There’s a movie out there right now I can recommend without reservation: Akeelah and the Bee. Go and see it, purchase the DVD, or get it from Netflix. Here’s what it’s about and why you need to give it a look:
Akeelah is an eleven-year-old black girl who lives in south Los Angeles and goes to a school that leaves a lot to be desired educationally. Her father died several years ago, her mother has to work hard to support the family, her big brother is in the Air Force and away most of the time, and her other brother is a gang member wannabe. Akeelah is special, though; she has a wonderful talent for words and spelling, and her teacher and principal have recognized this talent. When they try to get Akeelah to participate in the school’s first-ever spelling bee, she resists strongly at first, largely because she is afraid of being seen as too brainy. When she’s finally persuaded, she wins her school bee and goes on to qualify in the regionals. Then in the big Los Angeles County contest she becomes one of the three finalists who will go to the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. Akeelah is thrilled, to say the least, but that’s when her problems really begin.
The first difficulty is that her principal has arranged for her to be coached by Dr. Joshua Larabee, a retired professor who himself made the National many years previously. Sparks fly when Larabee and Akeelah meet, for Akeelah doesn’t take to the plan at first, and Larabee is extremely demanding: he will brook no nonsense and will accept only total commitment on Akeelah’s part. Then there’s the problem of the negative reaction of Akeelah’s friends to her success. But the hardest struggle involves Akeelah’s mother, who is skeptical about the whole spelling contest idea. When she finds out that Akeelah has secretly been taking bus trips to a wealthy suburb to practice with “rich kids,” she forbids her to participate at all. I won’t reveal what happens next, but suffice it to say that Akeelah’s efforts bring the family together and unite her community.
Laurence Fishburne and Angela Basset play the roles of Dr. Larabee and Akeelah’s mother very well, but Keke Palmer steals the show as Akeelah. The film touches on a whole range of societal and individual issues — friendship, racism, classism, poverty, commitment, the value of two-parent families and the need for strong fathers, the need to be ourselves, and above all the pursuit of excellence. Dr. Larabee insists Akeelah be on time to their sessions, makes her work hard, and requires her to speak “proper English.” What revolutionary concepts! Too bad there aren’t more Larabees around today’s schools. Larabee’s motivation — and this is really the theme of the film -- stems from a statement attributed to Nelson Mandela which might be paraphrased in this way: “Who are we to refuse to let the glory of God shine through us by not using the gifts he has given?” Mandela’s point is that we are most afraid of our own potential greatness. This is not a selfish, prideful fear, however. As C.S. Lewis says in The Weight of Glory, glory means “good report with God and acceptance by God.” When we finally stand before the Lord, “there will be no room for vanity. ... [We] will be free from the miserable illusion that it is [our] doing.”
There are a couple of downsides. One is that there’s a bit of objectionable language — one use of the s-word, and two or three other epithets — though there’s no actual profanity. The other is that the film could be considered a bit too predictable, and, as one reviewer has said, even corny. That didn’t bother me, though. Seeing this movie brought back strong memories of watching my own daughter in a city spelling contest when she was about Akeelah’s age. The film is inspirational, and the whole family should like it.
Akeelah and the Bee is rated PG, no doubt for the above-mentioned language issues.
My Rating: 3 ½ stars.
Highly recommended.
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