THE STORY – Michael Oher, a homeless black teen, has drifted in and out of the school system for years. Then Leigh Anne Tuohy and her husband, Sean, take him in. The Tuohys eventually become Michael’s legal guardians, transforming both his life and theirs. Michael’s tremendous size and protective instincts make him a formidable force on the gridiron, and with help from his new family and devoted tutor, he realizes his potential as a student and football player.
THE CAST – Sandra Bullock, Quinton Aaron, Tim McGraw, Jae Head, Lily Collins & Kathy Bates
THE TEAM – John Lee Hancock (Director/Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 129 Minutes
Time isn’t always kind to films, and a recent example of one whose reputation has suffered in several different ways since its release is 2009’s “The Blind Side.” What was poised as a “feel-good” story about a wealthy white family taking in a young homeless Black man named Michael Oher and helping him achieve NFL dreams has been anything but a ray of sunshine. Initial reviews picked up on the film’s white savior complex, which holds very strong upon a revisit. Oher has also voiced his criticisms of the way the film portrays him and his intelligence. But most heartbreaking is that Oher filed a lawsuit in 2023 alleging that the Tuohy family never actually adopted him and instead created a conservatorship to make business deals in his name, leading to them, not Oher, earning royalties from “The Blind Side.” All of this paints a rough image of the Oscar-winning film so many years later, but for this retrospective review, we’ll stick to what’s on the screen in John Lee Hancock’s family/sports drama. For the most part, “The Blind Side” is a film that the whole family can enjoy, especially if they don’t view it from a critical lens. There are sweet moments to be found, and Sandra Bullock has some punchy deliveries, but its insensitive, stereotypical portrayal of Black Americans and heavy white savior story are beyond cringe.
Michael (Quinton Aaron) is a shy young man who has lived a difficult life. His mother is a drug addict, he doesn’t know his father, and he has never had a stable life due to living in multiple foster care homes. But there’s a lot of potential within him just waiting to be tapped into. A friend’s father asks Burt Cotton (Ray McKinnon), the football coach of Wingate Christian School in Tennessee, to help enroll both his son and Michael. Despite Michael’s poor academic record, Cotton recognizes his athleticism and gets him through the doors.
However, being the new kid is difficult, and Michael is one of the few Black students in his private school. He keeps to himself, trying to avert the gaze of 20 white students in each class, and doesn’t apply himself in class, mainly because he doesn’t understand the material. It’s here where “The Blind Side” begins to do a big disservice to the way they approach the character of Michael. They show him as a clueless, dumb child who can’t read or be bothered to do any work and as someone who can’t learn anything. Teachers are apathetic toward him and don’t care to work with him to improve his grades, except for one teacher (a white woman) who takes the time to meet him where he’s at academically.
In general, most people avoid Michael because of his large stature and, let’s face it, the color of his skin. Only youngster SJ (Jae Head) is interested in getting to know him and treating him like a friend. Others who acknowledge him are often filled with sadness when they realize that he’s coming from a poor background, such as SJ’s mother, the strong-willed Leigh Anne (Bullock). After the family spots Michael walking through the pouring rain one night, Leigh Anne invites him in. Soon after, Michael is welcomed in by the Tuohy family to spend holidays with them and live with them, giving the young man a warm home to rest his head.
The more time Michael spends with Leigh Anne, wealthy businessman/patriarch Sean Sr. (Tim McGraw), SJ, and Collins (Lily Collins), the more the young man starts to succeed. It’s also here where the film kicks its white savior complex into overdrive. The film suggests that his life can only improve thanks to a wealthy white family. Otherwise, he would have continued down a bad path and never made anything of himself. Now, this is not a knock on the kindness that the Tuohy family shows Michael, but rather on how heavily “The Blind Side” leans into this problematic trope. It’s so obviously on display when Leigh Anne and Michael visit his old neighborhood, which is full of Black stereotypes. The residents are meant to look scary and ones you should avoid (Michael tells Leigh Anne not to get out of the car at one point); they’re poor, and an eviction notice is posted on his mother’s old home. When Leigh Anne, hoping to adopt Michael officially, meets with his mother, Denise (Adriane Lenox), the mother is totally out of it, as if she’s strung out on drugs and can’t remember who Michael’s father is. If the goal was to make this part of town meet every single cliche possible, mission accomplished. Some might say it’s unfair to critique the film on these aspects because it’s based on a true story. While that’s true, it’s also true that it heavily plays into stereotypes to make Michael’s upbringing pale in comparison to the life that the Tuohys are living and offering him.
Similarly, when Michael begins playing football, the film makes it seem like he doesn’t know a single thing about the sport, not even the basics of defending his teammates. It’s only when Leigh Anne steps in, for another white savior moment, to tell him he needs to protect his team like they’re his family that it all clicks for him. Though Bullock has some great moments as Leigh Anne when she gets to show people a piece of her mind, the incessant portrayal of Leigh Anne “saving” Michael’s life ends up leaving you with a bad taste in your mouth. You can only take so many “sad eyes” from her when Michael says something that makes her realize how good she has it in life.
But not everything is gloomy in this film. For many, this is a crowd-pleasing film that’ll make viewers feel warm inside, especially those not looking at its negative aspects. They’ll love that a well-off family opens their arms to a young man being left behind. Those stories are certainly heartwarming, and there’s a way this film could have been universally beloved if it didn’t lean so heavily into this idea of white superiority. The film shines the most when we see natural sibling moments between Michael and SJ. It’s sweet to see them jamming out in the car together and Michael doing anything he can to protect his little brother, who is so enamored with him. In these moments, Aaron gets to add more liveliness to Michael, who is otherwise written as a flat and passive person.
While many films have had questionable fall-outs after their release, “The Blind Side” has, rightfully, been critiqued for its wrongs. From its egregious white savior complex to its lack of character development to its misinformation, it’s a movie that needed a lot of rewriting before hitting theaters. While the film earned Bullock an Oscar, it’s a win that comes with a lot of complex and mixed emotions, as her character is a big reason why this film has so many problematic aspects. But some viewers will be able to look past it all and, in their eyes, enjoy a feel-good story about perseverance and opening our hearts to others. It’s certainly a story that’s needed now, just without all the stereotypes.
