Tara and I don't get to watch many movies. It doesn't really matter whether it's going out to the theater or watching a DVD at home. We just don't seem to make the time with everything that's going on around us. About a month ago my brother lent us a movie called Akeelah and the Bee. I hadn't ever heard of it, so that's why it took a month to sit down and take it in. I have to say I wish I had watched it much sooner.
The film is about an 11-year-old girl, Akeelah, who lives in the Crenshaw district of LA. Everything she encounters at school tells her to be average. Her friends laugh at her if she does well in school. The teachers don't really motivate her to achieve. The school is falling down and there aren't funds to fix the problems. It seems that Akeelah is destined to fall through the cracks. The only place she can find solace in her world is in words. I know this may be the English teacher in me, but it was amazing to watch her embrace words. Long story short, Akeelah has a gift for spelling and she enters the spelling bee. Her journey is an inspiring tale and I hope you'll rent the film if you haven't seen it.
Perhaps my favorite part of the film is when Akeelah is being tutored by Dr. Larabee, played by Laurence Fishburne. He asks her to read the following quote by Marianne Williamson:
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same."
I love this message and the way it inspires people to reach inside and try to become great. I know that I settle for mediocrity too often and I don't want my children to do the same. Akeelah reminds us that we can achieve our dreams if we don't let our own inadequacies overcome us. A great message and a great movie.
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