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. 

Response to: "Claiming an Education" Written By: Adrienne Rich

In a nation where Men control everything “from A to Z”, women in the 1970s were seen as inferior to men, especially in the academic scene.  Adrienne Rich, aims this essay towards female students at Douglass College, in order to have them strive to achieve their full potential, and to become equals to men by creating women only studies, and daring to be different.  She motivates her students by telling them to “claim” their education rather than merely “receiving” one, all the while lashing out at the male population for dominating almost every aspect of life.

The beginning of the essay is littered with the idea that [women] students are not there to “receive” an education but rather to “claim” one.  This statement is one that I am sure most, if not all people would agree. However, Adrienne Rich(1977) takes it too far by stating “The difference is that between acting and being acted-upon, and for women it can literally mean the difference between life and death.” (p. 221) and over-dramatizes her powerful concept.  Students should view college as an opportunity to “earn their stripes”, and should not self-entitle themselves to their education.  Too often can it be seen that a student merely coasts through the scholastic system, doing the bare minimum to obtain their degree.  In the 1970s, when this essay was written, women did not share an equal part in educational status that men did.  In order to combat this, Rich encourages the women at Douglass to work harder and not be so submissive to the world surrounding them.

According to Rich, the educational system was based particularly on male opinions and knowledge, all while the “women’s voice” was absent.  Along with this, she claims that “Today, with increasing numbers of women students in nearly every branch of higher learning, we still see very few women in the upper levels of faculty and administration in most institutions.” (p.221)  What bothers me about this statement is that, although the information may come from a man’s mouth, in a man’s own words, even since the early years of human existence, it has been said that “Behind every powerful man, there is a woman.”, and that most likely still rung true during this time period.  In order to produce valuable information, whether it’s a man creating it or a woman, the person who is writing the information must consider every perspective and remove personal bias, irrelevant of gender.  Now I will admit that I, myself, am a man and may be predisposed to arguing whether or not female intuition is included within the educational system, but I do feel confident that without female intuition, the information that is written would not have been able to have been achieved.

Women should not only stick-together to advance together in what is the “societal standings”, but should also reach out to join men in equality.  The proposal of creating woman-only studies will only produce information with female intuition which is, in turn, no better than what Rich is accusing men of doing.  You would lose the male perspective, and potentially lose the highest level of academic insight that can be obtained.  To work together would allow both perspectives to mix into one great production, in which both female and male compilations of said information can be regurgitated to the public. Creating women-only studies is not a bad idea entirely.  The idea of teaching from a woman’s perspective could allow men to see things from a new angle, and to gain greater understanding of the information that is being presented to them.  With the new understanding provided from a new perspective, even if women were still on a slow road of advancement to becoming a larger part in society, the new teachings from man could be intertwined with female intuition, and passed on accordingly.

The essay was very empowering. Rich used very strong, very forceful diction, and allowed her “inner-voice” to practically project of the very pages.  However, although her ideas of creating women only studies in order to allow women to learn from the other side of the spectrum, were not entirely thought through.  But, as one could easily agree, we should never “receive” an education, but earn it.  We should “claim” our education and work hard to learn new concepts and strive to be something better.  We should work not as man or woman, but as man AND woman, to allow us to see both gender’s perspective.

References Cited:

Rich, A. (2010). “Claiming an Education.” In Krasny, M., Sokolik, M.E. (Eds,), Sound Ideas (220-224). New York: McGraw Hill.

“Attention! Attention! What else should we try to keep quiet?”

Dear Editor,

As brought to the public’s attention due to the recent events, NIU and the surrounding area of DeKalb needs to increase its security measures.  The past news articles regarding the disappearance of Antinette ‘Toni’ Keller, and the eventual declaration of it being a murder investigation is definitely an eye-opening occurrence.  It is definitely an excellent idea to keep everyone informed through the media of what is going on and around the campus (or to the best of the media’s ability), and for that I offer a hearty kudos especially to the Northern Star.  Unfortunately, what the public does not know is that there are countless events that are left uncovered in the media.

Within the last month alone, I have personally been informed of, or witnessed, three incidents of gunfire erupting at the “7-11” on Annie Glidden Rd, the now closed-down “Tequila Roadhouse”, and the “Campus Cinema” that were entirely hushed by the NIU and DeKalb police.  Along with this, there was an incident of a girl who was “stabbed” in the nearby dorms, two incidents that I know of people who were mugged walking home from the “Hot Spot”, a local convenient store.  Two weeks ago, there were reported issues of people getting physically attacked outside of the townhouses located on Hillcrest, near Normal.  Once again, there was no further information relayed onto the public, and these incidents along with the countless others have gone completely “swept under the carpet.” 

For example, the shooting at the Campus Cinema occurred when a group of people were gathered in the parking lot, and someone pulled a gun amongst an argument.  The gun went off, unknowingly if it was on purpose or on accident.  This incident was seen by Student Affair Employee’s who were on patrol of Greek Row during the Homecoming festivities.  Where was the coverage on this?  What would it have taken for this to make an article in the paper?  Perhaps if there was a casualty, there would have been a headline or two, but of course, the NIU police were unable to detain anyone for the incident, and thus was kept quiet.

The case of ‘Toni’ Keller exploded onto the headlines, but at what point do we decide “this should be in today’s news, and this is just not important enough so let’s pretend as though it never happened.”?

Why is it that the Northern Star is only posting something when someone gets potentially murdered?  If the paper is being offered to students and locals to keep them up-to-date with what is going on around campus, then they should not keep out what can be potentially very dangerous.  Bring light to the problems that aren’t covered, I’m sure it would be a better article than reading about how two Gamestop stores are across the street from one another which appeared in last week’s Northern Star.  Bring light to the fact that we need to increase our security around campus, not only when something terrible happens, but in general.  No student should have to feel so uncomfortable about walking around campus worrying about the possibility that it may be “their night” that something awful happens to them, and will most likely be concealed from the rest of the public like everything else.

Please keep the public truly informed and stop wasting article space with pointless topics.

Thank you,

David Rose

"Let it Be"

                    

Almost every person in the world listens to music in some kind of form.  Certain people, such as me, listen to music for entertainment, solace, to seek for unheard answers, or rather to just drown out the stressful world around them.  There are so many songs that I feel strong connections to, but one really stands out.   The song “Let it Be” sung by the Beatles is a very important song to me.  I have gone through many tough times, and this song has always allowed me to work through, and overcome any obstacle.

The song “Let it Be” was written by Paul McCartney in honor of his mother, who died when he young.  According to oldies.about.com, the song was written due to Paul having a dream in which his dead mother gave him wisdom while the band was slowly falling apart.  There are multiple messages within this song.  One of my favorite underlying messages is to just “let things happen”, to be able to just move past your problems and relax.  Also, along with this, Paul also sings about the war in Vietnam and all of the people looking for answers, and to let people know not to hate each other.  There are bad things that happen to all of us, but it is up to us to be able to accept that something bad has happened and move past it.  To me personally, the song’s meaning is that, whenever things are going really bad in life, don’t worry yourself so much that you become even more stressed out, just “let it be” and it will almost always work itself out.

The music is very solemn but uplifting at the same time.  Paul’s use of more depressing words, such as “broken” or “darkness”, creates this solemn tone.  Overall, the music is composed of an average paced, even tempo.  Also, the main instrument in this song is the Piano, adding to the smooth, melodious tones that are then accompanied by drums, and the electric guitar.  The use of these instruments creates the uplifting tone, and allows the listener to take the words and not be depressed by them, but rather inspired.  The lyrics, although are repeated, have different messages each time they are said while still obtaining the same overall message.  Also, one thing that I tend to ignore, is that there seems to be a religious undertone due to “Mother Mary”, but that may just be coincidental.

I have listened to so many songs that I have been able to relate to, but “Let it Be” has, and will always be one that has stuck out to me through everything that this song has helped me overcome.  As I think about how I first became introduced to The Beatles at all, it is almost ironic.  When I first listened to this song, I was in a very intense argument with my girlfriend of a year and a half.  I was so distraught by the situation and couldn’t seem to “cool myself down.”  I threw on my iPod and this song came on.  Almost instantly, I was nearly brought to tears, because it felt as though the song was tearing my chest open and helping me mend my argument- bruised heart.  It was as if the song was telling me to allow things to settle down between her and I, and things would work out on their own.  Sure enough, within the next few days, we realized we were both at fault, and we were able to resolve our problems.  What is ironic about this situation is that my girlfriend was in fact, the person who brought me into the world of “Abbey Lane” and “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”, which even further enforces why this song has a little more leverage over the other songs in my life.

Although I have heard so many songs, it is this song that I turn to when I’m having a bad day.  Whether it is

 because I am in a fight with a girlfriend, having problems with my family, or am simply just not in a good

mood, this song is always there to cheer me up.

The Lure of San Sebastian

Every day things happen that change our lives.  Whether it be a change in how you think, how you act, or even just a different way to do something, something is changed inside oneself.  My morals were changed along with my conception of the world around me, all thanks to a beautiful land called Europe.  All it took was a trip to Spain to truly alter my life forever.

Almost all life changing events starts with an opportunity to experience something or take part in something that one has not done before.  I was given the opportunity to partake in a study abroad program in Spain for 2 weeks.  Excitement radiated throughout my body from the mere chance to finally visit another continent.  I would be staying with a host family and going to classes taught in Spanish; another first for me.  After a nice long begging session to my parents, I was given the “green light” and thus, my life-altering journey began.

I had VERY high expectations for Europe, even though in my eyes America was the perfect country.  Patriotism flowed through my adolescent veins, especially after September 11^th.  Although I had heard nothing but good things about the country, I was going to, any prior predisposition was almost non-existent, and was overpowered by anxiousness.  Never before have I been able to see a “new world.”  The lifestyles that I would be introduced to were so alien to me, even the time change was intense.

Spain turned out to be everything I had hoped for and more.  My host family was extremely accommodating.  The surrounding area was vivid, with people everywhere walking along the grey sidewalks, quietly chatting away with a friend.  Just five minutes away was an even greater spectacle.  There was a beach, one of the few beaches that I have ever been to in my life, where the glowing sun danced on the glimmering blue water as the waves swirled into the shore.  It was this beach that first caused me to fall in love with the country I was at.  However, whenever I would walk about the city with the group I was with, something kept bothering me.

We were tourists.  There is no better way to describe us, although we didn’t look completely out of place.  Somehow, despite how we looked, we were always getting the “look” of being unwelcome.  I sort of shrugged it away, as there are people everywhere in this world that just simply don’t like other people.  One of the girls in my group, a girl from France, and I became friends.  She and I would have talks about her country, and we would talk about mine.  We were having a discussion one day about relations between countries, and jokingly, the girl called me a “stupid American.”  At first I was slightly appalled by this name, especially due to the fact that I had a very strong sense of pride towards my country.  However, the name stuck, and I became her “favorite stupid American”.

My nickname had caused me to start self evaluating myself, even the group, and contrasted our actions to those of the Spanish people.  As the days went on, I slowly began to notice what we were being judged on.  As Americans, we were loud, at times rowdy, and somewhat disrespectful to the new traditions we were learning.  I began to adapt to my findings, speaking quietly, keeping myself much more calm, even when playing.  Then one day, we were out shopping at a local store and the lady began talking to me in Spanish.  At this time, I was not fluent in Spanish but I was still able to understand majority of what she was saying.  I told her that I didn’t understand everything she was saying, and she gave me a kind of “blank stare”.  As her mind came back “down to earth”, she said in English, “I could have sworn you were a Spaniard”  I smiled and laughed at this statement.  How honored I was to be considered(even by mistake) someone of this wonderful country that I had come to.  It was from this point on that I began to truly admire everything happening around me.

My days left in Spain were growing thin, and I began to regret that I wouldn’t be able to spend more time here.  I had fallen in love with Spain, and only in two weeks!  Everything just seemed so much better in Spain.  The “stupid American” was no longer being scowled at but was smiled at.  I became immersed in the very culture itself.  I was no longer the same as when I had first arrived.  I was polite, personable, unselfish, and very accepting of other cultures and other people.  These traits (to be completely honest with myself), I never really had, or at least not to any great extent, but now I possessed them all in surplus.

There is one memory from my entire opportunity to visit Spain that stands out in my mind.  It was the second to last day in Spain, it was in the evening and I was sitting on one of the Bridges in San Sebastian.  The air was warm, and the skies gleamed a deep sherbet orange and pink.  I slowly snacked away on a baguette that I had bought at the local “Panadería” and watched the sun set over the ocean.  This is the day, that my aspiration of moving to Spain after I had graduated from college was born.

College was a few years away still, and it was time for me to go back to America.  Something felt almost awful as I could no longer say, “I was going back home.”  My heart was still in Spain, it was my home for such a short amount of time, yet the impression it had made on me was permanent.  Although I had left the country where I now felt I belong, the morals I gained allow me to always keep a piece of Spain always with me.  My opportunity had ended, for now at least, and from this, I would never be the same person I was before.  I was no longer a “Stupid American.”