Review of Bee Season (2005) by Kalestra R — 06 Mar 2007

If spelling is the way to reach the Ear of God, as Richard Gere says the Kaballah says in this movie, I've been touching God for years. It's also an awfully persuasive argument against permissivism in spelling.

I have loved the way words [i]look[/i] for a very long time, and many of them taste good on the tongue. In [i]The Handmaid's Tale[/i], Margaret Atwood's main character, "Offred," talks about the same thing when she's playing Scrabble with the Commander. There is a power and strength in words, whether they're the way to the Ear of God or not.

Actually, I don't really believe they are, but that's in no small part because I don't believe there is [i]a[/i] way to the Ear of God. Has the son who is searching for a way found it in Hare Krishna? Has the father (Richard Gere) found it in Kaballah? (Interestingly, in English, it doesn't really matter much how you spell that particular word, since it's a transliteration from another language, like "Hannukah." My sister had a Russian friend in high school who didn't much care how you spelled her name for that very reason.) Or maybe Richard Gere himself has found it in Buddhism.

Honestly, I don't think any human is capable of understanding God, so whatever way works for you is better, I think, than forcing yourself to meet someone else's way. I know people who don't believe it's possible to believe that, but that's their problem and not mine; I [i]do[/i] believe it all the same.

Besides, if spelling words is the way to the Ear of God, poor Graham is never going to reach it, because he's dyslexic. That would be a cruel joke, wouldn't it?

At any rate, I think this is the larger issue of the movie; how it changes the familial interactions is just one aspect. I think the problem most people have with the movie is that "how to seek God" is a bigger concept than we're used to encountering in the average Richard Gere movie, where we're usually more interested in "Will he find True Love with Julia Roberts?".