While football fans may not have been happy with the Kevin James movie Home Team, they did fall in love with a different sport during 2009’s The Blind Side.
The Blind Side is based on the 2006 book of the same name by Michael Lewis.
It focuses on the life of Michael Oher, a formerly homeless boy who was taken in by a wealthy and privileged family. After being nurtured and supported by the Tuohy family, Oher started playing football. He displayed such talent and skill that he went on to play football at the University of Mississippi.
Audiences loved The Blind Side and the film was a commercial success. But the real Michael Oher, on whom the film was based, felt that there was a problem with his portrayal.
‘The Blind Side’
The 2009 film The Blind Side tells the true story of Michael Oher, a homeless boy from a disadvantaged background who was taken in by a family at his school.
With the support of the Tuohy family, Oher went on to become an All-American football player and made the first-round NFL draft pick.
The Blind Side stars Quinton Aaron as Michael Oher, Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne Tuohy, Tim McGraw as Sean Tuohy, and Kathy Bates as Miss Sue, Michael’s tutor.
How The World Responded To ‘The Blind Side’
The Blind Side was positively received by audiences. It grossed $309 million on a $29 million budget, making it one of Sandra Bullock’s most profitable roles of her career.
Bullock won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as Leigh Anne Tuohy, as well as a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
There were mixed reviews from critics, with some praising Bullock’s performance and others criticizing the film for presenting a white savior narrative, where Michael can’t rescue himself from poverty and instead needs a white family to come in and save him.
While viewers responded positively to the film, there was one person who wasn’t totally pleased with The Blind Side: Michael Oher himself.
Michael Oher Felt The Film Didn’t Portray Him Properly
According to Star Insider, Michael Oher felt did not like his on-screen portrayal because he felt that the film did not portray him properly.
He didn’t feel that Aaron’s performance itself was lacking, but rather the script didn’t reflect who Michael Oher really is as a person. He felt that the Michael Oher on screen was quiet and reserved, and even too serious and aloof.
In reality, Michael is more extroverted and doesn’t take himself too seriously.
Michael Oher Thought The Film Brushed Over His Struggles
In addition to not portraying his personality correctly, Oher felt that the film brushed over his struggles rather than exploring them properly.
The film shows that he suffered a difficult childhood and lost his family home to drug addiction. But according to Tie Breaker, the film also leaves some major details out.
Among the details that were left out or presented incorrectly were the circumstances of his father’s death. In real life, Oher’s father was in and out of prison and was eventually murdered while incarcerated.
Michael Oher Didn’t Like How The Film Attributed His Success To Someone Else
Another issue that Oher had with The Blind Side is that the film seemed to take away from his success by attributing it to the Tuohy family instead. The film shows that Leigh Anne Tuohy is the character who convinces Oher to start playing and fall in love with football. Everything he knows about the game, he learns from the Tuohy family.
Tie Breaker reports that this aspect of the film was largely exaggerated. Instead, most of Oher’s progress and growth on the football field came about when he was working towards his goals on his own.
Overall, Michael Oher Felt ‘The Blind Side’ Hurt His Football Career
According to Looper, Oher was so dissatisfied with the portrayal of himself in The Blind Side that he felt the film actually hurt his football career.
He feels that the movie casts a shadow over him and alters people’s perceptions of him. It also deflects attention away from his skills and achievements and draws focus away from his persona as a football player.
“People look at me, and they take things away from me because of a movie,” he said to ESPN in 2015, while he was playing for the Carolina Panthers. “They don’t really see the skills and the kind of player I am.”
Bullock, of course, continued her trajectory in Hollywood, making bank like her $70M for Gravity while Oher struggled with the public's perception of him.