The Blind Side Rhetorical Analysis

“Honey, you are changing that boy’s life.” A friend of Leigh Anne’s exclaimed. Leigh Anne grinned and said, “No, he’s changing mine.” This exchange of words comes from the film trailer of an award-winning film, The Blind Side, directed by John Lee Hancock, released on November 20th, 2009. This film puts emphasis on a homeless, black teen, Michael Oher, who has had no stability or support in his life thus far. It is not until the Tuohy family adopts Michael, that he begins to realize what he is capable of as both a student and football player. There are various techniques used for capturing the attention of an audience as they are viewing a film or film trailer for the first time, and rhetorical appeals happens to be one of them. The appeals

This particular rhetorical appeal is referred to as pathos. It is displayed multiple times throughout the trailer, but the one scene that most likely catches the audience’s eye first is the scene consisting of Michael walking on the side of the road one night in short sleeves and in below freezing weather. Mrs. Tuohy approaches him and ask him if he has anywhere to stay. Big Mike says he did, when in reality he really did not. This particular scene presented in the movie trailer allows for the audience to feel sympathy for Michael as he has nowhere to stay. According to Maier, “It is evident that the selection of shots from the film influences the viewer to adopt certain evaluative viewpoints in the first place” (Maier 166). The shot described near the beginning of the paragraph can cause viewers to pick or select a certain viewpoint regarding the situation in the shot. It may cause viewers to develop an opinion about the Tuohy family and their kind gesture or about Michael’s non-existent family and their unsupportive ways. These opinions or viewpoints can lead to emotions that are either heart-wrenching, because of the situation Michael is in, or have a power of hope, because of the welcoming arms of the Tuohy family. This scene/shot also helps relate and bring about the idea that you

In the movie trailer, The Blind Side, there are multiple scenes involving some of the main characters where lessons are taught and realizations are made. Many of these scenes contain imagery that would make viewers want to tear up due to how thought out these very simple, yet powerful scenes are. For instance, near the middle of the film trailer, there is a scene that consist of Leigh Anne Tuohy, the mom of the family, showing Michael his new bedroom at their house. Leigh Anne tells Michael that he now has a bedroom of his own and Michael responds by saying that he has never had one. And Leigh Anne asks, “What a room to yourself?” And Michael says, “No, a bed.” When Michael responds with that simple three-word sentence, his facial expression portrays a sense of embarrassment. As Leigh Anne asked Michael the question about having a room to herself, she at first chuckled, but then her facial expression proceeded to take a three hundred and sixty degree turn when Michael said that he had never had his own bed. The change in her facial expression allows the audience to comprehend and paint an image in their head about what Michael’s home life looked like in the past. They may imagine Michael sleeping on the floor or on the side of the road. Not only did this scene have its own way of displaying imagery, but