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During this third season of American Idol, UC Berkeley
engineering student William Hung performed Ricky Martin's "She
Bangs" and became, not an idol, but a pop icon. Hung's nerdy
appearance, thin vocals and stilted dance moves made him a laughingstock
before the judges. But his utter sincerity and the resolve with
which he accepted criticism ("I already gave my best, I have
no regrets at all") won him the respect and adoration of fans
nationwide. Although some have mocked his naïve performance,
his cult following suggests that he has also struck a chord, reminding
us that the spirit, if not the reality, of the American Dream is
alive and well.
This same spirit is the over-arching theme of Spellbound.
Jeffrey Blitz's documentary follows eight young contestants through
a very different kind of competition: the Scripps Howard National
Spelling Bee. The film provides snapshots of each speller, their
parents and hometown, creating a diverse mosaic of American family
life. Mexican immigrants, Angela's parents don't speak English;
her father tends cows on a Texas ranch. Ted comes from a working
class family in an economically depressed Missouri town where basketball
is considered more important than brains. Middle-class Nupur is
the daughter of immigrant Indian parents and a classic second-generation
overachiever. Despite differences of class, geography and race,
they are all caught in that awkward age range (10 to 14 years old)
between the innocence of children and the jadedness of teenagers.
They know enough of the world to understand ambition and hope, but
are not yet self-conscious enough to be embarrassed by it. In other
words, they are nerds.
Merriam-Webster defines "nerd"
as: "an unstylish, unattractive, or socially inept person;
especially one slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic
pursuits." Studying as much as eight or nine hours a day, the
contestants are indeed "slavishly devoted" to spelling.
In their braces, frumpy hairdos and ill-fitting clothes, they show
us what pure devotion looks like.
But along with unfettered aspiration comes the insecurity
of adolescence. Spellbound manages to capture these emotional
nuances with a revealing yet gentle eye, allowing them to percolate
quietly just below the surface. For example, April survives the
first day of competition at the National Bee only to put herself
down, "I don't even expect to get past the first round tomorrow."
But her modesty is disingenuous, revealing the circular, self-protective
logic of the know-it-all: if you say you're going to lose, no one
can fault you when you do.
Failure, after all, is always just one letter away.
Although Ashley ends up in tears and Harry blames the announcer
for mispronouncing his losing word, the rest of the contestants
display a maturity and grace far surpassing that of the average
American Idol loser. Angela states diplomatically, "I already
feel like a champion just getting here," and Neil rationalizes
his ninth place finish by carefully enumerating the three goals
he did achieve. We can read the disappointment in their faces, but
we admire them all the more for their stoicism. The film is less
a portrayal of achievement than a celebration of "doing your
best," no matter the outcome.
In this process, we learn almost as much about parenting
as we do about adolescence. The DVD's bonus footage includes stories
of three spellers who were cut from the final film. Cody's father,
who operates a robot in a steel factory, speaks more candidly than
most when he jokes: "We're old, our lives stink, and we have
to live vicariously through you... What do you think we had you
for?" His comment reveals the mixture of bitterness and admiration
that accompanies the hope that his children will do better in life
than he has.
Conversely, April's mom (whom April compares to Edith
Bunker) channels her anxiety into boundless optimism. Her motto
comes from a pad of decorator stationery: "Bee Happy."
Even as we recognize the excitement and genuine pride that inspires
her borrowed wisdom, we're laughing at her kitschy, overblown cheer.
The camera accomplishes this double vision by lingering just a little
longer than necessary on its subjects, allowing their comments to
sink in to reveal humor or irony. The parents nobly try to balance
high hopes with unconditional love, but we see their foibles and
shortcomings too.
In particular, Neil's father comes across as extremely
over-bearing, using his obvious wealth to bombard Neil with a series
of language and spelling tutors and drilling him incessantly from
a scientifically selected list of words. However, on the DVD's commentary
track, Blitz, producer Sean Welch and editor Yana Gorskaya shed
new light on the relationship. We learn that Neil was the one who
decided to compete, and that his parents, rather than pushing him
to succeed, are doing everything within their considerable economic
power to help their son achieve his goals. What originally looked
like a story of parental pressure is refigured as a hyperbolic expression
of parental devotion.
And so, Spellbound is most compelling as
a portrait of American family life. As William Hung inspires a mixture
of ridicule and affection, the spellers and their parents are simultaneously
laughable and endearing. We see their flaws and conceits, but we
forgive them because they have "heart." This is brought
home on the DVD's commentary track when the filmmakers recount how
they asked each kid to spell their favorite word. Most of the kids
picked the longest, most arcane word they could think of, but the
filmmakers were more impressed with the selection made by Ashley,
an African American girl from Washington D.C. Suggesting that words
represent more than just a ladder to success, one letter at time,
Ashley eschewed verbal pyrotechnics in favor of a simpler word:
"Love. L-O-V.E."
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