Film Analysis: The Blind Side

“Yesterday is a history, tomorrow is a mystery” ― Bill Keane; American cartoonist .As individuals, 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 some of these experiences

It does not matter what your past was, you have to let it go, because tomorrow is a new beginning to a new life, full of potentiality and success. Throughout the film, the director exhibit’s Michael's past through various effective film techniques; such as displaying foggy, dark, monochromatic flashbacks at distinct shots, and showing the character as a younger age. These techniques imply the idea of getting the viewer into the mood of the scene, and when the character remembers their past and reflecting on their choices. During the film, we learn that the main protagonist Michael, has experienced many negative, but significant experiences throughout his past; including not being able to have a nurturing relationship with his mother, as she was incapable of parenting to due to her drug addictions. Michael was apprehended by social services at a young age, and he had been shuffled through many foster homes in which he would run away; he was called a “runner”. Due to that, Michael lived most of his childhood and adolescence unable to sustain basic needs such as having a safe place to live in, have nutritious, clean food, clean attire, and having

As if godsend, Michael got accepted into Briarcrest Christian School when Tony, a friend helped him get into the school by appraising his athletic abilities. By virtue of his harsh history, he was very quiet and rarely ever spoke. Furthermore, his reading ability was very low as well as his other academic abilities, however, he “ tested in the ninety eighth percentile in one category; protective instincts” which really implies that because of his lack of safety and security, he has developed protective skills that he can use to protect himself in situations that he might be challenged with. Despite his vagueness, one of his teachers recognized a poem he had written called “White walls” describing his feeling about not belonging in a world full of white people. Additionally, later on after Michael started attending the school, one of the teachers decided to try a different way to test him. She started testing him through oral assessments instead of written assessments, in which he scores a C as his grade on his first oral test. That is the turning point in the film for Michael’s education when this teacher recognizes that “Big Mike is not stupid” and that he had been listening in class. After this discovery, the teachers started adapting to his learning preference and began testing him orally. Later on, we can see