Decoding Word Power
The documentary Breaking the Bee—now making the rounds at film festivals—begins with an astounding figure. For the past 18 years of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, 17 of the winners have been Indian American, a demographic that comprises only one per cent of the United States population. Filmmaker Sam Rega sets out to find out why, as he follows four contestants preparing for the 2017 edition, tapping “experts” like television host and columnist Fareed Zakaria and neurosurgeon Dr Sanjay Gupta, as well as erstwhile winners.
For the parents, the Bee is an opportunity to realise their immigrant dream of belonging, success and pride. But they’re not the ‘tiger parents’ of stereotype, and the spellers aren’t mere rote learners. Instead, Rega captures the fine art behind cracking a word as the young protagonists are shown learning root words in Latin, Greek and more—not to mention reading and writing copiously.
The film captures the drama of competition well, even if you’ve already seen the contests. But the candid footage of the young spellers is the most engaging facet. Akash Vukoti, 7, is a Mensa memspeller. ber and an enthusiastic natural born Ashrita Gandhari, 10, is hoping to make her debut in the competition. Meanwhile, the confident Shourav Dasari and the introspective Tejas Mathusamy, both 14, are favourites to hoist the trophy in what’s their last shot.
The film doesn’t address whether the spelling champs excel later in life. But in an e-mail interview, Rega said that the Bee gets the attention of universities, and a number of winners have gone on to Ivy League schools. Winning has attracted some unpleasant attention, too, the film does point out, noting racist responses on social media to the Indian American spelling supremacy. As American president Donald Trump moves to reduce the number of H1B visas the US issues and refers to immigrants as “animals”, the documentary begs the question: Where do the accomplishments of their sons and daughters fit into his plans to ‘Make America Great Again’?
“This is a dark side of our country and even worse that children are subjected to it,” Rega says. “We want this film to be a reminder that we are all Americans and expose that the American experience is not the same for everyone, unfortunately.”
He’s still working on a streaming deal. But two of the film’s young stars were on ESPN on May 29-31—when they competed in the next edition of the Bee.
WHERE DO THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE CHILDREN OF IMMIGRANTS FIT INTO TRUMP’S PLANS TO ‘MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN’? —Suhani Singh