy but determined girl. She made spelling seem like a superpower, and her friends seemed like my kind of people. This movie also made me interested in word roots and etymology, which I still am to this day!

• This year, a new documentary about the Scripps National Spelling Bee was released by Netflix called Spelling the Dream. It focuses specifically on the rise of Indian Americans in the realm of spelling, and I think it gives super interesting insight about the cultural phenomenon. Spoiler: it's not some magic spelling gene they're born with. It’s absolutely Wild how the competition has gotten in recent years. A couple years ago, they had 8 co-champions?! And that’s no small feat considering they have to go through multiple rounds of everyone spelling perfectly. *update* I looked it up and they went through 20 rounds before declaring co-champions. If you were wondering, the winning words were: odylic, cernuous, palama, aiguillette, pendeloque, bougainvillea, erysipelas, and auslaut. The only one I know is bougainvillea and I could guess aiguillette I think but yeah, not so great odds. **update** I looked up aiguillette and I was wrong! If you ever watched Phineas and Ferb, that word is actually where aglet comes from o_o In French, aiguille is needle, so I guess it kinda makes sense.

co-champions 2019! The bee unfortunately this year had to be cancelled :/ One day I'd like to see it in person :)

• and lastly, there’s the OG documentary, Spellbound (2002). This was actually the first chronologically of the three, but I only was able to access it recently. From what I’ve read, this was the documentary that really put the American public onto the bee. That, and the public broadcasting of the tense final rounds on ESPN. I loved how this one was done. It followed 8 spellers headed the the national bee in DC, and it was so interesting to see all their backgrounds. Some kids had zero help from their parents while others were relentlessly coached and provided intensive lessons. On the side of production, it must have been quite a gamble to pick who to follow without knowing exactly if any of them would win. That’s 8 out of 250ish kids at the national bee!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0lMqo53kMM (the trailer)

To me, all these movies were very well done and something to me is just so magical about the topic. I don’t get into sports, but the competition here is something I can get behind. And it could also relate specifically to my academic competitiveness, not necessarily against other people but against the material itself. In one of these films (I believe it was Spelling the Dream?), they speak about how in these bees, the beauty is the kids aren’t wishing the others would do poorly since the battle is against the dictionary. Part of me wishes I could’ve participated in something like this, but also hearing some of the words given, I don’t think I was ever cut out for that kind if study :)

And since we're talking about movies and I've been watching a few, here are some that I've seen recently and would recommend

• Babette's Feast - about a French cook who has to come to Denmark and starts working for these two pious ladies in a small village. After many years she requests the chance to cook an elaborate French feast. I liked the food visuals.

• Every Little Step - a documentary about the casting the Broadway revival of A Chorus Line, a musical about auditioning for show business

• Before Sunrise - about an almost missed connection - super romanticized but still cute