The Story of Oher

What happens in movies that are made around a true-life story, is that a lot of ideas are thrown into the film adaptation to make things more exciting, and to promote the flow of the storyline.  However, “The Blind Side”, Directed by John Lee Hancock, is relatively accurate to the actual life story of Michael Oher.  Also, what made this film so outstanding, was its ability to relate to people’s lives when it comes to working through difficult situations.  To help demonstrate this key aspect, I interviewed my Uncle, who added great insight to what truly made this film-adaptation so incredible.  And to think that all it took for this great inspiration to begin was the story of a black boy from “Hurt Village”.

The story of Michael Oher, the now left tackle playing for the Baltimore Ravens, has been the hot point of discussion ever since the movie “The Blind Side” came out in theatres.  What most people don’t know, that the portrayals in the movie are almost entirely accurate to the actual story of how a young black man living in the slums, had his rise to fame and prosperity.  This is an unusual occurrence due to the fact that usually when a life story is made into a film, key aspects of the story are lost in translation to “cut out” the less exciting parts.  Along with the film and actual story of Michael brought into comparison, his experiences are easily relatable to, even if not in the same way, our lives as well.

The story of Michael Oher was extremely touching.  A young black man, born to a crack addicted mother and the lacking presence of a father, was raised in a rough, poor area called “Hurt Village.” From there, he avoided the path of drugs and gangs, met a man named Tony Henderson and moved into his spare room.  After being enrolled in high school, Michael constantly ditched his classes, and suffered crushing blows to his Grade Point Average(GPA), and was almost to the point of dropping out.  He was then introduced to Briarcrest Christian School, where his athletic talent was marveled at.  Michael was given the opportunity to stay with the Tuohy Family, where Leigh Anne, Collins, Sean Jr. (SJ), and Sean Sr. quickly welcomed him as one of their own.  After the Tuohy Family alone could not help Michael boost his grades, they sought help from a tutor name Sue Mitchell, or Miss Sue as she is called within the movie.  Oher’s grades improved dramatically and his Football career began to take off as well, as tons of College Scholarships started coming in.  He graduated from High School and went to the University Of Mississippi, where the Tuohy Family all had, and were planning to attend.  After 3 years, Michael was able to be drafted by the NFL and was later welcomed to the Baltimore Ravens as a left tackle.

In the movie, there are many similarities to the story.  For starters, “Big Mike” was born into hardship.  He was raised by a crack addicted mother in “Hurt Village” and eventually moved into a home with Tony Hamilton.  After being discovered one night by Leigh Anne Tuohy, Michael is taken out of the rain and given a place to sleep for the night.  He is then helped in school to get his grades up by his teachers, and the Tuohys take Michael under their wing.  For a little extra assistance, the Tuohy family hires a tutor named “Miss Sue”, who helps Michael earn the grades he needs to get into college, and eventually allowing Michael to be drafted in the NFL.

When it comes to the actual story, the movie is accurate, which is normally not the case.  However, certain scenes were added to “spice up” the movie, and appeal more to the audience.  For example, one of the scenes added to the film was one of which Michael and S.J. are driving in Michael’s new truck.  After becoming distracted by a catchy tune on the radio, Michael strikes a backing up vehicle, deploying the airbags.  Michael protects S.J. by stopping the force of the airbag with his arm.  This scene sets up the groundwork for when Michael receives a helpful football tip from Leigh Anne about protecting his teammates, as though he protected S.J. and the rest of the Tuohy family members.

To test the relate-ability of Michael Oher’s story to everyday people, I interviewed my uncle.  Although he may not be an African American male, he grew up in an unsafe neighborhood, and was able to get out of that area, and make something of his life.  When asked how he was able to escape the constant filth around him, he said that “I was determined to not be like the people around me, and I wanted to do something that would benefit not only my life, but give the opportunity of a better style living to my future children.”(Neil Serbin, over-the-phone interview, November 28^th, 2010).  My uncle’s determination and hard work led to him now being a successful accountant in the Buffalo Grove area for his own Accounting Firm. This strive to achieve something better, can be seen in both the true story of Michael Oher and the film.

When we see movies today, we are enticed, not only by the prospect of a “true story” made into a film, but by what is added to that story to make it more appealing.  Yet, when it comes to “The Blind Side”, not only was the story relatable to everyday people, but the film held mostly true to the story itself.  There may have been a few scenes thrown in for aesthetic purposes, but the story alone was so amazing–so touching-that it barely needed any “Spicing up” at all.