josephmayes

Back in 2009, when I first saw this movie (probably on some sorta field trip), I didn't really think much of it. Anything that is associated around sports I am not interested in. This apathy extends to movies as well, so when I first watched the Blind Side, I thought it was just... fine. The acting of course really was well done, Sandra Bullock and Quiton Aaron hit out it of the park, but even then this movie is pretty forgettable and largely schmaltzy oscarbait. So back then I would've given it a 6/10. Emphasis on *back then.*

Nowadays...yikes. Recent revelations regarding Michael Oher and the relationship with his surrogate family have re-contextualized the Blind Side and for the worst. Making the Blind Side one of the most stunning depictions of aging poorly. As it turns out, the Tuohy family, the ones who looked after Michael, did not adopt Michael Oher. Rather he was tricked into a conservatorship agreement, which allocated all money to his guardians, and not to him. Money made through the NFL? To the Tuohys. Advertising? The Tuohys. Even the box office numbers of a movie all about Michael Oher, not a single cent to the actual eponymous football player. A stark contrast to the film's version of an earnest family of the "Selfless Southerners" cliche.

Which finally leads to the film's second most poorly aged aspect: the depictions. This movie simplifies and scrubs a lot of nuisances and filled this world with cardboard cutouts. It is uncomfortable in how the Tuohys are portrayed as white saviors whilst Michael Oher is portrayed as a cliched, 2-dimensional gentle giant who portrayed as "dumb." When that isn't the case. A potentially interesting story about Michael beating the odds of a troubled early life of poverty, foster care and poor grades to become a NFL legend has been usurped by a middle-class white savior saving a downtrodden minor. Sadly ironic how that reflects reality.