Artifact Analysis: The Blind Side

The Blind Side, by John Lee Hancock, is based on a book by the journalist, Michael Lewis, which
depicts the true story of Michael Oher and the impact the Tuohy family had on his life. Michael
Oher, a homeless black teen, has drifted in and out of the school system for years. This is where
Leigh Anne Tuohy and Sean Tuohy, the high-class white family, take him in for one night, as he
was wandering the streets. This eventually turns into them becoming Michael’s legal guardians
and transforms not only his life but also theirs. In this new environment, he realizes his
potential as a student and football player. With some challenges along the way, involving his
past life, family, and his education, he is able to overcome them and become a successful NFL
player. This multiple award-winning film not only brings up the themes of race, sports, family
systems, and education [1] but also has ideas that fit into the theories of religion and popular
culture, particularly popular culture as religion. This involves the argument that popular culture
serves as religion or functions like religion, which are non-spiritual but have the ability to induce
meaning-making to one’s life. The Blind side specifically uses the journey, struggles, goals, and
everyone’s faith in Michael Oher to clearly display this theory. All in all, this exploration will also
consider a close reading of what ways this journey is faithful, a breakdown by the means of
production, and the consumption and reception of how this film was received by its audience.

Close Reading

This film, like many others, promotes religious values, Christianity in this case, and tries to
symbolize what it takes to be an ideal Christian. It portrays the beliefs and expectations of good
behavior and moral values that come with it, but in a modern way [2]. As Emile Durkheim put it,
“Religion is not fundamentally about gods, it is about the group and how the group defines its
own good. Thus, as long as there is society [3].”, which is what the theory of popular culture as
religion is about. In the film, Michael’s uncle, Big Tony, brings him and his son to Briarcrest
Christian Academy, a prestigious private school, in hopes of getting them both a better
education. Despite the school boards reluctance of letting Michael join because of his bad
grades, they ended up allowing it because of his ability to become a talented football player
and because of the faith the football coach had in Michael. He spread that faith along to the
board as well and didn’t fail to mention, “Look at the wall (School Seal), Christian! We either
take that seriously or we paint over it [4].” This one act of religious belief had changed
Michael’s life. From here on in his story, he had not only gotten a consistent education, but also
good grades, became a star football player, and last but not least, earned a permanent and
loving family. If this coach had not put his good Christian principles to use, Michael would not
have been able to meet Sean Tuohy, and all these events would have been highly unlikely. As
Leigh Anne Tuohy had said, "We absolutely believe that none of this was a fluke. ... This was
God-driven from the start [5]."

Means of Production

This film was originally a novel, The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, based on the true story of
Michael Oher, written by Michael Lewis, which was later made into a film by the writer and
director, John Lee Hancock. This film, its actors, and actresses have won awards ranging from
the ESPY’s to Oscars just showing how successful this film turned out to be [6]. The film also
made sure to include small but distinct Christian elements throughout the whole thing. This
includes the Christian private school, going to church every Sunday, mentioning faith and god at
every given moment, doing prayer before meals, and many more. The producers, Alcon
Entertainment, had made sure to capture Hollywood’s image of the good Christian [7]. They
also had the popular culture as religion aspect in mind while making this film, as mentioned by
John Lee Hancock: “The journey that Michael and the Tuohy family go on is the heart of the
movie [8]". This understanding of faith and the battles and ambitions in one’s journey by
everyone involved in this movie is what brings out this theory and what made this film such a
hit [9].

Consumption and Reception

As mentioned previously, this film had earned many different awards, which included awards
that are voted for by the public, so in those terms, this film had been received by the public in a
positive way. As Greg Burris had stated, “The Blind side both partakes in and contributes to the
narrative of post-racial progress [10]”, by creating a story that both the liberals and
conservatives agree with, which essentially proves that “society can transform one of its
oppressed members into an ideal, post-racial citizen [11].” There are, however, some criticisms
about the film and how the characters were portrayed. The real-life Michael Oher had felt as
though his character had not been portrayed correctly in instances. In the film, he felt that he
was revealed as just dumb overall instead of the fact that he hadn’t had access to education
consistently, which made him like that. He mentioned that this was only in school specifically,
but not other matters, such as football, as he was shown to not know the rules of football when
in reality he did. This, in turn, had some viewers doubt the honesty of the ‘true story’ aspect of
the film [12]. All in all, the film was successful and had its fair share of positive reactions, as well
as some criticism.

In conclusion, The Blind Side, is portrayed as a Christian-centric, transformation story, but the
ways these religious elements are brought are not the traditional ones, and that’s what brings
out the beauty of this film. The idea of faith tied into the journey, goals, and struggles of
Michael Oher is what has been analyzed to prove the theory of popular culture as religion in
this film. Although faith is something we cannot see, it is something that many of us tend to
grasp onto in times of need and this film proves that it is worthwhile to do so.

[1] (Plaufcan, 317)

[2] (Pollastretti, Emily)

[3] (Klassen, 11)

[4] (Goodwyn, Hannah)

[5] (Mattingly, Terry)

[6] (Izzo, 277)

[7] (Pollastretti, Emily)

[8] (Levy, Emanuel)

[9] (Lewis, 51)

[10] (Burris, 27)

[11] (Burris, 27)

[12] (Burris, 28)

References

Burris, G. (2014). Race and class in the blind side. Cineaction,24-32. Retrieved from

http://myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/

Goodwyn, Hannah. “The Blind Side Spotlights Faith in Play.” CBN.com - The Christian

Broadcasting Network, The Christian Broadcasting Network Inc., 26 May 2016,

www1.cbn.com.

Izzo, David Garrett. Movies in the Age of Obama: The Era of Post Racial and Neo-Racist Cinema.

Rowman & Littlefield, 2015, Google Books, books.google.ca.

Klassen, Chris. Religion and Popular Culture: A Cultural Studies Approach. OUP Canada, 2014.

Levy, Emanuel. “Blind Side: Interview with Writer/Director John Lee Hancock.” Emanuel Levy, 7

Nov. 2009, emanuellevy.com.

Lewis, Michael. The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game. W.W. Norton and Company, 2009, Google

Books, books.google.ca.
Mattingly, Terry. “Faith on the Blind Side.” On Religion, TERRY MATTINGLY, 30 Nov. 2009,

www.tmatt.net/columns.

Plaufcan, Melissa R. “Avatar.” Journal of Feminist Family Therapy, vol. 22, no. 4, 20 Nov. 2010,

pp. 313–317.

Pollastretti, Emily. “The Blind Side – Religion in Society.” Religion in Society, Parabola &

Wordpress, 6 Dec. 2018, onlineacademiccommunity.uvic.ca.