Vehicle film? Football film? Or Stevie Wonder biopic? What is The Blind Side?

Rating: 7/10 (1 March 2010)

There's a certain time of year when I attend the cinema's on a very frequent basis. This time in Australia is usually the summer period. However, I am not usually frequenting to the cinema to see the summer blockbuster releases, like the good majority of cinema patrons. Summer cinema release does not mean summer blockbuster to me, but instead equates to the Academy Award contenders.
In this time, I see pretty much any film that is a sure fire flick to be nominated for an Academy Award. This surge in cinema viewing that occurs across the world can be seen as one of the huge upsides to the very controversial award giving group that is synonymous with shaky and questionable choices.
In this time leading up to the Academy Awards, I became aware of an advance screening of John Lee Hancock's The Blind Side, a football family drama about a Southern family who takes in a disadvantaged black youth and aid him along with love, support and encouragement all the way to the NFL.
This is not my usual type of film that I attend. The family friendly feel good, "you can do anything if you have love" story does not usually fly on my radar for too long before I wipe it off, let alone a sports film. However, The Blind Side had a leg up being nominated for Best Picture Oscar, and having its star, Sandra Bullock, as the frontrunner to win the Best Actress prize. So with this reason in toe, I speed off to see it in it's advanced release. And boy did it surprise me.
Set in Memphis, Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy (played by Tim McGraw and Bullock) discover Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron) walking in the rain one night, with a dirty shirt in his plastic bag as his only possession and nowhere to stay. You can pretty much guess what happens from here on end. The usual conflicts and resolutions follow in a very neat order, which is to be expected of a Hollywood produced film with a Hollywood superstar as it's leading attraction. And yet, somehow, I found myself continually smiling and wanting to bursts out into applause for many different reasons. Most importantly, there is the issue of representation of race.
The last year in cinema has seen two different and interesting portrayals of disadvantages black youths. In Lee Daniel's Precious, we see an physically and sexually abused and overweight 16 year old girl, who is pregnant with her second baby from her father, and who cannot read. With the aid of a teacher, she manages to breakthrough and discover above all else, the power of love.
The similarities are seen within The Blind Side in this regard, which A. O. Scott sees in an article he wrote a few months ago in the New York Times (click here to read it). Scott notes that both films portray the disadvantaged youths as overcoming their obstacles with the help of teachers (in Precious) and a rich Southern white skinned family (in The Blind Side). The message that seems to be reiterated in the final moments of The Blind Side, is that without this aid, these kids would just be another causality in a poor, disadvantaged, ghetto life.
There have also been critiques, which Scott among others acknowledge, that see Precious as further perpetuating a negative stereotype, whereas The Blind Side is being more delicate about the issue of race, yet at the same time propelling an idea of a fairytale saviour through the guise of a wealthy white family.
After seeing these two films in a period of a week, I would have to strongly disagree that either one perpetuates any negative stereotype regarding race. While these issues are questioned, both films instead swim in the notion of overcoming adversity through the support of well wishing and benevolent forces.
To this matter, both of these films are based on true stories, with The Blind Side being explicitly based on the story of Michael Oher, and Precious being based upon an amalgamation of many girls like the main character, written by "Sapphire" (a pseudonym for Romona Lofton, teaching in the projects of Harlem).
Being made for a fairly modest Hollywood budget of $27 million dollars, The Blind Side has received extremely successful critical reception as well as impressive box office takings. In it's opening weekend, it came second only to New Moon raking in $34 million. However, in it's second weekend, the film took in $40 million, a large step up, which is so rarely heard of. The Blind Side has also been the first film to make over $200 million with having a female name receiving sole top billing over the film.
The film has been Bullock's most successful box office draw and has drowned her in awards from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (the Golden Globes), Critics Choice, Screen Actor's Guild and what I predict (although an easy prediction to make) an Academy Award.
The Blind Side is rounded off with very good performances by Aaron, McGraw, Kathy Bates and Ariane Lenox (who plays Michael's drug addicted mother, and who in real life won a Tony Award for her portrayal of Mrs Muller in the Original Broadway production of John Patrick Shanley's Doubt).
While it is a cliché filled film, it still succeeds in presenting all the necessarily elements of a successful family sports drama. Great story, great performances, and leaves you with a great warm feeling.