Akeelah and the bee (2006)

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Akeelah and the Bee (2006).jpg


Rating: PG (Some Language)

Genre: Kids And Family, Drama

Original Language: English

Director: Doug Atchison

Producer: Laurence Fishburne, Sidney Ganis, Nancy Hult, Daniel Llewelyn, Michael Romersa

Release Date (Theaters): Apr 28, 2006  Wide

Box Office (Gross USA): $18.8M

Duration: 1h 52m

Production Co: 2929 Productions, Cinema Gypsy Productions, Lionsgate Films, Out of the Blue... Entertainment, Spelling Bee Productions Inc.

Akeelah and the Bee is a drama genre film released in 2006.This movie is directer by Doug Atchison and starring Keke Palmer. This movie tells about Akeelah's struggle against racism in order to compete in the national Speeling Bee Championship with the help of Professor Larabee.

Plot

At his school in South Central Los Angeles, Akeelah Anderson might be better than anybody, and he could stand a chance at the national level. On ESPN, he saw the National Spelling Bee and he was fascinated. But he's cautious as well, because there's a chance of being branded a "genius" in his school, and it's better to keep your intellect to yourself. In some largely black colleges, it's a tragedy: achievement is punished by other students, maybe as an expression of their low self-esteem.

The issue with Akeelah (Keke Palmer) is that whether he wants to or not, he can spell. Beating time as a type of metronome with his hand on his thigh, he pulled out the letters and arrived triumphantly at the words. No she has no memory of painting, nor does she pass on occultism as the "Season of the Bees" heroine does. She's just a fine speller.

After a reluctant English professor decided to serve as his mentor, the real chance of national success came. It's Dr. Joshua Larabee (Laurence Fishburne), who is on leave after the death of his daughter. Training it is a way out of a shell of its own. And for Fishburne, it is a reminder of his work in another film, 'Searching for Bobby Fischer' (1993), in which he trains a child prodigy.

Akeelah has been teased not only at school. Her own mother was against it. Tanya Anderson (Angela Bassett) has problems after her husband's death, and values ​​her homework above all else, including silly after-school activities like spelling bees. Akeelah has been training in secret, and after she's won a few bees, even the tough kids in the neighborhood start cheering for her.

Racism Issues

Pros

Akeelah who really likes the spelling championship gets pressure from her brother that the participants in the spelling bee are usually white children. Her father died on his way home from work after being shot by an unknown. This reminds us of how many cases of Black People’s lives are taken without any proper reason but awful injustice. She lives in a violent and unsupportive environment. Due to Akeelah's hardwork and help from Dr. Larabee, Akeelah successfully wins the spelling contest. The older brother of Akeelah also attempts to break out of the societal stereotype and join the Air Force, while his younger brother falls into the wrong category slowly.

Cons

On the other hand, there is also some racism which is shown for black people such as when Akeelah has to hide her intelligence and interest in spelling bees. Appearing as a genius can make Akeelah bullied at an all-black school. This shows bad stereotypes about black people. It's a tragedy in some predominantly black schools: Excellence is being punished by other students, perhaps as an expression of their low self-esteem. Another example of racism is the scene where Korean boys Akeelah fight. The Korean child's father is shown judging him personally about almost being defeated at Scrabble by Akeelah: "If you can barely beat the little black girl ..."


Reference

  1. Lee, Melissa (April 27, 2006). ‘Akeelah and the Bee’ spells heartwarming… well, it should'. The Tufts Daily. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  2. Fahkrian, Andra(2016). THE AMERICA’S CHRONICALLY GAP SKIN-COLORS, THE BOURGEOUIS, AND THE BEE’S TENSION AS DISCOVERED IN AKEELAH: THE LOGO-THERAPHY APPROACH. Sultan Agung Islamic University Semarang
  3. Ebert, Roger (April 27, 2020). Akeelah. A-k-e-e-l-a-h. Akeelah. RogerEbert.com. Retrieved December 22, 2020.