In honor of Black History Month, I’ve got to say that Akeelah and the Bee is one of my favorite movies to watch during this time. Not only is it one of Keke Palmer’s best movies, but it delivers a powerful message way beyond simply winning a spelling bee. I need to talk about the Black-cast family movie’s important message about the community playing a huge role in Akeelah’s success.
I Love Seeing Akeelah’s Neighborhood Come Together To Support Her
It’s easy to assume that winning a spelling bee is all about studying and memorizing hard words, their definitions, and their language of origin. But because Akeelah was representing her low-income neighborhood, the pressure was riding on her to win. While initially letting that get to her, she used the power of “50,000 coaches” to help her achieve victory.
I loved seeing residents from all corners of her neighborhood come together to help this 11-year-old girl win the National Spelling Bee. It’s incredibly inspirational to see that just when you feel at your lowest, there are always helping hands when you take a closer look at your environment.
It was even delightful in the scene where Akeelah saw news footage of a child saying they felt inspired to try out for their school’s spelling bee because of her. Whether her coaches were personal friends, family, or even complete strangers from her neighborhood, they dedicated their time to helping her study and watched her in the televised Bee from their homes.
Dr. Larabee Is the Tough-But-Loyal Mentor We All Wish We Had
Laurence Fishburne’s Oscarworthy performance as Dr. Larabee was truly memorable. While he may have been hardened and stiff on the outside, this fictional teacher made a real impact on Akeelah. The English professor never sugarcoated anything to his spelling bee student, motivating her the way he would for his college students instead of a little girl.
If she was disrespectful, he showed tough love by declining to help. But if he noticed anything that was holding her back from unleashing her full potential, Dr. Larabee would step in and help, whether it was teaching her to jump rope to keep time or introducing her to powerful essays.
My favorite scene between Dr. Larabee and Akeelah was when she spoke to her mentor about the way she coped with her father’s passing so he could cope with his daughter’s. It was a moment that showed a student can become a teacher, too.
It Took All Kinds Of People To Help Akeelah Win
Like Akeelah admitted to Dr. Larabee at the end, “We did it.” After all, she didn’t win on her own; it took all kinds of people in her community practicing words with her and letting her know they had her back. Her father first got her into words, her mother, whose Oscar-worthy performance is given by Angela Bassett, introduced the concept of “50,000 coaches,” and her spelling bee opponent and friend, Xavier, taught her about the importance of Latin classes to study the origin of words.
Unlikely people in Akeelah’s life, like her brother’s shady friend Derrick T., and even her rival, Dylan Chu, provided their assistance either by helping her with hard words or teaching her the importance of a fair competition. It proves that it really does take a village to make it possible to get far in the spelling bee. Akeelah may have been the one on stage, but the heart of her community got her there.
Just When Akeelah Felt Like Falling, Her Peers Picked Her Back Up
There was a ton of pressure for Akeelah Anderson to succeed, because she was representing her community. Fortunately, the middle-schooler had plenty of people in her life to pick her up when she needed it. Though Akeelah reminded Dr. Larabee of his late daughter, he still managed to be the voice of reason to her when she felt it was impossible to beat her experienced rival, Dylan. It was a powerful scene that proved we all need a Dr. Larabee to pick us up no matter what.
Akeelah’s best friend, Georgia, was still a cheerleader for her despite being jealous of her new spelling bee friends. She also received help from her older sister, Kiana, who witnessed a contestant cheating during the contest, and her older brother, Devon, who reminded her to compete in memory of their father.
And we can’t forget Akeelah’s mother, who encouraged her to compete when she was ready to quit. Each person in her life made sure to pick her up when she was doubting herself and it’s through their encouragement she kept going.
The most memorable quality of Akeelah and the Bee was how the strength of community and love can help one person accomplish enormous feats. The whole family will love this movie, especially during Black History Month, as it beautifully celebrates the idea that the steadfast support of those who believe in us can make us do incredible things. The drama is available for rent on digital streaming platforms.