How did the filmers know which participants to follow? There were 249 participants in the national bee, and the filmers chose like, eight or nine. And most of them went quite deep in the tournament, including the winner. Was this just luck on their behalf?
Cool movie, tho'.
In interviews, they've said that most of the participants were recommended to them because they were perceieved as having a good chance of winning. They acknowledged it was lucky they happened to follow the winner as well, but that if nobody had won, it would simply have made for a different story.
shareYeah I figured they researched it to see who had the best chances and picked them. I think that's part of the reason they placed some emphasis on that Georgie kid (the kid who probably got far cuz the judges couldn't distinguish one letter from the next cuz he sounded like his mouth was full of marbles), who was not one of the original starts of the documentary because they thought he might end up winning.
shareIt was such a great film.. (and I agree with the Georgie comment! As hard as I tried, I couldn't understand anything that came out of his mouth)
George actually won the national bee the following year, so I'm wondering if that's the reason why they placed some emphasis on him. (http://www.spellingbee.com/00bee/rounds/round15.htm)
For the sequel, no doubt.
shareMy daughter made it to the National Bee in 1998, and did quite well there. What an intense experience it is, even for families! -- if the child really wants to compete. (Some spellers make it to Nationals but have no desire to do anything other than enjoy the week, the parties, the new friendships.)
To see families together, and their dynamics, is incredibly educational, and sometimes very heartwarming. Obviously some parents push, some support, others look on, bemused -- they weren't good spellers themselves, so this kid is a sort of cuckoo in the nest. Some of the spellers are following older siblings to the Bee, so their parents know what to expect.
Some parents are there solo with their spelling child. Other spellers -- especially the homeschoolers and the first-generation Americans, most particularly Indians and Pakistanis -- are accompanied by parents, siblings, grandparents, etc.
Remember that the Bee takes place at the end of May. For homeschooled spellers, no problem. For the rest -- they must return to the last part of school, tests, final exams, sometimes state or county exams. There's pressure beyond spelling, and more than one student has brought textbooks to D.C., to review for the next weeks' challenges.
Among older spellers (8th grade is the last grade to compete from) you find a certain amount of flirtation, as well -- and with all the signing of picture books and exchanges of e-mail addresses, communication among spellers continues long past that Memorial Day week. And recognition -- my daughter's run into her Bee-mates all over ("You look so familiar, weren't you at...?"). She was surprised to find one in her college freshman class, each of them 2000 miles from home, not having known of the other's plans!
For a child who's good at spelling, the National Bee is like running into long-lost siblings she never knew she had -- and whom she wants to out-spell.
[deleted]
Take it easy son, the kid had a speech impediment that made him a little tough to understand. How is pointing that out being racist? It had nothing to do with the fact he was Indian.
They also seemed to do a lot of the interviewing after the bee was over, but edited it to make it seem like it was before the bee. That's why a lot of the interviews before and after the bee are the exact same setup with the people wearing the same clothes. But yeah, they just lucked out on the winner. I had my money on Neil though. I guess some people weren't praying hard enough.
"Take it easy son, the kid had a speech impediment that made him a little tough to understand. How is pointing that out being racist? It had nothing to do with the fact he was Indian. "
Somehow I find it hard to believe if he was white, the poster would have
posted the same message. but whatever, fine, he's not racist, he's just cruel
prick, surely an ex-bully that picked on spelling bee participants.
"I had my money on Neil though. I guess some people weren't praying hard enough. "
Okay. now THATS racist. Why dont people make fun of the same Christian zealots that pray before a football game in every single FRIGGIN hick town in the bible belt? Hell, entire congregations set up their schedule to revolve around the local high school football team.
Tell the grand dragon I said Hi.
Squadeek - the irony that is clearly passing you by is that the only person exhibiting racist and extremist views is your good self.
The fact is Georgie was difficult to understand, and the comment about marbles in his mouth is apt. No-one is denying that he is probably a genius; abandonallhope was just making a comic observation - something that people do all the time. It could be seen as slightly mean-spirited, but it wasn't nasty or cruel. It certainly wasn't racist.
The only racist comment is your assumption that abandonallhope is "trailer park white trash" to coin a phrase. Do you not think the joke could have been made by someone black, Asian or maybe even another Indian perhaps? The fact that you have been so quick to brand others as racist and members of the KKK shows your own prejudice and intolerance and I would suggest is indicative of your own suppressed racist motivations that you are projecting onto others without cause.
As for AlecEiffel's comment about praying, again isn't obvious that this is tongue-in-cheek? A throw-away line? Yet you accuse the person of having affiliations with the KKK!
You need to get things in perspective and perhaps some therapy for your own pent up anger and intolerance. Oh, and learn how to use an apostrophe.
OH ok this was the "other thread" you were talking about. Let's get down to brass tax.
"abandonallhope was just making a comic observation - something that people do all the time"
sorry, but mocking someone for a speech impediment in my book is not comic in any fashion.
"Do you not think the joke could have been made by someone black, Asian or maybe even another Indian perhaps? "
I highly doubt that. But it's possible.
"As for AlecEiffel's comment about praying, again isn't obvious that this is tongue-in-cheek? A throw-away line? Yet you accuse the person of having affiliations with the KKK! "
Likewise, couldn't my "tell the grand dragon I said hi" comment be also taken as tongue-in-cheek? a throw away line? Yet you accuse me of having pent up anger and requiring the attention of a therapist!
Look pal. in my opinion, the comment was out of line. period. So Im gonna post a message about it. period. But it's just a message, I didn't write a letter to IMDB mods to have this guy banned or anything. it was just a message. Maybe all this talk of anger management comes from personal experience?
Squadeek, last time I looked you were the one using foul language and being unnecessarily aggressive in your posts. On the one hand you criticise posts that mildly mock someone's speech impediment and another that jokes about Indians praying for success, yet you lambast "Christian zealots", "hick towns" in the "Bible belt", and people who pray for footballing success - surely a sweeping, not to mention distasteful, generalisation? Can I surmise from this that you are accusing all Christian people who follow local football and live in the Bible belt (the implication also being that they are white) are zealots, or just that you are guilty of hypocrisy?
Your posts revealed a lot of anger and intolerance; perhaps you're in denial too? :)
Oh, and it's "brass tacks."
"On the one hand you criticise posts that mildly mock someone's speech impediment and another that jokes about Indians praying for success, yet you lambast "Christian zealots", "hick towns" in the "Bible belt", and people who pray for footballing success"
mildly mock someones speech impediment? I dont think I've heard anything as magnanimously stupid as that phrase. Are you that insecure that you need to pick on someone who's born with diminished speech capacity?
what is this lambasting youre talking about?!? My point was that my comment was just as "mild" and "innocent" as his. You seem to be applying a gross double standard when you say he "mildly mocks" but I "lambast". And thats the problem with you people.
I also do believe that praying for success in a nationally televised competition designed to exercise the mind is much more justified than praying for some quarterback to make a pass while in high school, just so he can be the town hero that summer and finally move 2 streets down and work at the gas station for the rest of his life.. BUT. thats just me.
Oh, and it's, "I dont really give a f*** what it is"
[deleted]
[deleted]
Excuse me, could you all kindly take your immature squabbling off the message boards of this movie? Spellbound doesn't deserve this crap to be taking up its comments space. Thanks.
--Emily
[deleted]
what were the commas? reflective pauses? Emily thanks for your message. I wish I could take this immature squibbling elsewhere, but it seems like others wish it to be right here. Pity.
Speech impediments not funny?!
"We will we-wease Woger!"
I rest my case.
now say "nuclear wessels"
squadeek is an idiot
[deleted]
Speech impediments not funny?!
"We will we-wease Woger!"
I rest my case.
They originaly followed twice as many kids and then edited it dowb to these ones. The other fotage should be on the DVD tho.
shareMostly, it was previous spellers who did fairly well in previous years. I was actually contacted by a few other people, not only for documentaries but for books and things as well. They really look through the past bee records.
...And actually, they filmed Nupur after she won. :) So it seems like they got lucky, but really they filmed her after the whole ordeal.
-Allyson
[deleted]
I thought they probably did more than just the 8 kids, say 40 of them perhaps, and then featured the best 8.
------
We come into the world naked, screaming and covered in blood. Why should the fun end there?
This is mentioned elsewhere in the thread (after all the stupid arguing about what is and isn't racist), but I wanted to point out that the winner wasn't interviewed until AFTER she won. No one knew to follow her.
shareEvery season you can see who the favorites are going to be by looking at the previous year's results, there's always a few returning spellers who made it far in the previous year, and those are the kids who have the best shot at winning this time around, naturally. They're considered the 'returning favorites'.
share