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Last Updated: May 24th, 2006 - 09:47:39 |
There is a freshness in the characters, dialogue and story in “Akeelah and the Bee” that keeps it from falling into the predictable mire of movies with “good intentions” toward Black children. That mire usually includes a cheesy set, earnest but novice actors and the sort of morality tales typical of 1970’s after-school specials.
With Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett anchoring the cast, there is no worry here about novice actors. Keke Palmer, known to most from her TV and film work, most recently in “Madea’s Family Reunion,” offers the lead role an endearing blend of early adolescent innocence and courage.
The story is about a middle school student in South-Central Los Angeles named Akeelah (Palmer), who is a talented speller and is enlisted by her English teacher to compete in a school spelling bee. From there, we follow her quest to compete in what is arguably the most popular academic event in the United States—the annual Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in Washington, DC. (You know the spelling bee is popular when it is covered on television by ESPN, home of all things sports-related and sacred in the U.S.)
Actually, the fact that Akeelah sees the national bee on television gives it a certain legitimacy in her eyes that reminds us of the power of media to give an event or person a sense of importance. How often do our children see anything about academics given support in popular culture? In reality, we know that the Kekes in our community are more likely to see older Black girls shaking it up in a bikini on a music video.
Though the central story and characters are compelling, it is this backdrop to the story that gives it weight. The national spelling bee is fiercely competitive and draws children and families that are highly motivated academically. Check the rows of finalists at any given national bee—like the one shown in this film—and you will find perhaps only a smattering of African American children. Unfortunately, participation in the bee is perhaps made even more unlikely for Black students because it draws middle school students, who are typically at a precarious time in their lives that will determine whether they go on to even graduate from high school.
The Crenshaw middle school that Akeelah attends suffers from typical issues that beset many such urban centers of learning—a limited budget, a student body battling social and family problems, as well as low expectations. It is in this atmosphere that Akeelah functions as a classic urban underachiever. She must be self-motivated. Her primary cheerleader for academic achievement, her father, was killed when she was six years old. She fears being singled out and roughed up by the school’s tough girls for being a “brainiac.”
At home, her mother (Angela Bassett), is overwhelmed with work and a teen-age son who is heading in the wrong direction. She wants Akeelah to pass all of her school courses—not just English. Director and writer Doug Atchison depicts this mother as a Black parent who is not involved in her child’s school and does not sense the importance of Keke’s special achievement. On the other hand, Atchison does not let the viewer forget her humanity and her mighty struggle to keep her family, and perhaps her sanity, together after great tragedy.
Similarly, the introduction of a Black educator (Fishburne), who mentors Akeelah through her spelling competitions, enriches the story in an unpredictable way.
Atchison is White and, reportedly he had to work hard to keep his original vision of Fishburne’s character being Black. Another achievement, as these sort of movies go, is that as Akeelah finds some success with her talent, she is not forced to turn her back on her family, friends or community in order to keep it.
Esther Iverem’s new book of poems, Living in Babylon, is available at Amazon.com
© Copyright 2006 SeeingBlack.com
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