If one were to rattle off names of famous sports in the US, one would likely say baseball, American football, basketball, and golf.
Thanks to television, these sports reach the homes of millions of people who look up to them. That’s why someone sitting in a remote corner of India can be found sporting a Chicago Bulls jersey.
It’s due to a similar television popularity that one of the kids in Spelling The Dream calls his friend, Shourav, who can be dubbed the Michael Jordan of the spelling world.
The Netflix documentary about the dominance of Indian Americans in the nation-wide Spelling Bees is an attempt to understand the ‘why’. It shows how this has become a matter of pride among the Indian diaspora, along with success and recognition.
But mostly, it talks about how this is essentially about ‘a kid versus a dictionary of a half a million words.’ It puts forth the issues faced by the community that has provided 26 of the last 31 winners. They face trolling and xenophobic hatred.
The parents are called ‘Tiger parents’. Are parents forcing their kids, sometimes as young as two or three, into this world? But again, is this any different from parents sending their kids to swimming classes or basketball coaching? The documentary answers all this and more. It reminds us that this endeavour gives a generation of Indian Americans the opportunity to break stereotypes. The documentary addresses the equations that can stem from inspirations turning into competitions.
Parents are forced to spend more time with the ‘achiever’. Does it leave the other child, if any, feel a bit left out, or jealous? Spelling prodigy Akash Vukoti’s sister puts it succinctly. “He doesn’t make me feel left out. So, I’m not jealous.”
These kids who are achieving so much seem too stoic when winning. When someone who is hardly seven is so poised after misspelling a word, and wishes his fellow competitors the best, it seems too good to be true. But once off-stage, they are inconsolable. That was an aha! moment for me. One might have a spelling database in place, but at the end of the day, even if you can spell the word ‘humuhumunukunukuapua’a’, these spelling bees are all about embracing the most Indian thing about Indians—loving one’s family. And for this reason, and the sensitivity shown at portraying this community, Spelling the Dream is a worthy watch.
Spelling The Dream
Genre: Documentary
Platform: Netflix
Director: Sam Rega