This document provides a case study analysis of the movie "Akeelah and the Bee". It summarizes the plot of the movie, which follows 11-year old Akeelah, a gifted speller from Los Angeles. It then analyzes how the movie portrays early adolescent cognitive and social development, particularly related to racial formation. While the movie accurately depicts many aspects of Akeelah's development, it also reinforces some stereotypes, such as the portrayal of the Asian American champion speller Dylan. However, the movie works to empower youth from all backgrounds and resist many negative stereotypes.

1. Movie Case Study: “Akeelah the Bee”
Miriam Larson
EPSY 430
July 6, 2011
“Akeelah the Bee” begins in a classroom in a middle school in inner-city Los
Angeles. An English teacher places a test face down on Akeelah’s desk. “Akeelah, did
you study at all?” the teacher asks. “No” says Akeelah quietly. Then she turns her test
over and we see an A+ circled in red pen. With this introduction, the audience is pulled
into the central conflict of the film: eleven-year old Akeelah is brilliant, and she is
particularly gifted at spelling, but her potential to be a spelling bee champion is
challenged by her own doubts, negative peer pressure and misunderstandings on the part
of her family.
“Akeelah the Bee” accurately and effectively illustrates early adolescent cognitive
and social development, particularly in the area of racial formation, but it is not free from
common media tropes that reinforce societal patterns of racial stereotyping. This paper
will begin by examining research about cognitive and social development and will also
look at the film as a case study of media representation. Akeelah’s development over the
course of the film illustrates a number of ways the brain is developing and influencing
social and cognitive behavior. While Akeelah is accurately represented as a developing
teen, the film does reiterate stereotypes, particularly the stereotypical portrayal of Dylan,
the Asian American champion speller. These elements are part of a film that otherwise
resists trends of negative stereotyping and works towards a new media environment that

2. has the potential to empower youth from all racial backgrounds to pursue their talents and
value the talents of others.
Research has shown that early adolescence is a “critical period” for brain
development. While Akeelah’s spelling ability is evidently exceptional, her ability to
learn rapidly is also symptomatic of the development in her early adolescent brain. As Dr.
Laramie says in the film, Akeelah’s brain is “like a sponge.” Researchers have found that
during early adolescence, the gray matter in the brain thickens as brain cells over-produce
(Staunch 15). Psychologist Jay Geidd has studied brain scans of teens and observed a
period of overproduction, also called “exuberance,” that happens around the time of
puberty (ctd in Staunch 28). After this period of exuberance, the body begins a process of
“pruning,” or reducing the grey matter to the essential amount. Akeelah’s specific ability
with language is also related to growth in her brain. Geidd’s study has shown growth of
the temporal lobes, which is the area of the brain that is tasked with learning language.
While genes determine some aspects of an individual teen’s brain development,
brain development is also dependent on the frequency of use of particular synapses or
communication routes, i.e. the teen’s experiences (Stuanch 30). Scientists believe that
during periods of exuberance, human brains are especially receptive to new information
and skills (Staunch 29). In Akeelah’s case her brain is particularly receptive to language
and rote memorization. Her experiences working with Dr. Geidd develop her ability to
memorize words and also capitalize on her brain’s receptiveness to experiences. Dr.
Laramie uses a variety of teaching methods that include using flash cards, practicing
using different physical activities like jump roping, and teaching language in the context
of historical texts. These experiences will help her maintain her abilities as her brain

3. begins to “prune” the grey matter in later adolescence.
Akeelah’s exceptional capacity to learn language is initially inhibited by
Akeelah’s resistance to using her ability. It takes an order from the principal to convince
Akeelah to enter the school spelling bee. Akeelah’s initial resistance to being a part of the
spelling bee appears to be a result of the negative social pressure she receives from peers.
Akeelah’s closest friend is supportive but does not have the same interest or talent in
academic activities. Bernt points out that young people tend to be friends with teens who
have similar academic achievement and attitudes towards school (ctd in Steinberg 181). It
is not surprising therefore that Akeelah’s lack of sympathetic support from peers may
lead to a feeling Akeelah describes at the beginning of the movie; she does not quite fit in
with other teens. Besides her close friend, other peers are openly hostile; not long after
Akeelah receives her A+ on her spelling test, two classmates beat her up in the
schoolyard and taunt her for being a “braniac.” Researchers who study racial formation in
teens have found that among African American teenagers “braniacs” may be negatively
stigmatized because they are “acting white.” Fordham and Ogbu’s groundbreaking study
proposed that African American youth develop an “oppositional identity” as they
recognize the systematic exclusion of Black people in society (ctd in Tatum 60).
Educational achievement is coded as “white” because white teachers, administrators, and
curriculum favor the majority white cultural values and histories in most educational
contexts (61).
While this expression of oppositional identity inhibits Black students’ academic
achievement, Tatum makes an important point that the problem is not the fault of the
students. Instead, “what is problematic is that young people are operating with a very

4. limited definition of what it means to be Black, based largely on cultural stereotypes”
(62). For Akeelah, Dr. Laramie is a role model who counteracts those stereotypes. He
provides a positive example of a successful Black man who not only has accomplished
the task that Akeelah is setting out to accomplish – winning the National Spelling Bee
Championship – but he has also built a successful career in academia. Furthermore, Dr.
Laramie is purposeful in utilizing essays and reading material that teach Akeelah about
significant figures in Black American history. Dr. Laramie’s teaching works against the
prominence of Anglo-American curricular material that Tatum identified. Additionally,
Dr. Laramie helps educate Akeelah to be culturally aware. Berry explains that teens that
have supportive family, school, and peer experiences are better able to “place culturally
distorted and marginalized television portrayals” and be less affected by their
discouraging affects (59). Akeelah’s educational experiences as depicted in the film help
teach Akeelah to resist negative stereotypes and understand herself in a more nuanced
way.
Now that I have examined some elements of the content of the film, I will consider
the effects the story might have on viewers, particularly the target audience: young teens.
I argue that this film presents a strong and nuanced model of an early adolescent girl that
would be a positive influence on teen viewers, particularly African American teens. In his
article, Gordon Berry explains the significant impact that television can have on teens.
Teens change their attitudes about people and activities based on what they see on
television, according to research cited by Berry (Leifer ctd in Berry 58). Therefore it is
important to create a body of what Berry describes as “new socializing forces,” new
media that positively represents youth of color and helps them establish positive attitudes

5. about themselves and others in a multi-racial society (57). The development of “new
socializing forces” may be seen as one way to respond to Tatum’s call for more culturally
sensitive pedagogy. Tatum specifically talks about positive identity development for
teens of color as a process of developing an “emissary identity, ” or youth who can be
culturally aware advocates for their racial group. Akeelah’s educational experience with
Dr. Laramie and in the spelling bee competitions seems to represent a step towards her
development as an “emissary.” She is taught about role models who have been emissaries
in the past and she also becomes a representative of her school and her community as she
progresses in the spelling bee competitions.
The film seems to intentionally counter common racial stereotypes about African
Americans but it is not consistent in resisting racial stereotyping. The Asian American
character Dylan is the most obvious example of racial stereotyping. Hamamoto identifies
one common media stereotype of Asian Americans as “evil geniuses” and Dylan,
particularly in the beginning, is portrayed in this light (ctd in Berry 59). When Akeelah
first visits the school that two other spelling bee contestants attend, she runs into Dylan.
He challenges her to spell a word that she has never heard before and smirks when she is
unable to spell it. Later in the film, Akeelah and Dylan face off over a game of Scrabble
and Dylan beats Akeelah and once again scoffs at her aspirations to be a spelling bee
champion. Often, shots of Dylan are accompanied by intense music with gongs that
remind viewers of Dylan’s Asian identity and distract from any character development.
While Dylan’s character reiterates stereotypes, Javier, whose name and features
suggest that he is Hispanic, are not highlighted. He is a well-developed character who is
likeable and nuanced and his fancy birthday party and large house indicate that he comes

6. from a middle-class background. In contrast to Dylan, Javier’s character does seem to
resist racial stereotyping. Colsant and Subervi-Velez observe that Hispanic characters are
almost absent from commercial entertainment television and middle-class Hispanic
families are especially rare (ctd in Berry 59). It is gratifying to see a representation of a
Hispanic character that resists this trend. It offers teens who watch the film the chance to
be affected by media that portrays Hispanics as individuals for whom racial identity is
only one part of their identity.
Both because of its inadequacies and its strengths, this film highlights the need for
more movies and other media that will help youth resist stereotypes and envision
themselves as a good kind of “different.” The incentive to make more films that portray
strong and nuanced youth of color is strong. Citing Chisman, Berry argues for the need
for diversity in media because of the fact that the U.S. population is changing; by the
middle of the 21st century, the majority of the population will be people of color. The
success of youth development is therefore tied to the successful creation of new films and
other media. These films and other media will improve upon what “Akeelah the Bee”
presents by helping teens imagine a multi-racial society that does not inhibit young
people’s success by bombarding them with racial stereotypes but rather celebrates young
people’s growth and potential during this critical period.