68 Comments

1. Annie B:

Of COURSE the movie is about how rich whites can be good to their pets.

You didn’t think poor blacks have enough money to make a Hollywood movie, did you?

Nov 19, 2009 - 5:38 pm 2. 438miler:

Looks like I’ll stick with the book.

Nov 19, 2009 - 6:28 pm 3. BrianH:

A denizen of Memphis who has never met a Democrat?

Whoever wrote that is just expressing, in a way that he no doubt considers extremely precious, leftist pieties. Any actual knowledge of Memphis or the South in general would only make those pieties impossible.

Nov 19, 2009 - 7:16 pm 4. John - TMF:

Gee… I was looking forward to seeing a good news… up beat… movie about how a caring family and football focused a kid into becoming a man.

Guess not…

Funny, but I don’t remember all that many Republicans in the South before 1970. I think the party meetings were held in convenient phone booths so there was ability to conference another phone booth to make the crowd large enough to have a vote.

We seem to forget Yellow Dog (I would vote for a Yellow Dog before I’d vote for a Republican. Southern Republicans were more often than not, black.) There are still a few Yellow Dog Democrats left, fearful that great grand pappy, or grand pappy (they are a dying breed – replaced by CoolAid Drinkers…) would spin in their graves and curse them from beyond if they ever voted for a Carpetbagging Republican.

Of course we also need to remember that Tim McGraw is a big sort of smarmy oily looking Lib. So I’d expect Orwellian history rewrites from folks like him.

Darn.. scratch another move from the rental list.

:-/

The Mighty Fahvaag

Nov 19, 2009 - 8:21 pm 5. Jason:

Anybody that went to University of Tennessee knows that there really are bodies under the stadium. The underlying structure used to be the anatomy lab! That’s not a joke, Dawg.

Nov 19, 2009 - 9:14 pm 6. Jason:

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2007/nov/11/saving-faces/

There is still a forensics osteology (bone) lab underneath the stadium.

Nov 19, 2009 - 9:27 pm 7. whiskey:

What is ugly is that Liberals (and the Bullock character in the movie) treat Black athletes as pets. Change a few things around and the Michael character could have been an agility dog rescued from the pound.

Which is frankly, dehumanizing.

The real story is not merely size and strength. I’ve seen Jared Allen on NFL Network explain how EVERYONE beyond HS is big and strong, but rather endless hours honing technique. Footwork, hand positioning, body positioning, so that it flows naturally. O-Line really is a near-martial art.

As for the “chick football thing” it is because Hollywood is so deeply feminized and gay that no ability to make a straight out sports movie appealing to men is possible. Not from the creative talent in Hollywood. Besides, TV is a female-gay ghetto that men have fled (excepting football).

Women are unimportant in football. They don’t have a role in a team sport where various men of different shapes, sizes, and abilities have to work together under the disciplined leadership of a fatherly authority figure. Hollywood is incapable of telling THAT story (which is actually interesting, how do men of very specialized abilities and backgrounds cooperate?) but can tell ones about “brassy women” of a certain age. So that is what they do.

Nov 19, 2009 - 9:52 pm 8. Jason:

http://m.knoxnews.com/news/2009/jul/22/knowsy-neyland-stadium/

The offices of the Anthropology Department are in Stadium Hall directly under the stadium, and, according to this article, once bodies are finished decomposing at the Forensic Studies’ “Body Farm” the bones are still being stored there.

Nov 19, 2009 - 9:55 pm 9. Now and Then:

Tell me, how do the conservatives treat their blacks?

Nov 19, 2009 - 10:27 pm 10. Pragmatist:

Hollywood and US TV is riddled with PC MC Islamophile moonbats . Have you noticed EVERY TV show has a BLACK guy as the Boss, the Chief of Detectives, the Mayor, the President, the brilliant scientist,writer, surgeon etc etc and the hero’s bestest most truest friend ever. But what the Black guy NEVER ever is is the crook, the murderer, the thug, or the wicked manipulator all these roles are reserved for white guys and preferably non American European or South American white guys. Hollywood movies are just the same I just watched 2012 and the bestest smartest most moral scientist in the whole world (Black of course) helped the most moral President ever (Black again) aided by the second bestest most moral scientist in the World (Indian of curse) expose the wicked NEOCON Governments and filthy capitalist pigs who were saving themselves in the ARCS and letting all the good poor workers die. How PATHETIC But the computer graphics were good.

Nov 20, 2009 - 1:06 am 11. turtlehead:

So, is this story made up? or, is it true? Did this really happen? or is it a hollywood fabrication?

What does Oher say about the film? Can his story be told without this being a central issue? It seems to me that unlike other “bootstrap” stories, this one depends upon the intervention of this family into his life…it becomes fulcrum and lever that alters his destiny does it not? Is there any implication that he succeeds without the family in the book? If not, why the offence? Is it offence in hollywood’s artistic license? Is it offence at the underlying values of the family involved?

As to the pet idea, I haven’t seen the movie yet so can’t comment on it. It just seems to me that many of the objections I am hearing just ring false… the basic facts of what happened are there… some just don’t like them and throw all manner of invective toward the film because the very real story doesn’t fit their template of the world.

Nov 20, 2009 - 3:06 am 12. Mina:

Thanks a lot. I was thinking about seeing this, now I won’t bother.

I’ve pledged to give no money to “entertainment” that STILL takes cheap, cowardly shots at George W. Bush.

Which means I don’t spend much on entertainment, anymore.

Disappointed in Bullock, who I like.

Nov 20, 2009 - 3:32 am 13. Emma:

The title is ironic. Hollywood needs to hire someone to cover their own blind side, so that they don’t accidentally make jackasses of themselves with movies like this.

Nov 20, 2009 - 3:41 am 14. Martin Knight:

9. Now and Then:Tell me, how do the conservatives treat their blacks?

Funny thing is that “Now and Then” is completely unaware that he just confirmed, in spectacular fashion, the author’s point that liberals do see black people as nothing more than hapless pets.

Nov 20, 2009 - 4:16 am 15. Gary Ogletree:

I sorta expect better form Sandra Bullock. Maybe next time. Even Nicole Kidman makes a dud now and then.

Nov 20, 2009 - 4:54 am 16. Wiredog:

And how come it’s always a lone white guy breaking into the houses in those Brinks Home Security ads, never a home invasion by some gang members?

Nov 20, 2009 - 4:56 am 17. happi:

>> 9. Now and Then: Tell me, how do the conservatives treat their blacks?

What blacks? We see PEOPLE! and we treat people with respect that they’ve earned.

Nov 20, 2009 - 5:16 am 18. TennesseeVolunteer:

The story is true barring Hollywood’s attempt to liberalize it.
What the real story in Memphis, where I am a resident, and other urban areas like Detroit, Birmingham, Atlanta,chicago etc is that the structure of the black family is disintegrating. The more the nanny state takes away responsibility and accountability from parents by paying for rent, food stamps, welfare, school breakfast and lunches etc, the more the families spiral downwards as single parent, or no parent, units.
Memphis has just received 90 Million from the Gates Foundation to help our schools. The reality is that until we understand that a two parent family is the #1 solution to all of the above problems, we will see these families continue to degrade and fail. In comparison to this human tragedy, the money is irrelevant but liberals will continue to throw money at the problem and good families like the Tuohy’s will do what they can to save one child at a time.

Nov 20, 2009 - 5:33 am 19. tdiinva:

Now and then:

I don’t know because conservatives don’t notice skin color in their daily lives only liberals do.

Nov 20, 2009 - 5:40 am 20. scythe:

Saw the trailer and it glowed like kryptonite. Another piece of Hollywood garbage I won’t bother with. And they wonder why their “brand” is losing its luster year after year? Why would anyone pay to be insulted and lied to? We have Congress for that.

Nov 20, 2009 - 6:05 am 21. vic:

15. Sandra Bullock has made more than a few stinkers.

Nov 20, 2009 - 6:15 am 22. bubblehead:

“Now and Then”

We don’t HAVE blacks. We don’t keep people as pets. We don’t see people as objects to be manipulated, used and displayed.

WE see people, some of whom may have different pigmentation from us. But then, we have differences in pigmentation ourselves. So for us, it’s just normal. We do not identify ourselves by pigmentation, ancestral country of origin, regional affiliation or any of the hyphenated compartmentalizations so dear to the left.

What we see, what we are and what we value is Americans and patriots!

We are – America!

Nov 20, 2009 - 6:33 am 23. Jena:

#16 Wiredog “And how come it’s always a lone white guy breaking into the houses in those Brinks Home Security ads, never a home invasion by some gang members?”

You have to watch the local news for that.

Nov 20, 2009 - 7:12 am 24. Ed Zacharias:

Why is everyone piling on?

It’s a TRUE story, and the book is a good read — basically a dual-track story about how Left Tackle became a premier position in sports, and about how the Tuohy’s came to adopt Michael and help him reach his full potential.

I don’t recall any anti-conservative themes.

In fact, one of the biggest “villains” in the book is the social worker — she seems determined to not let anything happen to this kid unless it’s the gubmint doing it.

The part about Bush does seem like a cheesy slap introduced by some Hollywood liberal, because I don’t see why there would be a Presidential photo in a state government office.

But man, just lighten up folks. It’s a feel-good Disney type movie based on an inspiring story.

Nov 20, 2009 - 7:48 am 25. Never For Obama:

I saw the movie and liked it.
I thought it was a feel good movie you can take your kids too.
And I am surprised that the author of this essay didn’t get that.
Sure there was a slap at Bush, saying he runs the DMV. But now the idiots in Congress want DMV-run style health-care.
I think Hollywood has no idea what the rest of the country is really like, but I enjoyed this movie and as staunch conservative who changed churches when my pastor started drinking and subtly preaching the Obama Koolaid, I would recommend seeing The Blind Side.

Nov 20, 2009 - 8:04 am 26. Never For Obama:

Sorry, the lst sentence above should read, as A staunch conservative.
Seriously, GO SEE THE MOVIE.
I think that what may have really offended the original reviewer was that the story had an overtly Christian message and the school was a Christian school where the word GOD was shown in a quote on the school’s entrance arch.

Nov 20, 2009 - 8:11 am 27. Chuck:

Haven’t seen the movie, and won’t pay to see it, but from Mr. Boots’ description, it seems to be more snobbish liberal drivel coming from a Hollywood that has no idea about how people in the rest of the country live, i.e. the people who get up at 4:30 a.m., feed & milk cows, feed chickens & pigs, & grow crops to feed us. I often wonder whether the Hollywood elite actually realize the milk in the lattes they buy at Starbucks comes from cows, and that the arugula in their salads is actually grown by farmers, and probably church-going, God-fearing, hard-working conservative farmers. And yet, Hollywood continues to trash them. The image I see of the Hollywood elite is they sit in their fancy-shmancy restaurants, order tofu & arugula salads and think nothing beyond their food coming from the kitchen, and nowhere else. They probably think the kitchen has its own little farm where cows are milked and arugula is grown.

#3BrianH: Yep, you’re right. That line (“before meeting a Democrat”) is irrefutable evidence that whichever liberal wrote it has never been (& surely never lived) in the South. How could one live into adulthood in Memphis & never meet a Democrat? I only hope Tim McGraw cringed when he had to utter it.

I have never been a fan of the pretentious Bullock (and yes, #15 Ogletree, she has made mostly stinkers), but I’m really disappointed that McGraw appears in this heap of garbage destined for the discount bin.
I truly wish Hollywood would return to the days when war movies portrayed US soldiers as the heroes they are, instead of drug-addicted rapists and thugs and when screenplays contained clever, witty dialogue and interesting plot twists instead of predictable, America-hating rubbish.

Nov 20, 2009 - 8:24 am 28. Southern White Boy:

Liberal leftists, especially the women, see blacks as fashion accessories. Just look at Madonna and Jolie with their matching African Child and Handbag Collections.

Nov 20, 2009 - 9:25 am 29. Jack Olson:

Would this movie have gotten the same attention, would it ever have been made and cast bigname Sandra Bullock as its star, if the poor young football player the family brought into their home had been white?

Nov 20, 2009 - 9:31 am 30. Sebastian Shaw:

This movie has been done so many times before.

Nov 20, 2009 - 9:58 am 31. C:

I don’t know where to start. First, stop pretending that conservatives don’t see color. It is crazy how many of you are making a big deal of race. One of you wrote, ” Have you noticed EVERY TV show has a BLACK guy as the Boss, the Chief of Detectives, the Mayor, the President, the brilliant scientist,writer, surgeon etc etc and the hero’s bestest most truest friend ever. But what the Black guy NEVER ever is is the crook, the murderer, the thug, or the wicked manipulator all these roles are reserved for white guys…”
I guess you don’t see color though. What about the following comment: ” And how come it’s always a lone white guy breaking into the houses in those Brinks Home Security ads, never a home invasion by some gang members?”
My favorite is the person who said. You had to watch the news in answer to the previous complaint. I am not an advocate for being ” color blind.”. At the risk of being accused of being a flaming liberal, am an advocate for acceptance of differences or tolerance at the least. But if you are truely color blind as several of you put it, then be color blind. The crook in the movie happens to be white. The genius happens to of color. Until I come to PJM and see no references to race and stereotypes and more talk about the American human family, you will been seen as much the hypocrite as the liberla you scoff at.

Nov 20, 2009 - 10:08 am 32. paul_unalaska:

How or why would someone pay $9 bucks to see a movie, eat frightening food at the snack bar and ‘enjoy’ this with numerous other screaming kids?

I can’t wait for all movies to be CGI and actors/ actresses go way of the dodo..

Nov 20, 2009 - 11:10 am 33. Jason:

I’m tempted to go see it, because it really did happen here, also to see if any of it is filmed locally, and because I like to look at Sandra Bullock. Hurt Village was demolished so I assume they didn’t get to film there. Nastiest, most disgusting public housing ANYWHERE.

Tennessee Volunteer is right, whether you think it is racist or not, the nuclear family structure in the black community has been annihilated in Memphis with catastrophic results. Young kids having babies having babies, etc, etc – mass production of bastardy, ignorance, poverty, and crime, all subsidized by the federal govt.

Nov 20, 2009 - 11:21 am 34. paul_unalaska:

C: – regarding your comment. If you notice, it’s liberals, Democrats, progressive politicians who have the knee jerk reaction to tout at the time Judge Sotomayor’s Federal Judge nomination as ‘historic’ or ‘needed’ etc.,

Obama’s double-talk during the ‘08 campaign consisted of his always returning to the ‘my father was an African who’ or attempting to sell racist undertones when playing up his name..

I can go on, but it’s of no use. Many people in your camp see ‘diversity’ as working/ living with people from different backgrounds, cultures. I see diversity as the same, though those very same people are courteous, respectable, fair minded, motivated and don’t play the empathy card at every opportune moment, et al.

I’m speaking as a 2nd generation American whose family hails from Sicily, whereas we were taught not once to ask for a hand up/ out.

Your pointing out other posters (albeit hearsay for I would’ve liked to see the posters name for validity) idiotic comments is not the majority of opinions from this site.

Nov 20, 2009 - 11:24 am 35. Nicole:

After reading the review, I am bummed out because I wanted to go see this movie. I really like Sandra Bullock’s movies but it’s getting harder and harder to let the anti-conservative comments go. It’s just another way that Hollywood tries to make everyone think that conservatives are the extreme minority. Like Obama is a some kind of god and he’s going to fix all of the problems that “Bush created.” It makes me sick and I still can’t understand how people believe the liberal garbage that these celebrities spit out. Get a clue, people. Conservatives are not becoming extinct as some would like to think. We just don’t have the media on our side and our mouths aren’t the size of our heads.

Nov 20, 2009 - 3:11 pm 36. NahnCee:

“Tell me, how do the conservatives treat their blacks?”

We appoint them be Supreme Court justices (Clarence Thomas).

We appoint them be Secretary of State (Dr. Condoleeza Rice).

We appoint them to be Joint Chief of Staff of the military (Colin Powell).

I was thinking recently that the direction we’re going with President Obama and his dithering liberal base, all blacks who do not want to work will just have to declare disability on account of them BEING black, and they’ll be declared automatically disabled and eligible for Social Security benefits. Be a lot cheaper than trying to buy them off with fake jobs and multiple taxpayer-funded abortions.

“I’m depraved on account of I’m deprived.”

“I’m disabled on account of I’m black.”

Nov 20, 2009 - 4:01 pm 37. seansarto:

Hmm…So…a film about the South and white “elitism” being “kind” and “supportive” to an African all the while knowing their “premminence” and “affluence” is contingent on said’s labors( in this case “talent”)…And without “whips”!…Just subtler things like conservatism…. Sounds like the Somalians put up some cash to get this one made…I feel so good.

Nov 20, 2009 - 5:13 pm 38. C:

Paul, I quoted people from this thread. Not hearsey but words take from posters. I assumed that if people were reading my post, they would have read the ones that came before. My point remains that pleanty of conservatives make a big deal of race and I will still see them as hypocrital when in one breath they say they don’t see color but in the next show just how much they do see color. If you don’t see color, then don’t see color.

I am speaking as a black man who lives with a white woman in a committed
marriage. Multi culturalism for people in my camp means not caring what a person looks like but judging a person by the contents of their character.

Nov 20, 2009 - 8:42 pm 39. Slveryder:

How is this a sop to the idea of white liberal’s paternalistic care of black people? Wasn’t this a true story?
Seriously, if the problem is that the true story is closet racism, then SAY the original parents who took this kid in were either self-hating white people or racists out to leech of the black boy who would OBVIOUSLY become a great athlete. Come on, how about letting it be a good story?

Nov 20, 2009 - 9:13 pm 40. Now and Then:

19. tdiinva:
“Now and then . . . I don’t know because conservatives don’t notice skin color in their daily lives only liberals do.”

Really? Did you notice there weren’t any black people at the last Republican National Convention?

Nov 20, 2009 - 10:16 pm 41. Now and Then:

22. bubblehead:

You have the socially vapid self righteousness of a college freshman.

Nov 20, 2009 - 10:20 pm 42. Ricki:

I read the book 3 times and cried each time. When leigh Ann takes Michael
in there is no idea he will everplay football. He goes to this school before this family ever lays eyes on him.Michael was interested in playing basketball.

Read the book it is wonderful. Fabulous and well written.

Nov 21, 2009 - 10:05 am 43. Sharon:

I think this movie is true, hello….
Apparently Michael happens to love a Republican, Christian family…do tell.
That is not something that the Hollywood Liberals like to think about.

Nov 21, 2009 - 4:27 pm 44. deputyheadmistress:

It’s a true story.
Leigh Anne and her family are Christian, and Republican.

If they were so cynical as to only help this kid, and ADOPT him, for goodness’ sake, as this reviewer makes out, then they would never have helped anybody else out before, either, and this is not the case.

Think about that. These good Christian people taken in a homeless kid, help him get through school, and adopt him- that’s going pretty far just to get a kid on the football team, isn’t it? Leigh Anne says she thinks it is the providence of God that this movie about adoption came out on National Adoption Day, and that she wishes more families would take in homeless kids- and all this reviewer can do is sneer.

Nov 21, 2009 - 6:42 pm 45. Now and Then:

44. deputyheadmistress:

Save your facts. They’re irrelevant with this crowd. you see, they’ve been told this is an opportunity to slam liberals/Hollywood/Obama/Sn Francisco/healthcare reform/gays/and so they’re gonna slam it whether they know anything bout the story.

Its the conservative way.

My guess is that yours will be the penultimate entry, because the Cats and Jammers kids always retreat into the ether when faced with the harsh truth they’ve so blindly denied.

Nov 21, 2009 - 7:55 pm 46. Shame on You:

I am a mom, sports fan, Christian, conservative who actually works with inner city youth like Michael and I SAW THE MOVIE. It was great. We need MORE families, to actually consider helping these kids. Not just a handout, or volunteer project, but actually take in a kid and give him a roof over his head, not knowing how difficult or rough the situation was going to be.

Shame on you Reviewer…shame on all of you who will not see the movie because of a few “liberal” quotes. Which correction, he states in the movie, “I never thought we would have a black son being tutored by a democrat” Not that he had never met a democrat. That statement was actually funny to me, as a conservative. I could see myself making the same joke.
With all of the sex-driven, affair-riddled, crass, pornographic, anti-family, movies of late, I am saddened that someone would actually discourage someone to see this incredible film.

I personally see about 30 kids a week that are moments from being on the streets and daily walking the fine line of giving up and following the footsteps of their crack-addict, government supported parents. PLEASE open your eyes. This kids need help. It doesn’t matter what color their skin is, black, white, hispanic… please see this movie as the testimony of how a couples unbiased love, changed the life of one child. Are you willing to do the same??

Shame on you for not seeing this movie…

Nov 21, 2009 - 7:56 pm 47. Rich Vail:

9. Now and Then:

Tell me, how do the conservatives treat their blacks?

I learned a valuable lesson as a young recruit on Parris Island. My senior drill instructor said something profound when one of the recruits from a large norther city used a racial epithet…his words were “I only see light green and dark green Marines here…” of course he went on to graphically describe the lack of intelligence of the individual who said what he said. But the Lt Green and Dark Green comment stuck with ever since. I’ve lived by that…some of my friends have tans…some don’t who cares if you do or don’t. What really matters is the your character.

It’s only liberals who see minorities as people who can be exploited, and used. It’s sad really.

Nov 21, 2009 - 8:02 pm 48. Mike:

Remember the statement last year by the liberal activist that “we liberals like to do things that make black people like us, it makes us feel good”. ? Perfect example.

Nov 22, 2009 - 6:36 am 49. Rachel:

“For instance, Sean Tuouhy, played by Tim McGraw, says it’s odd that his family should have a black son before ever meeting a Democrat”

As a black female southerner — excuse me? That is the DUMBEST statement in a movie I’ve yet to hear – and I survived 5 minutes of Twilight. And does this mean that white Dems must adopt a black child? Cool! It will reduce the adoption situation of older kids

We, as Blacks go from being pets in one sense to pets of another sense. What’s even more tragic is there are fellow blacks (Sharpton, Jackson, anyone?) who are willing to exploit this

Nov 22, 2009 - 7:50 am 50. Stella:

First of all, you all need a sense of humor- you all are freaking out about jokes.
Second, MIchael Oher had never played football when Briarcrest or the Tuohys took him in.
Third, unless you all are taking in homeless poor children or teens, get off your high horses and practice what you preach.
LAstly, go see the movie – when Leigh Anne takes Michael in from the cold and buys him clothes, she is not thinking about football, she sees a boy who is cold and has no clothes. YOU are BLIND if you do not see that!
Michael said in USA Today no one had ever told him “I love you” until Leigh Anne told him.

+You also obviously missed the point that Michael was a visual learner- hence Leigh Anne’s football analogy.AND that his highest skill was protective instinct+

Look at the real picture of Leigh Anne with her eyes closed hugging Michael Oher, at movie’s end, and tell me you cannot see the love on her face.
Michael has a family, a home and a career. Who are you to criticize how he got it?

Nov 22, 2009 - 8:49 am 51. 6079SmithW:

I read the book. Haven’t seen the movie. But – I have to wonder if this kid hadn’t been noticed by someone who recognized that his potential as an athlete might be his ticket out of the Memphis slum, where would Michael Oher be today?

Nov 22, 2009 - 9:26 am 52. nohype:

Where are the brains on the football field? The smartest position according the study discussed here (http://benfry.com/writing/archives/147) is offensive tackle. The offense in the NFL is considerably smarter than the defense.

Nov 22, 2009 - 9:59 am 53. C:

Stella thank you for your comments. I agree with every word you wrote. I too noticed the absolute motherly love on touhy’s face. I went to this film worried that it would come off as the writer od this editorial suggests. I left see a wonderful story of a mother who did everything she could to see her son succeed. I will read the book and buy the movie on bluray.

Shame on you, I appreciate the work you do. This movie and you comments have reminded me that it was a republic an like you who saw promise in me and supported me inan hour of need. In the end, it about people supplying people and holding each other accountable. That is not a rep or dem thing, it is ahuman thing.

Nov 22, 2009 - 5:37 pm 54. Never for Obama:

I think this film did pretty well at the box office considering it was up against the teen-must-see movie, New Moon.

As I said, I saw THE BLIND SIDE and thought it was a really good movie. Go and see it and make up your own minds. It really was NOT written from a liberal POV. I boycott all movies like that, and from the box office receipts of most of the liberal anti-war movies, so does the rest of America.

Nov 22, 2009 - 6:31 pm 55. C:

I know that no one will see this as this thread of running out, but THIS MOVIE DID MAKE ME REASSESS MY GUN RIGHTS POSITION. I LOVED THE PART WHEN SHE TOLD THE DRUG DEALER SHE WAS PACKING AND IF HE TRIED TO HURT MICHAEL, SHE WOULD POP A CAP IN HIS BUTT. THAT WAS AN LOL MOMMENT IN THE MOVIE FOR ME.

Nov 23, 2009 - 3:25 am 56. 00smoothie:

After reading this review, I was expecting to be disappointed in this movie. But after actually viewing it for myself, I couldn’t disagree more with Mr. Boot’s assessment.

This is a movie that conservatives should be proud to go and see. If you like sports movies you will enjoy this movie. Even if you don’t you will probably enjoy it, since there are less than 15 minutes of football scenes in the whole film. It’s a bit formulaic, though less so than many sports movies I have seen. And most of all, it portrays right-wing, gun packing, Christians as the good guys! Who knew Hollywood was capable of that? See it for yourself; I’d be willing to bet that most folks wouldn’t see a bunch of priviliged whites treating a poor black as their “pet”, but instead would see Christian faith and love in action.

If you stay through the closing credits, you will see phtos of Michael Oher and the Tuohy family that show a young man who obviously feels at home with the Tuohys as a son, not as some kind of “pet”.

Finally, watch the following clip at this site where Michael Oher himself has a few seconds of screen time in a publicity reel for the movie. If this man felt like the movie was a dishonest portrayal of his life, why is he doing publicity for it?

Nov 23, 2009 - 7:04 am 57. 00smoothie:

Clip is at this link:
http://ontheflix.com/2009/11/19/new-blind-side-movie-featurette-interviews-the-real-michael-oher-more/

Nov 23, 2009 - 7:05 am 58. shame on You:

C-

Thanks! I couldn’t agree more. It’s not a political thing…it’s a human thing. We shouldn’t be so afraid of being offended, that we miss the point of the movie. Michael was a child. A homeless, hungry, cold, left alone child, who just happened to be black. These children come in all shapes, sizes and colors. Poverty and drug addiction knows no boundaries. It is affecting us as human beings.

Not to sound cheesy, but the Tuohy’s gave Michael the greatest gift they had. The gift of love. So many of these children are seen as “projects” by us. Give money to charity, send a gift at christmas, volunteer at a homeless shelter, then go home to your warm bed, and fell good about yourself. I applaud a family that will actually step out of their comfort zone, and offer a kid the only thing that can truly make his life better. The gift of a family.

Please please evaluate your heart. Don’t make this a race thing, or a political thing. Michael wouldn’t have cared if the Touhy’s were rep or dem, poor or rich, black or white. Love has no color and knows no boundaries. Sorry for being so direct. But those of you that are looking for a debate or agenda with this movie or just sad, plain sad.

Nov 23, 2009 - 9:42 am 59. rene:

Firstly, it is so sad that people have to publish their obvious chips on their shoulders about race. 2nd, I saw the movie with my nineteen yr old daughter and her 19 yr old friend from her school. We laughed, we cried, and our hearts were touched when no nonsense Sandra Bullock told the story of how a rich family put their stereogypical fears aside to help out another human being in need. At no time did I feel he was being treated as the pet! You people in this thread being so hateful, are the problem with race relations not progressing quicker past the errors of America’s past. MOVE ON! Thank god my daughters 19,17 would not think twice about someones skin color before they would help someone in need. AND yes they are rich white girls. LIVE in today’s moment, not our past. We have a Black president for gods sake!! Is that not enough to say that “the Man” is ready to move on???

Nov 24, 2009 - 8:45 am 60. Hoystory:

I read the magazine article that was excerpted from the book when it came out several years ago and it was heartwarming.

I saw the movie over the weekend and thoroughly enjoyed it.

To quote another popular movie: “Lighten up, Francis.”

Nov 24, 2009 - 9:07 am 61. Strom:

The moral of this review is that someone who goes through life desperately looking for reasons to be offended is likely to find them. If you had read the book, you would have known that the line where Sean Tuohy alludes to it being odd that his family should have a black son before ever meeting a Democrat, was an actual quote and clearly meant as a joke. Also, did you miss the part where the Tuohy’s adopted Michael? A pet? Unfortunately, this review revealed more about the writer than the movie.

Nov 24, 2009 - 11:13 am 62. bill:

Liberals and pets? Hmm, I thought it was about evangelical Christians who believe in the life changing force of the Holy Spirit. Christian and souls, yes. Liberals and pets, nah.

Nov 24, 2009 - 5:47 pm 63. GW:

I thought it was the most entertaining movie I have seen this year. It brought back many memories of growing up in Memphis. Hurt Village was a tough part of town when I lived there over twenty years ago. I am glad M.O. managed to escape. I remember a lot of prejudice people in Memphis, but I knew a lot of conservative, Christians who were willing to open their pocket books to help the unfortunate. See the movie.

Nov 25, 2009 - 9:58 pm 64. John:

I am so sick of liberal self-righteousness for the Democratic party has not changed one bit from it’s early days as the racist white southern party for it now keeps blacks enslaved in welfare, etc. while only appearing to help with costly programs like “Head Start” which studies have found accomplished nothing because the children still had to go home into the same environment.

Dec 6, 2009 - 5:55 pm 65. mark:

Just saw it.

The main characters are conservative Republicans.

This is a conservative movie filled with Christian values.

Go see it for yourselves!

It’s GREAT.

Dec 6, 2009 - 7:02 pm 66. Kathy:

I really liked the movie. I know the comment about having a black son before meeting a democrat, but I just blew it off. I guess I’ll have to read the book. But, I still loved the movie and thought that Sandra Bullock did a fantastic job. I’m about as conservative as you can get, but for this moment I took politics out of the mix. (Which is hard for me to do).

Dec 7, 2009 - 10:35 am 67. MemphisGuy:

Those mean ole whiteys! If they don’t do enough for the bla…I mean Afro-Americans they are mean ole whiteys. If they do something nice and humanitarian for a deserving child of another color…they are conniving, patronizing mean ole whiteys.

This movie is based on a true story, for crying out loud! A box-office smash. You might want to re-evalutate your thinking to see just how far you are from the mainstream in your obsession to hate everything but your ownselves. Pathetic.

Liberals/whiners/moralsupremists…try to get your anger under control…quit bashing those who do truly good things for others…quit being such pious moralists…and get a life. A real one.

Dec 19, 2009 - 10:58 pm 68. Marky Mark:

I am pretty conservative and hate political correctness.
Saw the movie last night – really enjoyed it – I agree with 00smoothie’s comments.

Dec 26, 2009 - 9:59 am