Ah, the Weltschmerz!
That’s w-e-l-t-s-c-h-m-e-r-z. Weltschmerz. German origin (no kidding). And I am feeling weltschmerz-y about the prime-timing of the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee last night.
When I first heard that ABC was going to show the bee finals, I was overjoyed. The bee’s been on ESPN for years, but now it would be available for non-cable subscribers. And, as a spelling junkie, I was ready to get my fix.
Of course I have to say something here about the recent mainstreaming of the spelling bee, which has surprised and, admittedly, puzzled me. First there was the superb documentary , which primarily treated the kids with respect, while showing off the foolishness of their parents, teachers, and neighbors. There were a few psychotically competitive kids, but you also got glimpses of those who competed out of the sheer joy of playing with words. There was also the to-be-expected “look how much this kid has overcome to get this far” angle, also the emphasis of the recent Starbucks-promoted film Akeelah and the Bee (which I was desperate to see, but which only stayed in the movie theaters of my benighted town for a week). I haven’t seen last fall’s Bee Season, but, if it’s anything like (on which it’s based), I think I might find it too depressing. It’s more about family angst than about spelling.
Anyway, why are spelling bees suddenly so popular? Is it because most people, reliant on Microsoft Word, can’t spell anymore? In the broadcast last night, the young competitors seemed to be treated like rather exotic pets—or, sometimes, like Olympic athletes, which, considering how annoying Olympics commentary can be, is not much of an improvement. Indeed, the commentators said things just as idiotic and cutting as Dick Button’s narration of Olympic figure skating events.
These are children, people. Extremely gifted children, but children nonetheless. I was aghast when I discovered that the bee was being broadcast live, between 8 and 10: 15 p.m. last night. This also meant that the competitors had to sit, waiting, letting their anxiety build, as ABC took commercial breaks. As a former speller, I know that’s got to be mental torture.
All things considered, as much as I love spelling competitions, after last night, I wholeheartedly wish that the bee would never be broadcast again. I fear that continuing this trend might make competitive parents push their kids even harder. Relegate the bee to relative obscurity and let it be fun again. Establish an adult spelling bee and broadcast that. Adults can determine for themselves how competitive they want to be. If they become warped, it’s their own faults.
I am, I confess, biased by my own experiences with spelling. I never got further than a third in state, and, even in my day, I think the national spelling bee would have been too competitive for me. But I loved spelling. The adrenaline of competition was nerve-racking—but, before all that, there were the hours of fun preparing. Now a professional coach seems to be a prerequisite for competition, but, back then, I had my dad. He read words, and I spelled them back, but not before we laughed at the definition or traded several puns back and forth. My mom, hearing all the giggling, had a hard time believing that we were actually studying. We were otters, playing with words.
And that’s what I wish for today’s young spellers.
On a side note, I was happy that, for the first time since Nupur Lala (Nupur Lala!) in 1999, a girl won the bee. I was, however, rooting for the runner-up, Finola Hackett. One of her hobbies is Irish dance, so how could I not support her? Sadly, she misspelled “weltschmerz,” which seemed odd, since she clearly knew German spelling rules, and she had correctly spelled many more difficult words (any speller knows that the hardest words are not necessarily the long ones, but those with lots of schwas). Must have been a nervous mental blip. Anyway, I liked her because her face registered expressions (unlike some of the other spellers, who I feared might have been robots), and she didn’t seem devastated when she was eliminated. She’ll be okay. And I hope she keeps dancing.
By the way, you can view online the . Note that the “championship words” (those used once there are two competitors left) are actually much, much easier than the ones in previous rounds. Odd.
3 comments June 2nd, 2006