The Blind Side Essay

The world is far from a uniform system. Each and every individual is placed in a different situation depending on everything from location, race, beliefs, and economic status. Psychology looks at how individuals come out of these specific environments and how they transform into an adult through the trials and tribulations of their growth. In The Blind Side, director John Lee Hancock focuses on an athletically skilled African-American teen, Michael Oher, who is transformed from a homeless orphan from the projects into a highly sought after college football prospect through a positive change in family, school, and supportive surroundings.

In the film The Blindside, it was evident that Michael Oher was able to fit into the Tuohy family. This could be explained through the theory of structural functionalism. I believe Michael constantly ran away from his foster homes because he felt out of place and wasn’t able to establish a role in his foster families. When he was at the Tuohy residence, he seemed quite distant – as if he felt like a burden towards the rest of the family. However, the Tuohy`s were constantly making Michael feel part of the family and

Summary: Michael Oher was a young boy who had to go through rough times as he was growing up. Fatheralong, Oher was taken in by the Tuohy family after they saw Oher didn’t have a home or anyone to go to for help. Once Oher gained the love of the Tuohy family, he became their adopted son, and soon he became the star football player of Briarcrest Christian School (BiJog). He became an interest to many colleges and after high school, he attended University of Mississippi.

As infants grow up to be adults, they succeed and surpass phases in their development that prove mental growth has occurred. These phases, such as learning to be independent and being able to make decisions on their own or being persuaded by others, are well explained within theories created by theorists and psychologists such as Jean Piaget and Erik Erikson. These theories were created to show a unique psychological outlook on ones’ personal developmental growth. One of the most crucial phases is the adolescent stage; this stage sees a growth and development in the biosocial, cognitive, psychosocial and moral aspects of an adolescent’s life. The Blind Side’s Michael Oher is a great example of someone who is experiencing the adolescent stage. Michael Oher is a seventeen-year-old African American who grew up in the housing projects in Memphis, Tennessee and was separated from his drug-addicted mother. As a result, Michael went from foster home to foster home until he was adopted by the Touhy’s. Throughout the movie, Michael demonstrated various cognitive and psychosocial developments. Even through his struggles and experiences, he was able to overcome the obstacles and become successful as a student and as an athlete.

“Based on a book by journalist Michael Lewis chronicling the real life Oher’s experiences, “The Blind Side” manages to inspire despite its broad-strokes approach to characterization.”(VLM, 2010) The Blind Side is based on a true story, the story of Michael Oher, a homeless boy with a traumatic past until one women, Leigh Ann, took him in as her own son and changed his life for the better. Michael is now known as an American football player, that was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens. The film, “The Blind side”, produced by John Lee Hancock, demonstrates that a tragic childhood does not necessarily mean one is destined for defeat, as long as there are those who care enough about you. “The Blind Side” uses rhetorical appeals by illustrating ethos, logos, and pathos to teach the audience moral lessons on learning and coping with traumatic life experiences and defining oneself socially through personal actions.

This movie-The Blind Side talks about how Michael Oher achieved his self-esteem during his adolescent time. Between the plots of the movie, we also included some development theories such as Erik Erikson’s psychosocial cognitive theory; Maslow’s hierarchy needs theory and also the operant conditioning theory that associated with Michael’s development.

The Blind Side depicts the story of Michael Oher, a seventeen year old African American homeless boy from a broken home, taken in by Leigh Anne Tuohy, a wife and mom of two living in a well to-do neighborhood. Repeatedly running away from the group home after group home, he was placed in after he was taken from him drug addicted mother, he happens to run into the exceedingly accepting family. Only after the catholic high school football coach sees his size and agility he is accepted to the privet school, despite a 0.7 GPA and lack of a place to sleep Leigh Anne Touhy, along with only one of his teachers, take a special interest in him. The families give him

As he receives all these gifts, he becomes more comfortable with his friends and surroundings at home and at school as well. He tested in the 98 percentile under “protective instincts”. This can be seen not only on test papers, but also in near-death situations such as stopping the airbag from killing SJ and protecting Mrs. Tuohy from the gangsters in his hometown. Every other subject his teachers have tested him in, he has failed miserably. Therefore, Mrs. Tuohy hired a tutor, Miss Sue, to help Michael get better grades and learn more efficiently in school. Other than schoolwork, Oher has grown into a great football player as well; he has learned to play his position at left tackle, protecting the quarterback’s blind side.

Unfortunately, his father was murdered in prison so he could not overcome that obstacle. However, he was taken in by a foster family named the Tuohy’s who made him happy and treated him like real family. Biography.com says, “The young boy was finally taken in by Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy when he was 16, and the Tuohys became Oher's legal guardians when he was 17”. In his junior year of high school, Oher began to excel in football. By the beginning of his senior year, Oher was the starting left tackle on the varsity football team. He quickly became a top football prospect in the state of Tennessee, which led to multiple scholarship offers from Division 1 schools.” This means that when he was taken in by Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy and they became his legal guardians he began to excel at school and football. His mother was taken into a rehabilitation center, but this was an improvement since at least Michael was able to see her sometimes. His other siblings were all taken to foster care. It’s amazing that while he had all of these obstacles he still overcame them with a determined attitude and the help of some special people.

Starting in chapter four, “The Blank Slate”, Michael Oher moves to Briarcrest High School, a wealthy private school. He no longer lives in the slum or poverty stricken neighborhoods he once lived. Now he’s having a human experience, away from the monotony and struggles of a kid from the ghetto. Being as such, he has a tough time adjusting, lacking a base of knowledge of how anything works. For example, when Oher gets

The Blind Side is based on a true story about a homeless boy named Michael Oher (Big Mike) who has been living with different people until the Tuohys take him in. Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy eventually become his legal guardians and the story is about how his life improves while playing football at Wingate high school in Tennesee. It shows his struggles with grades, and how the family and Michael are affected by the other. Because of his giant size he goes on to get a football scholarship for the University of Mississippi. The story is about his journey.

The movie “The Blind Side” originally written by: Michael Lewis is about a highschool boy named Michael Oher who gets adopted by the Tuohy family. The family financially help Michael with his school grades in order to play football, after his grades went up Michael got the proper training to play in his school team. Eventually, he struggles but Sean motivates Michael training him using Football strategies. Sean recorded a video of his sports performance Therefore it made him famous and received a scholarship.

Michael Oher is a complex character, this is mostly due to the fact that he speaks very little, and so in order to understand him better we must look at his actions. In the movie After watching the movie The Blind Side it is easy for one to see that at the beginning of the film Michael struggles with internal conflict, specifically about school and his living arrangement with the Touy family. The first time we see Michael really open up about his internal conflicts is when we hear his poem entitled “White Walls”, in this poem Michael talks about how he does not want to listen to the teachers and that he feels out of place in this new school. With the Touy’s Michael also feels out of place, this is shown the first night he stays with them,

The Blind side is considered one of the best sports biographies and one of the best sports related inspirational stories. The blind side was published in 2006 and was written by Michael Lewis. This book is based on a Memphis native, Micahel Oher’s. The Blind Side contains two stories within its plot. One story begins with Michael Oher. The book explains the trials and tribulations of the young African American teenager. Micheal was from one of the worst neighborhoods in Memphis. He lived with anyone would would give him a place to stay for them night, The story follow his journey from being poor and then meeting the Tuohy family, who is a wealthy Memphis family who took him in and helped make his dream come true of playing the the National Football League. The book then goes into detail about the evolution of Micheal trying to play in the game of football. Lewis describes in the book how the left tackle position is one of the best positions on a football team, because the person maintain gin this role is responsible for protecting the quarterback 's “blind side” (“Blind”).

“Yesterday is a history, tomorrow is a mystery” ― Bill Keane; American cartoonist .As individuals that live their lives, everyone has or is going to encounter significant experiences that will change their identity forever. In the 2009, American biographical sports drama film The Blind Side directed by John Lee Hancock, the main character Michael Oher, a black teenage boy goes through many ups and downs through his life to finally become a successful NFL football left tackle player. The director of this film chose this story because it exhibits the importance of the experiences we encounter in our lives and how they can be life changing. Momentous experiences and exposure to various situations in life impact an individual to transform because