Commentators on "Akeelah and the Bee" opined it dealt with multiple themes, including race and racism, poverty, educational system, competition and sportsmanship, self-esteem, self-image, stigma, community, friendship, gender and sexism, age, class and classism, and empowerment. Atchison affirmed that its focus is not the spelling but "a kid who learns what she's good at, becomes proud of that and doesn't want to hide it anymore. It's overcoming the fear of being great, before you can be great." Sid Ganis described it as a film "about hope and doing great things against all the odds," while a "New York Press" reviewer declared it "addresses the human condition".