By Linda Winsh-Bolard
There are many improbabilities in this film, possibly the most amazing being that it is a true story. It is of course, All American: a poor boy who gets to play in the NFL. The second most amazing thing about it is how enjoyable it is.
Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron) was born to drug addicted Mother, removed from his home and siblings by social services and learned to be silent survivor.
Quiet and unresponsive Michael is uneducated but certainly not stupid. He’s learned the street life very well; he operates unnoticed; he is also brave.
He is propelled out of his environment when he is pushed into private Christian School Wingate by a smart janitor. Wingate’ board is shamed into accepting Michael by their coach who applies two pronged guilt: this is a brave boy and this is the right thing to do.
The coach saw talent in Michael as well guts, to approach establishment t like Wingate is hard with no connections or money.
This is director’s movie. It’s Hancock’s directorial skills that make it pleasant to watch with no sentimentality, sugar coating or tear jerking. I find it odd that so much emphasis is put on Sandra Bullock, who plays Leigh Anne Tuohy, she is excellent Leigh Ann, but excellent acting is not enough to make good film. Strong story and good director are a must.
Medial obsession with Tuohy’s fundamental Christian and Republican beliefs is equally odd. The film doesn’t promote or gloss over either. Leigh Ann and her family are simply trying to be good people. They don’t find it an easy task. Leigh Ann is not blind to her shortcomings or to her privilege. She knows that her son is bribing his classmates to get what he wants. She knows her money and position allow her to get what she wants. She also knows that ability and talent alone are not enough to get ahead. On his own, even blessed with usual talent, Michael would get nowhere.
That should be lesson for al of us: we all need help.
The most quoted sentences from the film are usually taken out of their context. Leigh Ann cuts off her “friends’” comments but not before she mentions that the salads is overpriced and while she getting the check to pay for all of them. Power of money is displayed subtly but clearly. I am in a prayer group with the DA, member of NRA and I am always packing, she says referring to her gun. Her connections protect her more than her gun; she knows it and uses it. And when Miss Sue admits to being a Democrat during her hiring interview with Leigh Ann, it again shows the barriers: Sue is an excellent teacher whose beliefs lost her a position in Wingate. That’s real life as much as the ghetto called Hurt Village. Amazing how many film critics missed it. Must be that living in their ivory towers blinds them.
It was probably essential to his acceptance by the Tuohys that Michael was simple minded, had he been raked by intellectual doubts rather than accepting, well mannered boy with strong protective instinct, he would have not fitted well with Leigh Ann and her family. Michael and Leigh Ann complement each other. They bring out the best in one another because who they are. Hancock understands this and presents that amazingly well. It would be nice if Hollywood moved away from star cult to director/screenplay writer’s abilities. We all would like more films like The Blind Side. Human, real, showing our society and giving us something to think about.
I doubt that Hancock wanted to make a ‘moving movie”. I expect he wanted to shoot a warning showing us how destructive social disassociation, often parading as “individualism”, can be for single people and society as whole. By all means, be a strong individual, talented if possible, but never forget that no man is an island and we all share responsibility for everything that happens.
The film is based on Michael Lewis' book, The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game.
Directed by John Lee Hancock
Sandra Bullock (Leigh Anne Tuohy), Tim McGraw (Sean Tuohy), Quinton Aaron (Michael Oher), Kathy Bates (Miss Sue), Lily Collins (Collins Tuohy), Jae Head (S J Tuohy) and Ray McKinnon (Coach Cotton).
