‘The Blind Side’: A touchdown
There’s a tendency to always look askance at any film in which the story focuses on an African-American who is given a helping hand by a white person.
Not that there haven’t been egregious examples of films in which the beneficent white person plays savior to the beleaguered black person. But not all films with that set-up are condescending, as some would have it.
Still, the politics of race are so muddled that it’s automatically read in some quarters as paternalistic and arrogant, as though this is Hollywood’s perpetual message: that the only possible way that a black person could get out from under is with help from someone white.
But what if a story is true? Sure, it’s easy to dismiss “The Blind Side” as another of these films, based on the commercials – “Sandra Bullocks saves a Negro.” It’s only when you actually watch the whole film and see her spitfire performance – and the heartfelt one by newcomer Quinton Aaron as Michael Oher, the teen whose live she changes – that you see how unfair that kind of generalization can be.
Based on Oher’s true story, “The Blind Side” is adapted from the book by Michael Lewis, about the sudden change in Oher’s life when Leigh Ann Tuohy (Bullock) became part of it, almost by accident.
A homeless teen who is accepted into a Christian private school, Oher is lost in that world, with no study habits, poor reading skills and no home. But the gentle giant becomes a figure of fascination for Tuohy’s son, S.J. (Jae Head), a much younger student at the same school. He chats Big Mike up one day before his mother picks up him up – and later, on a chilly evening as they’re leaving the high school after a volleyball game of her daughter’s, Leigh Anne spots Big Mike walking in the dark and cold, in shorts and with no place to go. So she takes him in.
Leigh Anne is a designer and socialite in Memphis, conservative wife of a well-off businessman who owns dozens of Taco Bell franchises. She welcomes Oher into her home out of a motherly sense of concern for a person in trouble – and is so moved by his story that she offers to let him live with her family, which he does.
Before long, he has his own room; she helps him learn to study and buys him clothes (he favors striped rugby shirts). He improves his grades, pleased at his ability to achieve – and gets them to a level where he’s eligible to go out for football (though he’s never really played before).
Leigh Anne also gradually unearths Michael’s history: child of a crack-addicted mother, his life spent shuttling between uncaring foster homes. He has always known want and seldom received kindness, until the Tuohys adopt him.
There are few big melodramatic scenes – a key football game, an encounter with his old neighborhood crew – but plenty of small and affecting dramatic ones. This moving film is about the little moments of emotional discovery – for both Leigh Anne and Michael.
It’s nice to see Bullock play a character who isn’t ditzy or dithering. She imbues this good-hearted woman with a hard, shiny exterior that doesn’t disguise the protective instincts of a mother bear. She’s a snippy know-it-all – but an endearing one, who isn’t afraid to speak her mind, even in the most harrowing of circumstances.
Aaron has the saddest eyes I’ve ever seen and uses them to good effect as a massive teen who has never learned his own strength. Aaron captures the incongruity of someone who is able disguise his fear because his size intimidates others. He also shows us a different Michael, when the Tuohys’ care brings him out of himself.
The real Michael Oher is now a rookie lineman in the NFL, a first-round draft choice of the Baltimore Ravens after an all-American college career at Ole Miss. But he wouldn’t be there without the care and love of a pistol-packing Republican socialite from an affluent Southern suburb, who took an interest at a point when no one else would.
Her spirit and generosity for a stranger are the heart of “The Blind Side.” Ultimately, race has nothing to do with the truth of the emotions this film elicits from an audience. It’s a solid movie, whether you’re color blind or not.
November 18th, 2009 at 4:52 am
I just read the book, loved it, and watched Michael Oher play on Monday night for the Ravens. Looking forward to seeing the movie. Very true that this film will be reviewed through a filter that for some is harsh and politicized with “white guilt”. (Eg. Village Voice review on RT). This is a true story and from the reviews the film attempts to remain true to life.
November 19th, 2009 at 5:08 am
Thank you for a review that actually refers to the movie rather than focusing exclusively on the races of the protagonists.
November 23rd, 2009 at 4:05 am
Hi Marshall–
I applaud your review of this film. Cheryl and I saw it last night in St. Paul. It brought back memories for both of us. Cheryl took a white “lost kid” (with no father and a drug addict mom) into her home for over five years to get him through school. He did earn a high school diploma.
And I had a collegiate buddy who was a big, “incorrigible” inner city black kid who was taken into his coach’s home, became his state’s heavy weight wrestling champ and then earned a role as the starting nose tackle for the Gophers.
We hear a lot about what’s wrong with our society. But there are some very good people, like Leigh Ann Tuohy and the other two families who have truly made a positive difference in disadvantaged kids’ lives. We need to identify the good ones, herd them together, and give them the support and recognition they deserve.
I hope all is well with you. Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Hanukah!
Al
November 27th, 2009 at 10:17 pm
I will tell you right now; I hate football. I went to see this movie because I knew it would have a personal resonance with me. We are not rich or evangelical. But my family informally adopted a 19 year old boy who happens to be Hispanic and who has had a difficult life. I care for him in the same way Leigh Ann Tuohy does for Michael Oher, only we are having a few more struggles along the way and will remain to be seen what the results are. But this story inspires me to keep on trying.
November 28th, 2009 at 2:21 am
It keeps bombarding us (for 4 years?): the princess frog, the blind side, etc…., yet another movie that big govt uses to brainwash us (the gullible ones) that interracial is good, White equals black etc. Obama voters and the politically correct will be drooling all over this sirupy movie
November 29th, 2009 at 8:32 am
Wow! I didn’t see this as a story about race or football at all. This was a story about a child waiting 17 years for someone to love him. I appreciated it as a story about advancing up Maslow’s pyramid from preservation to self actualization. This was a kid who knew only ‘survival’ skills and ended up with much more…from survive to THRIVE. It was a story about investing in a child and seeing his potential materialize. Love transforms lives. Great movie!
January 24th, 2010 at 12:41 pm
this is one of the best movies in theatre
for the past two months. the producer lightly
touched on many controversial subjects
such as racial equality, the gaps between
wealthy and poor school districts, gaps in
child development and other issues. However,
the heart of the movie is about reaching
out with a helping hand without any expectation of any rewards. It took michael
oher about one year to return the affection
that Leigh ann tuohy showered upon him
as well as her two children on a consistent basis. helping him to raise his grade point average to 2.5 took a family effort-acccoring to leigh an tuohy.even collins
tuohy was helping out with his mathematics
and english at his senior year. However,
michael oher-himself- had to have the determination and tenacity to continue
to make it happen. this is one of the most
unique story happened in many years.
February 15th, 2010 at 6:44 am
Great movie — a movie that could do a lot of good even to be shown in a teen class, except that is, for Leigh Ann’s reference to a male body part. That could so easily have been left out.