Just a feel good story

Rating: 8/10 (12 December 2019)

The Blind Side is a film about a young homeless man named Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron), who is eventually taken in by a caring woman Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock). This might be considered a sports story because it revolves around a young man becoming an All-American and NFL player. However, this story is really about a man's fortune being turned around by a loving woman and family, and in turn, he also changing their lives forever for the better.
The theme of this film is that we can never judge a book by its cover. In this film we see Leigh Anne's compassion and Michael's true character turning into a lifelong bond between the Tuohy family and Michael Oher.
Michael is a very large African American man, and many people may be afraid of him just by looking at him. Leigh Anne meets him, and quickly they begin to bond. She looks past his physical traits and she can see the man that he truly is. In the film, she invites him to stay for a night. That turns into him staying every other night; at first, her husband, Sean, seems to be a little hesitant. However, she is a very strong-willed woman and convinces him that it is the right thing to do.
Throughout the film, we see Michael's fortune completely turned around, but we also see the Tuohy family's lives changed for the better because of Michael. We see at the beginning of the film that Leigh Anne's daughter is not on board with bringing him in. She is very skeptical, and I believe afraid of him. Once she realizes the person that he is, you see a bond grow between them and a brother-sister bond form.
This film reminded me of watching Coach Carter. Another sports film, but it was about a person who cared more than just what happened on the court, or in the case of The Blind Side, on the field. Coach Carter and Leigh Anne Tuohy's compassion for the people in their lives and not caring as much about what they do in sports, but what impact they could have on a young person's life in directing them in the right direction.
When watching this film, I thought the filmmakers did a great job of using different film angles to show how big Michael was, compared to other people. He is a very large man and the filmmakers used camera angles to enhance his size and spotlight his overall size compared to others. The filmmakers also kept using the motif of lower-class vs. the upper class in this film. We repeatedly see people questions Leigh Anne and her motives. We see them make it obvious to see who the upper class was and who was a lower class by clothing, homes, vehicles, etc. Showing was important because Michael was a homeless man, and the Touhy family were very wealthy.
The Blind Side is a heart-warming film about how compassion towards other lives can be changed forever. Michael and Leigh Anne show us that you can't judge a book by its cover. Both characters come with their own biases based on their social statuses. However, in this film both people show their true character, and they both benefited from a lifelong bond.