Let’s play some word association. I say Scripps Spelling Bee and one of the first things you’ll probably think of are Indian Americans, and with good reasons. Indian Americans dominate the circuit, with 7 out of 8 of the 2019 finalists being Indian American. Discriminatory narratives have come out that question how ‘foreigners’ can excel at something so inherently American.
This is what Rega aims to explore with his documentary Spelling the Dream. It centers around number of Indian American hopefuls for the 2017 spelling bee, peppered with interviews and commentary by notable Indian Americans like Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Fareed Zakaria and comedian Hari Kondabolu.
It’s adorable to see all their personalities, their families and their hopes and dreams, although not much is revealed about them outside of the spelling bee context. The culture of striving to make the most of American opportunities, as well as the importance of language for assimilation are two very important issues that are discussed.
The actual bee kicks in around 50 minutes and honestly… it’s just a lot more exciting than watching the live televised version. It has the same steely faces of concentration, impressive displays of linguistic skills and intelligence. However, now you also know about the kids and their families, making every pause before a difficult word is spelt that much more electric.
It’s absolutely heartbreaking to see the youngest contestant break down in tears when he messes up a word, a much needed reminder of their childhood and innocence. However, the whole documentary feels more like a set of clips stitched together.
What’s missing is analysis. There’s no narrative voice, nothing questioning the immense pressures placed on Indian American kids and no explanation of the role of the bees in cultural assimilation. Therefore, even the short 80 minutes feel a little too long. This is definitely an interesting watch, especially if you tune in to watch the bee every year, but also requires you to ponder deep and unanswered questions. We don’t know, perhaps that was the intention
