Spellbound

In the movie, Spellbound, different young students' journeys through the national spelling bee are explained. The kids and their parents are very different from one another, especially Neil's and Ashley's parents. Neil's parents drilled him every day for hours on all the different words. His father spent more time on the camera than Neil did and was determined to make Neil the champion. He bragged about his training plan, the house he built on his own, and during the competition it was stated that Neil's grandfather in India had paid 1,000 people to pray for Neil to win the spelling bee. If Neil won, 5,000 people would be fed in celebration of the success. Neil's parents and grandparents seem more obsessed with Neil's victory than Neil does. Ashley's mother is a single mother however, and is focused on how great Ashley's achievements are compared to what was expected of her. She is extremely proud of Ashley, even when she fails, and makes it seem like the greatest achievement from winning the competition would be the money prize the winner receives. She is very realistic though in her views of what Ashley can achieve because she states it'd be nice to have that money but pretty unlikely. Although both parents are pretty supportive of their children, Neil's parents focus on victory only while Ashley's mother focuses on the happiness of her daughter and the possible income she could receive because of it.