By: rob

rob — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 04:54:49 +0000

I am shocked that a website touting the buzzwords “race”,”equality”, and “justice” would give a movie like The Blind Side such a bad review. As well as relying on a few untrue observations of the movie, Paula Wood completely misses the main message of the movie, and the hope it offers society, but tackles every other possible source of motivation for the Tuohes’ generocity from conspiracy theories involving their ties to Ole Miss, to racial guilt. Wood even suggests that the movie sets up whites as heroes and blacks as villians. Ms. Paula asserts that whites help Oher, while blacks degrade him. This is simply not true; a couple of examples that contradict this assertion are even mentioned in the article. The entire Tuohe family is ridiculed for their association with Mike, the author mentions the ridicule that Leigh Anne recieves, but her daughter is also ridiculed, and forced to stand up for her new brother. The school board, not ten minutes into the film also points out quite clearly the opposition of the mostly-white school board to Mike’s application. Contrary to what is stated in the article, the movie is far from a “feel-good, no-guilt film.” The confrontation scene between Leigh Anne and her friends is guilt-loaded enough to make even the most ardent Affirmative Actor feel convicted of murder. The film also makes everyone who watches it think how many times they have passed a man similar to Mike Oher by on the highway, without even slowing down. Ms. Paula asks: “Why are children like Precious Jones or Michael Oher systematically neglected in our society and what remedies beyond individual grit and determination or rich white benefactors are necessary to make a difference?” and that is precisely where the beauty of the film comes in. The Tuohe family was able to take a homeless boy in, not because he deserved it, not because it was politically correct, not because they pitied him, but because they could, and it was the right thing to do. This is where the religious aspect of the movie (which Wood largely ignores) comes in. Christians like the Tuohes don’t need social structuralist principles, racial guilt, or political ideologies to make a difference; their motivation does not come from race, politics, social pressure, or even intellect. Christians help those in need because they believe it is the right thing to do–just like Leigh Anne Tuohe. The Blind Side offers a hopeful glimpse into a world in which people don’t care what political party you subscribe to, or what color your skin is (for good or ill); a world where people care less about what they and others deserve, and more about what they can give–a world in which people do the things they do not out of self interest or a politician’s idea, but because it is the right thing to do.

Comments on: Blinded by ‘The Blind Side’?

By: rob