Sociological Perspective of the Blind Side Social problems within our society continue to arise. In an ideal world, it is appropriate to say that as individuals we all wish to live life in peace. Unfortunately, getting a whole nation to come to a consensus is nearly impossible. Social problems are controversial societal or behavioral related issues, which can affect the environment, people and social institutions (Leon-Guerrero 2013). These social problems can range from global concerns to racial issues such as discrimination and through our sociological imagination we are able to differentiate problems using our own discretion (Leon-Guerrero 2013). Choosing a movie to analyze from a sociological perspective was an interesting …show more content…
Prior to Michael attending WCS, he was attending schools that provided him with "a very poor quality of education," and this could have been due to him being of a lower class (Hancock, The Blind Side 2009). His mother was a drug addict unable to care for her kids leaving which left Michael homeless because he kept running away from the foster homes. When thinking of social problems many can agree that many problems arise because of inequality. Not only in the United States but globally people are ranked and categorized based on their wealth, which is "the assets owned by a household" (Leon -Guerrero,2013, p.37). This goes beyond receiving a good education and having a good paying job. Though one may earn their income by having a successful career, wealth is sometimes passed down by generations. The individuals in this category live a fairly comfortable life "passing class status along to their children" (Leon-Guerrero,2013, p.39). Sean Tuohy is a businessman who owns several taco bell companies; he has the ideal family, a wife and two children. They are upper class and their wealth is evident through their material possessions, the Tuohy family lives a lavish lifestyle apparent by the size of their house and the kind of cars they drive. Sociologically, this can be classified as a privilege, being that Sean Tuohy is a businessman it grants his children a better advantage over those with lower economic status because of their fathers ranking in society.
The film portrayed an important message and brought awareness to an issue that is normally overlooked. It also incorporated three different theories,Structural Functionalism, Conflict, and Symbolic Interactionist, and brought real life examples to them. Structural Functionalist showed not all theories can work effectively and that in some societies this hypothesis does not apply. Next, the Conflict theory displayed that no matter where you go, there are groups in society that will always be fighting against each other for a scarce item. Finally, the Symbolic Interactionist theory showed that all groups in societies work with one another and that experiences can change the way that reality is perceived and affect the choices that are made by these encounters. The video also implicated the science of sociology in the way that the information was presented and how the clip was laid out. This movie about a small town along the Appalachian mountains is so much more than just a video for entertainment. It is about helping bring awareness to a horrible situation and associating theories of sociology while doing
After reading over the description of our film analysis paper, the movie "Mean Girls" that was produced in 2004, came into my mind because this movie contains several sociological themes. Although the film is over a decade old, most high school students seem to be able to relate to this film today since it shows us examples of sociological conflicts such as social conflict theory, social class, and sexuality.
Sociologists concern themselves with social relations among individuals and groups within a particular society (Luton, 2015), so a sociologist would find this movie interesting because when analyzed through a sociological point of view it provides various examples of socialization,
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.
Writer Gregory Mantsios in his article “Class in America”, talks about these things, and how wide the gap is between the rich and the poor and also discusses how the rich continue to get richer, while the poor continue to get poorer. Mantsios gives his readers the profiles and backgrounds of three hard-working Americans, two of them are white males, whose family background as well as education played a role in their success, while the other person is a black woman who is just above the poverty line despite her work as a nurse’s aide. Through these profiles, Mantsios article shows exactly how sex, race and shows how your parental and educational background of a person can play a role in the things that you achieve. Mantsios also talks about one’s performance in school and the level of school completed can suggest whether or not class that person may belong in.
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
This movie is a great example of social groups, leadership, culture, norms, society, nature and nurture, and social lives. This movie represents how the American culture chooses our social class in society. Some sociologists believed that lifestyle choices are an important influence on our social class position (Giddens, 209). Our class position is the way we dress, where we eat, where we sleep, and how we relax (Giddens,
John Lee Hancock puts emphasise on the fact that Michael is poor and the Touhy’s are rich and juxtaposes these two central characters repetitively throughout the film. This is done to portray to the audience that a person’s socio-economic status can affects an individual’s capacity to learn and excel at the things he may be talented at, in Michael’s case football. Another aspect which is explored throughout the film is the fact that attitudes towards belonging can change of time this is evident in Michael because at first he was hesitant in staying with the Touhy’s but later transitions into part of their family, Michael makes many transitions throughout the film which include from Illiterate to educated and from disrespected to honourable, this movie has a very motivational aspect to it in that it inspires people to push past any barriers they may be faced with. Michael is quickly accepted as part of the family and creates a connection with them and has a sense of belonging with them this is also done at his school when his football coach strengthens Michaels sense of belonging by describing him as “his son” this makes Michael Ohers feel a part of the group and encourages him to excel without the fear in his mind that he is not accepted in the environment he is faced with.
The last issue concerning wealth inequality is the health and well being of the lower class. The high rates of social problems: lower rates of performance in school, life expectancy, incarceration, teenage pregnancy along with health problems like obesity and heart disease are directly effected by the United States high inequality. The reason for poor school performance is that children of the lower class typically do not plan on going to college because they cannot afford it. If they do not plan on going to college, they don’t believe there is a reason to put a lot of effort and succeed in high school.
Discrimination, racism, classism, prejudice and more plague today’s society. These horrible issues do not affect one race, sexes, class, ethnicity, or age group; these issues affect all races, both genders, all ethnicities, and all age groups. For this film analysis, I have chosen to discuss the racism portrayed throughout a three-time Oscar award winning movie called Crash.
The Blind Side was released on November 20, 2009 by Warner Bro. Pictures, and directed by John Lee Hancock. The film is based on a book, “The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game” and a true story. The Blind Side is a semi-biographical sports drama film about a neglected and troubled African-American boy named Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron) growing up in the ghetto with his drug addict mother. Due to his mother’s drug abuse problem, Michael is forced into the foster care system. Michael would always run away from his foster home leaving him homeless. One night, while Michael is looking for a warm place to sleep, Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) an upper class Caucasian female finds Michael and decides to give him a place to sleep in her home. Although many of her friends and family judged her for her decision of taking an African-American child into her home, Leigh Anne provided Michael with an education, home family, food, and clothes. She gave him the opportunity to have a future and to become his own person. Adults from the age range of thirteen and older will enjoy The Blind Side because of its cast,
Sociologists use many different theoretical perspectives to study the behavior of people in society. According to Macionis, sociology uses both a micro-level and macro-levels to look at both the big picture and the smallest details (p.17). There are three major analytical models in sociology that include functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interaction. Both functionalism and conflict theory are macro-level and symbolic interaction is micro-level (Macionis, P.19). Each one looks at society in a different way and can in this paper I will analyze the movie “The Breakfast Club” using these perspectives.
With Michael and his circumstances and the welcoming of him in the family this enhanced his
There are age related conflicts, cultural conflicts, religious conflicts and value based conflicts. This movie is a film highlighting many cultural conflicts. These conflicts continuously erupt in a working class Michigan neighborhood. We will first examine a scene with religious cultural conflict. In the same scene we will see age based cultural conflict as well. Next, we will examine a racial cultural conflict between the Hmong people and an American. After examining cultural conflicts, we will show two examples of popular culture in the film. Then, we will provide the conflict management styles we would have employed to bring the same result as the current ending without the bloodshed and a general opinion of the film.
One of the social issues concerning power, status, and class in American society today is income inequality. The income gap between the social classes has increased drastically throughout the last few decades, creating a significant gap between the wealthy and the poor. This gap has become so large that the middle class has nearly diminished, creating a social class comprised of the rich and the poor. The significant gap between the two social classes is unhealthy for the economy because it provides too much power in the hands of those with high social status.