spamfriedrice (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} spamfriedrice) wrote,@ 2007-07-28 09:45:00 |
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review: akeelah and the bee
i thinkcaphe already reviewed this movie, but i can't remember if he liked it or not. but here's my take on it.
first... i'm moving to south LA (formerly known as south central) on monday, which is where Akeelah and the Bee is set. so it was exciting to see my new neighborhood in a movie.
second... grad school has ruined my ability to watch a movie about youth/learning/urban communities/schools, without applying/testing theory of some sort.
ok... first the non-nerd review: i loved the movie. it really brought out the beauty of my new neighborhood, the multiracial nature of the community, and the cultural wealth among the people. it showed how the 'burbs can be in some ways even more dysfunctional. dillon (hapa whiz kid with obsessed, driven immig. dad) could have been a more developed character. so could his dad... why was the dad sooo obsessed? instead, the film makers simply present the dad as an unforgiving freak dad... asian stereotype.
ok... nerd review...
...on youth resistance. Doug Atchison (film maker) does a wonderful job presenting the inequalities schools, just 2 years after the celebration of Brown v. Board of Education. Such a presentation is more important than ever, given the 2007 Supreme Court Decision to end race-consciousness in student assignment policies in addressing racial disparities and inequality. Crenshaw M.S. (really: John Adams M.S. in LAUSD) looks like a prison, as many of LAUSD schools look like and perform like. Akeelah attends a school that does not challenge her. The school does not expect her to excel. thus she feels trapped... bored and imprisoned. She resists by skipping classes, landing her in summer school.
... on youth resistance and mentorship... without mentorship Akeelah's resistance simply becomes self-defeating rather than transformative. with the mentorship of Fishburne's character, Akeelah becomes a vehicle for self transformation and community empowerment... transforming her entire community.
... on Ethnic Studies ... Dr. Larabee not only teaches Akeelah how to appreciate and deconstruct language and words, he exposes her to the works of African American scholars and leaders... I am disappointed that Akeelah did not read any bell hooks, Maya Angelou, or any other womyn of color works. Thus the audience again only hears about the usual Black thinkers - all men. Despite this blindspot, the film does a great job of presenting Akeelah's lessons on Black thinkers as equally important as learning about Greek, French, and Latin languages.
... on Cultural Wealth v. Cultural Deficiency... The movie does a good job of initially presenting the blight in the community... the troubles that engulf Akeelah's family - teen pregnancy, gangs, violence, and poverty. The mother, played by Angela Bassett, does not listen to Akeelah, because she (a widow) is busy working to support her family and trying to keep one of her sons away from the local street gang. When Akeelah comes home late from participating in a study group, her mom only sees the worst in her daughter's spelling bee aspirations. Initially, the mom is presented as unengaged and unsupportive of her... thus "deficient" in culture (an old white liberal argument).
The director then does a great job of showing the community cultural wealth and showing how the community and famiily isn't deficient. Rather, they haven't had anything hopeful and positive happen in such a long time... that when Akeelah begins to experience success the whole community begins to participate, is more than willing and able to participate. The people are not dumb. No "bell curve" here. It's not about something wrong with the culture in the community. It's about the messed up socio-economic and political structure imposed on this community that results in violence and schools that don't work. Suddenly the whole feel of the movie changes. From gloomy skies and lighting to sunshine. The entire feel of the film changes.
...on race... I cannot discuss race in this film without mentioning that the director, producers... almost the whole crew are WHITE! I wonder how the film would have been made had the crew been more diverse. In spite of the racial composition of the crew especially the writer/director, the film is able to convey a powerful message about California demographics and class. The feature characters from the wealthy 'burb are Latino and Asian American with mostly white kids around them. I find these very interesting choices. The youth of color from the 'burbs are still surrounded by white kids in their community, but the filmmakers have chosen to focus on the 2 youth of color. Javier has a crush on Akeelah. Do the filmmakers choose a Latino boy as the "love interest"/ally/friend, because a white boy would be too controversial/weird/overdone? Why not have Javier's character be an African American boy? Too complicating for discussions of race and class? Why is super/robot/over-achiever Dillon hapa? While Black and Latino stereotypes are challenged in the film, Asian American stereotypes of being "overdriven robots" who have dangerously and overly driven parents are not. Perhaps the presentation of Asian Americans would have been more balanced had the Asian grocer character been more prominent.
I was troubled by the presentation of the white principal and Black teachers. The teachers are the ones with the lowest expectations of the Black youth while the white male principal is presented as the idealistic white liberal who hasn't lost faith in the students. This... I'm very very skeptical about. Therefore, structure and power is somewhat absolved in creating poor schooling conditions. For examle, No Child Left Behind is only mentioned in a passive manner (how the school is losing resources because of low test performance - negative reinforcement measures)... it could have been more directly critiqued through the film. Thus the film, in the tradition of Coach Carter and Stand and Deliver, sends the message that "all you have to do is believe in yourself to make it in life." A more realistic and empowering message would be "the system is f'd up and works against you because you are poor and Black. BUT, you can work to organize the community to take back the system and change it to work for the community and our families."
The primary weakness of the film is that it does not explore in much depth why Akeelah's mom and Dillon's dad behave the way they do. This of course, is also my bone with academic research on Asian American youth... rarely do researchers ask the parents anything.
All in all, the film does a good job of presenting the racial and class terrain of Southern CA. My beef with the film has more to do with things that probably would never be presented in a movie. As it was, the filmmakers struggled for 4 years to come up with the $6m to produce the film. $6m, is of course, a very very small budget for a movie.
i think
caphe already reviewed this movie, but i can't remember if he liked it or not. but here's my take on it.first... i'm moving to south LA (formerly known as south central) on monday, which is where Akeelah and the Bee is set. so it was exciting to see my new neighborhood in a movie.
second... grad school has ruined my ability to watch a movie about youth/learning/urban communities/schools, without applying/testing theory of some sort.
ok... first the non-nerd review: i loved the movie. it really brought out the beauty of my new neighborhood, the multiracial nature of the community, and the cultural wealth among the people. it showed how the 'burbs can be in some ways even more dysfunctional. dillon (hapa whiz kid with obsessed, driven immig. dad) could have been a more developed character. so could his dad... why was the dad sooo obsessed? instead, the film makers simply present the dad as an unforgiving freak dad... asian stereotype.
ok... nerd review...
...on youth resistance. Doug Atchison (film maker) does a wonderful job presenting the inequalities schools, just 2 years after the celebration of Brown v. Board of Education. Such a presentation is more important than ever, given the 2007 Supreme Court Decision to end race-consciousness in student assignment policies in addressing racial disparities and inequality. Crenshaw M.S. (really: John Adams M.S. in LAUSD) looks like a prison, as many of LAUSD schools look like and perform like. Akeelah attends a school that does not challenge her. The school does not expect her to excel. thus she feels trapped... bored and imprisoned. She resists by skipping classes, landing her in summer school.
... on youth resistance and mentorship... without mentorship Akeelah's resistance simply becomes self-defeating rather than transformative. with the mentorship of Fishburne's character, Akeelah becomes a vehicle for self transformation and community empowerment... transforming her entire community.
... on Ethnic Studies ... Dr. Larabee not only teaches Akeelah how to appreciate and deconstruct language and words, he exposes her to the works of African American scholars and leaders... I am disappointed that Akeelah did not read any bell hooks, Maya Angelou, or any other womyn of color works. Thus the audience again only hears about the usual Black thinkers - all men. Despite this blindspot, the film does a great job of presenting Akeelah's lessons on Black thinkers as equally important as learning about Greek, French, and Latin languages.
... on Cultural Wealth v. Cultural Deficiency... The movie does a good job of initially presenting the blight in the community... the troubles that engulf Akeelah's family - teen pregnancy, gangs, violence, and poverty. The mother, played by Angela Bassett, does not listen to Akeelah, because she (a widow) is busy working to support her family and trying to keep one of her sons away from the local street gang. When Akeelah comes home late from participating in a study group, her mom only sees the worst in her daughter's spelling bee aspirations. Initially, the mom is presented as unengaged and unsupportive of her... thus "deficient" in culture (an old white liberal argument).
The director then does a great job of showing the community cultural wealth and showing how the community and famiily isn't deficient. Rather, they haven't had anything hopeful and positive happen in such a long time... that when Akeelah begins to experience success the whole community begins to participate, is more than willing and able to participate. The people are not dumb. No "bell curve" here. It's not about something wrong with the culture in the community. It's about the messed up socio-economic and political structure imposed on this community that results in violence and schools that don't work. Suddenly the whole feel of the movie changes. From gloomy skies and lighting to sunshine. The entire feel of the film changes.
...on race... I cannot discuss race in this film without mentioning that the director, producers... almost the whole crew are WHITE! I wonder how the film would have been made had the crew been more diverse. In spite of the racial composition of the crew especially the writer/director, the film is able to convey a powerful message about California demographics and class. The feature characters from the wealthy 'burb are Latino and Asian American with mostly white kids around them. I find these very interesting choices. The youth of color from the 'burbs are still surrounded by white kids in their community, but the filmmakers have chosen to focus on the 2 youth of color. Javier has a crush on Akeelah. Do the filmmakers choose a Latino boy as the "love interest"/ally/friend, because a white boy would be too controversial/weird/overdone? Why not have Javier's character be an African American boy? Too complicating for discussions of race and class? Why is super/robot/over-achiever Dillon hapa? While Black and Latino stereotypes are challenged in the film, Asian American stereotypes of being "overdriven robots" who have dangerously and overly driven parents are not. Perhaps the presentation of Asian Americans would have been more balanced had the Asian grocer character been more prominent.
I was troubled by the presentation of the white principal and Black teachers. The teachers are the ones with the lowest expectations of the Black youth while the white male principal is presented as the idealistic white liberal who hasn't lost faith in the students. This... I'm very very skeptical about. Therefore, structure and power is somewhat absolved in creating poor schooling conditions. For examle, No Child Left Behind is only mentioned in a passive manner (how the school is losing resources because of low test performance - negative reinforcement measures)... it could have been more directly critiqued through the film. Thus the film, in the tradition of Coach Carter and Stand and Deliver, sends the message that "all you have to do is believe in yourself to make it in life." A more realistic and empowering message would be "the system is f'd up and works against you because you are poor and Black. BUT, you can work to organize the community to take back the system and change it to work for the community and our families."
The primary weakness of the film is that it does not explore in much depth why Akeelah's mom and Dillon's dad behave the way they do. This of course, is also my bone with academic research on Asian American youth... rarely do researchers ask the parents anything.
All in all, the film does a good job of presenting the racial and class terrain of Southern CA. My beef with the film has more to do with things that probably would never be presented in a movie. As it was, the filmmakers struggled for 4 years to come up with the $6m to produce the film. $6m, is of course, a very very small budget for a movie.
