“The Blind Side” is based on a true story of a famous football player, Michael Oher, who lived a rough, homeless life without anybody to go to. He had no mom to go to after his father passed away. Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) and Sean Tuohy (Tim McGraw) adopted Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron) into their lives and legally into their family. His adopted family helped him get through school and obtain a career. The Tuohy family gave Michael Oher another chance at life when he had nothing and believed in him when nobody else did.
Even though, Leigh Anne was the main one who decided to adopt Michael into the family, the family communicated about the adoption. Some family members and friends of Sean Tuohy Jr. (Jae Head) and Collins Tuohy (Lily Collins) thought it was funny to have a big black guy in a white family and were skeptical about the decision they had made. Racism started to come out to the family, but the Tuohy family didn’t care what anyone said because as they are a Christian home, were happy to have Michael Oher in their lives.
Intimacy, self-disclosure, and commitment are three concepts that describe the family as a system. Starting with intimacy, it is related with family themes, images, boundaries, and biosocial issues. The intimacy the family had with their immediate family after the adoption of Michael, changed the way they thought their family was. In a scene where Leigh Anne went to go have lunch with her sister and a friend, and they asked her, jokingly, if she was kidding about the adoption.
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Another scene where Christmas was coming around and the Tuohy family is taking Christmas photos and they decided to incorporate Michael in the photo, since he is basically family. Self-disclosure is when one person tells another person highly personal or private information about himself that the other would have no idea of finding out elsewhere (Galvin, Braithwaite, & Bylund, 2008). Another scene of Leigh Anne giving him a room to himself and Michael pouring himself to her that he has never had a bed before. Avery (1989) said, “trust enables you to put your deepest feelings in the palm of your partner’s hand, knowing they will be handled with care.”
Lastly, Galvin et al. (2008, p.134), had three different types of commitment: personal commitment (the rewards inherent from the relationship, moral commitment (an obligation to a partner), and structural commitment (barriers to leaving the relationship and the absence of viable alternative.) In “The Blind Side,” personal commitment is where there is a loving relationship that makes another person’s life better (Galvin et al., 2008, p.137). In the beginning of the movie, Leigh Anne saw Michael walking to the gym alone in the cold. She stopped and realized he had nowhere to sleep. That is when Michael Oher and the Tuohy family began creating a loving relationship.
Adaptability and cohesion takes major part. Michael and his biological mom have no type of close relationship, they mainly have a disengaged family. She doesn’t worry if he is sleeping on the ground. However, Leigh Anne and her family have high level of cohesion, enmeshed family. Enmeshed families have extreme closeness, are loyal, and are involved in their children’s life goals. Michael never had a family that was so over-involved and wanted his to go to the best college. He was interviewed by many universities for their football program and his whole stepfamily was with him every step of the way from passing his classes to becoming a professional football player.
[bookmark: _Hlk530084592] There are a couple family communication rules. “The Blind Side” best refers to constitutive rules (Galvin et al., 2008, p.86). It helped Michael move on in his future career by working harder. When he was failing in class, Leigh Anne wasn’t going to let himself go to waste, instead she rather helped him and so did S.J. Things like, “you need to work harder,” pushed Michael. He saw the Tuohy family wanted to help him become better and he managed to get through it. Second, the type of communication Michael had with his stepmom, built a loyal relationship between them.
For example, he was describing the time Child Protective Services took him and his siblings from his biological mother when he was younger, the suffering it caused him. This main communication is called storytelling (Galvin et al., 2008, p.100). Lastly, Leigh Anne enacted the role of stepmother ever since she invited him to stay the first night home. In a clip she mentions that he is changing her life. She’s realized how much help he needed when he had nobody, and she helped him get back on his feet.
In conclusion, there was racism when the immediate family found out that the Touhy’s were adopting a black child. Of course, they’re going to discriminate when he’s different than white people. To get to a good standing point, it first goes through stages. The developmental stage, understanding the change and challenges in a family life (Galvin et al., 2008, p.244). Letting the family get used to having someone different. Michael Oher’s life is also a stage. From birth, a rough childhood, and adolescent years to becoming a famous football player.
References
- Galvin, K.M., Braithwaite, D.O., & Bylund, C.L. (2008). Family communication: Cohesion and change (9th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
- Kosove, A. (Producer), & Hancock, J. L. (Director). (2009). The Blind Side [Motion picture]. United States: Warner Bros. Pictures.
- Lewis, M. (2007). The blind side: Evolution of a game. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company.
