Forgot. F-O-R-G-O-T. Forgot.

posted on august 20, 2003, tag: entertainment

A few weeks ago Katia and I saw Spellbound, a great documentary that follows eight kids as they try to win the 1999 National Spelling Bee. It opens with a fantastic clip of one of the eight kids—the goofiest one (and maybe the youngest as well), Harry Altman—having what seems to be a mental breakdown when asked to spell the word "banns." He makes all sorts of facial contortions, talks to himself ("I've got to think of something..."), and other good stuff. It's the perfect opening for a funny and fun documentary.

It's interesting to see the National Spelling Bee from this angle. How hard the kids study, prepare, concentrate—it's all rather frightening. The subject of coaching your child to be a National finalist being like child abuse came up several times in the film as a joke, and for good reason—it seems like a form of abuse. The only reason it's acceptable is that most of the children seem to, in some sort of masochistic way, enjoy it.

If you don't get a chance to catch this documentary in a theater, you should definitely rent it when it's available. It's a really great film and you won't be disappointed.

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