The Blind Side (2009)

For a sports-themed film, The Blind Side was a surprisingly polarizing film upon its release in 2009. Many people saw it as a simple, straightforward, uplifting and inspiring film about human connections, while a seemingly equal amount of people saw aspects of it as racist, classist, and generally offensive. Regardless of one's opinion on the film, it is hard to disagree with the fact that it is a movie that gets people talking.

The Blind Side centers around the true-story of the wealthy Tuohy family in Tennessee who took in a young African American man named Michael Oher. The family, consisting of the mother, Leigh Anne; the father Sean; the daughter, Collins; and the son S.J., spot Michael for the first time outside of the high school that Collins attends (which Michael also attends), standing outside in the rain, wearing nothing but shorts and a t-shirt. Therefore, one could say that the family initially brought Michael into their home out of pity. But after spending some time getting to know Michael, the family develops a strong relationship with him, practically—and eventually, legally—making him a part of their family. Despite that fact that—according to the film, anyway—the concept of football is completely foreign to Michael, he joins the high school football team. After a rough start, Leigh Anne is able to figure out exactly how to motivate Michael to perform well. Lo and behold, Michael's contributions are enough to essentially carry the football team and they are hugely successful. After working hard to keep his GPA afloat, Michael is able to accept an offer to play football at the University of Mississippi. The real-life Michael Oher went on to be drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in 2009. (“The Blind Side” n.d.)

In his essay “Across the Great Divide – Class,” Cunningham (2004) discusses the class differences between journalists and other media figures and those who consume the news that they convey. Essentially, journalists—consciously or not—will distort or misrepresent news stories because they relate to it differently than the general population. While Cunningham specifically refers to journalism and news media, the general idea of his writing can also be applied to film. It is interesting to compare Lee Daniels' film Precious:Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire to John Lee Hancock's The Blind Side. While anyone who has seen these films will likely be baffled by this comparison initially, but, with some consideration, it is logical: the protagonists of both are large, but amiable young African Americans who have been failed by the education system and whose home lives are abusive and/or negligent. The reason that this comparison relates to Cunningham's essay is that there is an enormous difference between the tone and overall message of each film, and that likely stems from the comparable difference between the backgrounds of each respective director. Lee Daniels came from a household of physical, emotional, and psychological abuse, and has struggled for years on end to reach the level of Hollywood at which directors and producers can easily receive funding from major studios to make the films they want to make (“Lee Daniels” n.d.). John Lee Hancock, on the other hand, seemingly came from a relatively positive background and decided to pursue filmmaking only after graduating from law school and practicing his craft for two years (“John Lee Hancock” n.d.). It is fairly plain to see that this contrast is reflected in the sharp contrast of their cinematic styles. Daniels' Precious is dark in terms of content, gritty in terms of style, and bleak in terms of outlook. It realistically represents the struggle that many African Americans, including Daniels himself, weather in order to survive. It is not a pleasant movie-going experience. Hancock's The Blind Side, however, is light, bright, fluffy, and positive. With those crowd-pleasing factors, though, The Blind Side sacrifices realism, while still under the guise of depicting a true story.

There are several aspects of The Blind Side that make it unrealistic and almost manipulatively positive. The most glaring example is when Leigh Anne approaches Michael's old friends and ends up threatening one of them with a gun that she is carrying. The specific lines and the manner in which they are delivered make this scene almost embarrassingly silly and awful. Another aspect is the frequent use of quick one-liners at the end of scenes, which leave the audience with the impression that whatever just happened in that scene was positive, even if the majority of it was tragic. Non-diegetic music is almost constantly used in the film and it is cliché in every way. Scenes that are supposed to emotional and dramatic use slow, melancholy music, while uplifting or generally positive scenes feature prominent use of happy, upbeat music. The general feel-good tone of the film, achieved via careful manipulation of mise-en-scène (e.g. using bright, warm, glowing colors and comfortable settings). In regards to cinematography, many low-angle shots are used on Michael in order to emphasize his large size and physical dominance over most people.

In her essay “My Left Tackle” (2007), Rachel Toor explains how the concept of the left tackle position and the responsibilities with which it is associated can be applied to many real-life scenarios. The article is compelling because it indirectly hits on one of the few positive techniques of the film The Blind Side, which is its analogous use of the left tackle position. In football, the left tackle's primary job is to protect a right-handed quarterback from being tackled by someone who is not within his field of vision—or, within his “blind side.” This protection allows said quarterback to concentrate solely on the play he is running, and it also greatly reduces the chances of being seriously injured, thereby allowing the quarterback to more successfully fulfill his duty. In the sense of the film, Michael Oher is a left tackle on the field, but Leigh Anne becomes the guardian of his blind side in his life. Although the Michael's helplessness seems exaggerated in the film, the Tuohy family undoubtedly gave him an opportunity that he likely would not have come by had they not reached out to him.

In the article “White Middle-Class Privilege: Social Class Bias and Implications for Training and Practice,” (2007) Ivey, Liu, and Pickett, Jr. thoroughly discuss the great divide present between white middle-class Americans and all of the lower-class minorities who often serve them on a daily basis. The Tuohy family, at least based on their portrayal in The Blind Side seems to actually be more upper-class than anything, but that only heightens the aforementioned divide. More than anything else, the prevailing theme of The Blind Side is class. Michael is depicted as fairly dumb and completely lacking in agency, and it seems as though he never would have survived in the world had the Tuohy family not reached out to him. But this simply reinforces the stereotype that all people in the lower class are destitute and always need other people's help. The whole tone of the film seems rather condescending toward poor people—stating, in a way, that people who are not born into privilege can only hope to be lucky enough to be handed a “golden ticket” of sorts to go live with the white folks way up in their mansion in the sky.

References

Cherner, R. (2009). More Sides to 'The Blind Side' [Electronic version]. 1 December 2009. USA Today, 3c.

Cunningham, B. (2004). Across The Great Divide – Class [Electronic version]. Columbia Journalism Review, 43, 31-38.

Deacon, A. (2010). 'The Blind Side' and Putting Care into Action [Electronic version]. 5 February 2010. Christian Science Monitor, n.p.

Ivey, A.E., Pickett, Jr., T., and Liu, W.M. (2007). White Middle-Class Privilege: Social Class Bias and Implications for Training and Practice [Electronic version]. Journal of Multicultural Counseling & Development, 35, 194-206.

“John Lee Hancock”. (n.d.). Internet Movie Database. Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0359387/

“Lee Daniels”. (n.d.). Internet Movie Database. Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0200005/

Persall, S. (2009). It's Heartwarming, Okay? [Electronic version]. 19 November 2009. St. Petersburg Times, 5W.

Puig, C. (2009). 'Blind Side' Sidesteps Issues [Electronic version]. 20 November 2009. USA Today, 4d.

Scott, A.O. (2009). Two films swing into view from different corners of the movie cosmos;
'Precious' and 'Blind Side' engage, sort of, in a U.S. conversation on race [Electronic version]. 23 November 2009. The International Herald Tribune, 11.

“The Blind Side”. (n.d.). Internet Movie Database. Retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0878804/

Toor, R. (2007). My Left Tackle [Electronic version]. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 53.47.

Zelkithi, T. (2009). Are movies Blind Side and Precious simply two versions of the same story? [Electronic version]. The Jacksonville Free Press, 23, 9.