A Social Analysis Of Anti-Racism In John Lee Hancock’s The Blind Side
APPENDICES
i. Autho’s Biography and works
John Lee Hancock, Jr. was born December 15, 1956 in Longview, Texas. He is
an American screenwriter, film director and producer. He is best known for directing
the sports drama films The Rookie and The Blind Side, and also Snow White and the
Huntsman. He also directed the 2013 biography film based on the making of Mary
Poppins, Saving Mr. Banks and wrote the 2014 film, Maleficent.
Jhon Lee Hancock's career path took an abrupt turn when he decided to work
in the film industry after years of practicing the law. A native of Longview, Texas,
Hancock obtained his B.A. in English from Baylor University and his J.D. from
Baylor University Law School. He served four years as an attorney with Houstonbased Sowell & Ogg, working as a production coordinator, location scout, and
assistant director for numerous productions.
Hancock was inspired towards the silver screen through his work on stage,
where he had once been a member of the Fountainhead Theatre Company in L.A., and
Legal Aliens Theatre, which he had co-founded. While working at his theatre, he
wrote and directed a number of plays, including Riff For Emily and Ten to Midnight.
Hancock's debut as a screenwriter and director came in 1991 with Hard Time
Romance. He worked on two more films as a screenwriter with A Perfect World and
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil before making his first directing effort since
1991 in 2002 with the sports drama The Rookie, which was a success both critically
and commercially. In 2004, he wrote and directed The Alamo, which was highly
unsuccessful at the box office, and would become the second-highest box office bomb
in movie history.
Five years later, he made the Academy Award-winning The Blind Side, which
was extremely successful and received an Academy Award for Best Picture
nomination. The Blind Side is a 2009 American semi-biographical sports drama film
and based on the 2006 book The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis.
The storyline features Michael Oher, an offensive lineman who played for the
Baltimore Ravens and the Tennessee Titans, and currently is signed with the Carolina
Panthers in the NFL. The film follows Oher from his impoverished upbringing,
through his years at Wingate Christian School (a fictional representation of Briarcrest
Christian School in Memphis, Tennessee), his adoption by Sean and Leigh Anne
Tuohy, to his position as one of the most highly coveted prospects in college football,
then finally becoming a first-round pick of the Ravens.
Sandra Bullock stars as Leigh Anne Tuohy, alongside Quinton Aaron as
Michael Oher, Tim McGraw as Sean Tuohy, and Kathy Bates as Miss Sue. The movie
also features appearances by several current and former NCAA coaches, including
SEC coaches Houston Nutt and Ed Orgeron (Oher's coaches in college, though Nutt
represented Arkansas at the time and therefore does so in the film) and Nick Saban
(who was at LSU at the time and represents it in the film), former coaches Lou Holtz,
Tommy Tuberville, Phillip Fulmer, as well as recruiting analyst Tom Lemming.
The Blind Side was produced by Alcon Entertainment and released by Warner
Bros. According to Reuters, the film's production budget was $29 million. Filming for
the school scenes took place at Atlanta International School and The Westminster
Schools in Atlanta, Georgia, and it features many of their students as extras. The film
premiered on November 17 in New York City and New Orleans and opened in
theaters on November 20 in the rest of the United States and in Canada.
The Blind Side was a box-office success, grossing over $300 million. The film
was well received by critics, who praised Sandra Bullock's performance. Bullock went
on to win the Academy Award for Best Actress, as well as the Golden Globe Award
for Best Actress and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by
a Female Actor in a Leading Role. The film also received an Academy Award
nomination for Best Picture.
The nomination of The Blind Side for Best Picture was considered a surprise,
even to its producers. In an attempt to revitalize interest surrounding the awards, the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had upped the number of Best Picture
nominees from a mandatory number of 5 to a mandatory 10 in time for the 82nd
Academy Awards, the year The Blind Side was nominated. In 2011 the Academy
changed the policy: stating the Best Picture category would feature between five and
ten nominees depending on voting results, as opposed to a set number of nominees.
The change was interpreted as a response to films like The Blind Side being nominated
for Best Picture to fill up the set number of spots
The Blind Side has also become the highest grossing football movie and sports
drama of all time domestically unadjusted for ticket inflation. The Blind Side ended its
domestic theatrical run on June 4, 2010 (nearly 7 months after it opened), earning a
total of $255,959,475.
Filmogrpahy
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Hard Time Romance,1991 (director and writer)
A Perfect World, 1993 (writer)
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, 1997 (writer)
My Dog Skip, 2000 (producer)
The Rookie, 2002 (director)
The Alamo, 2004 (director and writer)
The Blind Side,2009 (director and writer)
Snow White and the Huntsman, 2012 (writer)
Saving Mr. Banks, 2013(director)
Maleficent, 2014(writer)
The Founder, 2016 (director)
ii. Summary of the film
In 2003, Michael "Big Mike" Oher (Quinton Aaron) has been living in foster
care with different families in Memphis, Tennessee. Every time he is placed in a new
home, he runs away. His friend's father, on whose couch Michael has been sleeping,
asks Burt Cotton (Ray McKinnon), the coach of Wingate Christian School, to help
enroll his son and Michael. Impressed by the boy's size and athleticism, Cotton gets
him admitted despite a poor academic record. Michael is befriended by a young boy
named Sean Jr. "S.J." Tuohy (Jae Head), who is unintimidated by his appearance.
S.J.'s mother Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock), a strong-minded interior designer,
begins to take notice of Michael as a troubled and lonely boy.
One night, Leigh Anne notices Michael walking on the road, shivering in the
cold, when she learns he intends to spend the night huddled outside the school gym.
Despite her husband Sean's (Tim McGraw) misgivings, she invites him to stay the
night at their house. The next morning, Leigh Anne catches Michael attempting to
leave the house quietly. She asks him to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with her
family. Slowly Michael becomes a member of the Tuohy family, as Leigh Anne buys
him clothes, S.J. raises his confidence, and teenage Collins (Lily Collins) helps him
make friends at school. When Leigh Anne seeks to become Michael's legal guardian,
she learns he was separated from his drug-addict mother when he was seven and that
no one knows her whereabouts. She is also told that, although he has scored low in a
career aptitude test, he is in the 98th percentile in "protective instincts." Leigh Anne
uses this to drastically improve his performance on the football field.
An opportunity arises for Michael to play at university level, and he is highly
sought by a number of schools. In order to meet the minimum GPA requirement, the
Tuohys hire a private tutor, outspoken and kind Miss Sue (Kathy Bates). During their
lessons, she attempts to steer him towards Ole Miss (her and the Tuohys' alma mater)
by making remarks about the University of Tennessee burying the body parts of dead
people under their football field. Michael ultimately decides to attend Ole Miss. An
investigation follows to look into whether Michael was unduly influenced by the
Tuohys and Miss Sue the benefit their alma mater. Michael walks out of the room
before the interview is over.
After confronting Leigh Anne about her motives for influencing him, Michael
goes to find his birth mother in his old neighbourhood. A number of young men who
know Michael welcome him back to the projects and offer him beer. When the gang
leader makes sexually suggestive comments regarding Leigh Anne and Collins,
Michael assaults the boys and leaves. After thinking and questioning Leigh Anne on
the matter, Michael realizes that the Tuohys are now his family, and tells the
investigator in another interview that attending his family's school is the reason he has
chosen Ole Miss.
The film ends with real-life footage of Oher being drafted in the first round by
the Baltimore Ravens in the 2009 NFL Draft. S.J. is seen leading the players onto the
field with Michael before a game.
Cast
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne Tuohy
Tim McGraw as Sean Tuohy
Quinton Aaron as Michael "Big Mike" Oher
Jae Head as Sean "S.J." Tuohy, Jr.
Lily Collins as Collins Tuohy
Ray McKinnon as Coach Burt Cotton
Kim Dickens as Mrs. Boswell
Adriane Lenox as Denise Oher
Kathy Bates as Miss Sue
Eaddy Mays as Elaine
Robert "IronE" Singleton as Alton
Coaches playing themselves
•
•
•
•
•
•
Tommy Tuberville, then coach of Auburn
Nick Saban, then coach of LSU
Lou Holtz, then coach of South Carolina
Phillip Fulmer, then coach of Tennessee
Houston Nutt, then coach of Arkansas
Ed Orgeron, then coach of Ole Miss
i. Autho’s Biography and works
John Lee Hancock, Jr. was born December 15, 1956 in Longview, Texas. He is
an American screenwriter, film director and producer. He is best known for directing
the sports drama films The Rookie and The Blind Side, and also Snow White and the
Huntsman. He also directed the 2013 biography film based on the making of Mary
Poppins, Saving Mr. Banks and wrote the 2014 film, Maleficent.
Jhon Lee Hancock's career path took an abrupt turn when he decided to work
in the film industry after years of practicing the law. A native of Longview, Texas,
Hancock obtained his B.A. in English from Baylor University and his J.D. from
Baylor University Law School. He served four years as an attorney with Houstonbased Sowell & Ogg, working as a production coordinator, location scout, and
assistant director for numerous productions.
Hancock was inspired towards the silver screen through his work on stage,
where he had once been a member of the Fountainhead Theatre Company in L.A., and
Legal Aliens Theatre, which he had co-founded. While working at his theatre, he
wrote and directed a number of plays, including Riff For Emily and Ten to Midnight.
Hancock's debut as a screenwriter and director came in 1991 with Hard Time
Romance. He worked on two more films as a screenwriter with A Perfect World and
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil before making his first directing effort since
1991 in 2002 with the sports drama The Rookie, which was a success both critically
and commercially. In 2004, he wrote and directed The Alamo, which was highly
unsuccessful at the box office, and would become the second-highest box office bomb
in movie history.
Five years later, he made the Academy Award-winning The Blind Side, which
was extremely successful and received an Academy Award for Best Picture
nomination. The Blind Side is a 2009 American semi-biographical sports drama film
and based on the 2006 book The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis.
The storyline features Michael Oher, an offensive lineman who played for the
Baltimore Ravens and the Tennessee Titans, and currently is signed with the Carolina
Panthers in the NFL. The film follows Oher from his impoverished upbringing,
through his years at Wingate Christian School (a fictional representation of Briarcrest
Christian School in Memphis, Tennessee), his adoption by Sean and Leigh Anne
Tuohy, to his position as one of the most highly coveted prospects in college football,
then finally becoming a first-round pick of the Ravens.
Sandra Bullock stars as Leigh Anne Tuohy, alongside Quinton Aaron as
Michael Oher, Tim McGraw as Sean Tuohy, and Kathy Bates as Miss Sue. The movie
also features appearances by several current and former NCAA coaches, including
SEC coaches Houston Nutt and Ed Orgeron (Oher's coaches in college, though Nutt
represented Arkansas at the time and therefore does so in the film) and Nick Saban
(who was at LSU at the time and represents it in the film), former coaches Lou Holtz,
Tommy Tuberville, Phillip Fulmer, as well as recruiting analyst Tom Lemming.
The Blind Side was produced by Alcon Entertainment and released by Warner
Bros. According to Reuters, the film's production budget was $29 million. Filming for
the school scenes took place at Atlanta International School and The Westminster
Schools in Atlanta, Georgia, and it features many of their students as extras. The film
premiered on November 17 in New York City and New Orleans and opened in
theaters on November 20 in the rest of the United States and in Canada.
The Blind Side was a box-office success, grossing over $300 million. The film
was well received by critics, who praised Sandra Bullock's performance. Bullock went
on to win the Academy Award for Best Actress, as well as the Golden Globe Award
for Best Actress and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by
a Female Actor in a Leading Role. The film also received an Academy Award
nomination for Best Picture.
The nomination of The Blind Side for Best Picture was considered a surprise,
even to its producers. In an attempt to revitalize interest surrounding the awards, the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences had upped the number of Best Picture
nominees from a mandatory number of 5 to a mandatory 10 in time for the 82nd
Academy Awards, the year The Blind Side was nominated. In 2011 the Academy
changed the policy: stating the Best Picture category would feature between five and
ten nominees depending on voting results, as opposed to a set number of nominees.
The change was interpreted as a response to films like The Blind Side being nominated
for Best Picture to fill up the set number of spots
The Blind Side has also become the highest grossing football movie and sports
drama of all time domestically unadjusted for ticket inflation. The Blind Side ended its
domestic theatrical run on June 4, 2010 (nearly 7 months after it opened), earning a
total of $255,959,475.
Filmogrpahy
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Hard Time Romance,1991 (director and writer)
A Perfect World, 1993 (writer)
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, 1997 (writer)
My Dog Skip, 2000 (producer)
The Rookie, 2002 (director)
The Alamo, 2004 (director and writer)
The Blind Side,2009 (director and writer)
Snow White and the Huntsman, 2012 (writer)
Saving Mr. Banks, 2013(director)
Maleficent, 2014(writer)
The Founder, 2016 (director)
ii. Summary of the film
In 2003, Michael "Big Mike" Oher (Quinton Aaron) has been living in foster
care with different families in Memphis, Tennessee. Every time he is placed in a new
home, he runs away. His friend's father, on whose couch Michael has been sleeping,
asks Burt Cotton (Ray McKinnon), the coach of Wingate Christian School, to help
enroll his son and Michael. Impressed by the boy's size and athleticism, Cotton gets
him admitted despite a poor academic record. Michael is befriended by a young boy
named Sean Jr. "S.J." Tuohy (Jae Head), who is unintimidated by his appearance.
S.J.'s mother Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock), a strong-minded interior designer,
begins to take notice of Michael as a troubled and lonely boy.
One night, Leigh Anne notices Michael walking on the road, shivering in the
cold, when she learns he intends to spend the night huddled outside the school gym.
Despite her husband Sean's (Tim McGraw) misgivings, she invites him to stay the
night at their house. The next morning, Leigh Anne catches Michael attempting to
leave the house quietly. She asks him to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with her
family. Slowly Michael becomes a member of the Tuohy family, as Leigh Anne buys
him clothes, S.J. raises his confidence, and teenage Collins (Lily Collins) helps him
make friends at school. When Leigh Anne seeks to become Michael's legal guardian,
she learns he was separated from his drug-addict mother when he was seven and that
no one knows her whereabouts. She is also told that, although he has scored low in a
career aptitude test, he is in the 98th percentile in "protective instincts." Leigh Anne
uses this to drastically improve his performance on the football field.
An opportunity arises for Michael to play at university level, and he is highly
sought by a number of schools. In order to meet the minimum GPA requirement, the
Tuohys hire a private tutor, outspoken and kind Miss Sue (Kathy Bates). During their
lessons, she attempts to steer him towards Ole Miss (her and the Tuohys' alma mater)
by making remarks about the University of Tennessee burying the body parts of dead
people under their football field. Michael ultimately decides to attend Ole Miss. An
investigation follows to look into whether Michael was unduly influenced by the
Tuohys and Miss Sue the benefit their alma mater. Michael walks out of the room
before the interview is over.
After confronting Leigh Anne about her motives for influencing him, Michael
goes to find his birth mother in his old neighbourhood. A number of young men who
know Michael welcome him back to the projects and offer him beer. When the gang
leader makes sexually suggestive comments regarding Leigh Anne and Collins,
Michael assaults the boys and leaves. After thinking and questioning Leigh Anne on
the matter, Michael realizes that the Tuohys are now his family, and tells the
investigator in another interview that attending his family's school is the reason he has
chosen Ole Miss.
The film ends with real-life footage of Oher being drafted in the first round by
the Baltimore Ravens in the 2009 NFL Draft. S.J. is seen leading the players onto the
field with Michael before a game.
Cast
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne Tuohy
Tim McGraw as Sean Tuohy
Quinton Aaron as Michael "Big Mike" Oher
Jae Head as Sean "S.J." Tuohy, Jr.
Lily Collins as Collins Tuohy
Ray McKinnon as Coach Burt Cotton
Kim Dickens as Mrs. Boswell
Adriane Lenox as Denise Oher
Kathy Bates as Miss Sue
Eaddy Mays as Elaine
Robert "IronE" Singleton as Alton
Coaches playing themselves
•
•
•
•
•
•
Tommy Tuberville, then coach of Auburn
Nick Saban, then coach of LSU
Lou Holtz, then coach of South Carolina
Phillip Fulmer, then coach of Tennessee
Houston Nutt, then coach of Arkansas
Ed Orgeron, then coach of Ole Miss