Since its release, "The Blind Side" has gone on to cement itself among a long list of classic, cherished sports movies. However, according to the film's main character, Michael Oher, not all was what it seemed, and the movie didn't accurately portray what really happened. Oher has since come out with accusations that paint a much darker picture than the cheerful, inspirational story told by the movie. Here is a rundown of how "The Blind Side" quickly turned from a beloved family movie into a controversial film.
Michael Oher's Life Before Meeting The Tuohy Family
In "The Blind Side," Michael Oher's home life before moving in with the Tuohys is rough. It's alluded to that his mother had a drug problem and that his father had been locked up for a while. Oher also has around 11 siblings, all of whom would've been dealing with the same circumstances. However, Oher has said that this part of his life was simplified for audiences and that things were a bit more complicated than that.
As things in real life often are, there was more going on involving his home life at the time, and not everything was as clear cut as they made it out to be in the film.
Michael Oher Meets The Tuohy Family In The Film
The scene in the movie where Michael Oher meets a member of the Tuohy family is a pretty memorable one. A young Oher is out in the rain all alone with soaking wet clothes when a member of the family walks up to him. However, the real story is much less dramatic. The mother of the family, Leigh Anne Tuohy, who Sandra Bullock plays in the film, meets Oher while he's attending the same school as her children.
She buys him some clothes, and their relationship slowly grows from there. It's a more natural meeting and one that filmmakers probably thought wouldn't capture audiences' attention as well.
Michael Oher's Personality
In the movie, Michael Oher is depicted as a shy kid who mostly sticks to himself and is generally just very passive. The Touhy family is also the main driver acting to get him into the NFL throughout the film. However, Oher has said that this is not exactly true. Firstly, Oher actually has a pretty big personality, and he's known for his jovial nature and for his social demeanor.
He's also said that he had worked and strived to make it into the NFL mostly before the Tuohys had come along and that it was his dream before they began lending a hand.
Leigh Anne's Connection To The NFL
Leigh Anne is the Tuohy family matriarch and also a pretty successful businesswoman. She's an interior designer, and among her list of clients was someone named Patrick Ramsey, who at the time was a quarterback for the NFL's Washington Redskins. This fact is even briefly mentioned in the movie, although it's mostly only mentioned briefly as a fun little Easter egg for those who might have some background knowledge.
So, Leigh Anne did have somewhat of a connection to the NFL and as such, the football world as a whole, although it's uncertain if this played any part in later events.
Dealing With Racism At His New School
Both in the film and in real life, Oher switched schools when he met the Tuohys. The film does briefly touch on Michael Oher's race, but it's never really something that Oher is portrayed as having to deal with directly. But when he switched to a mostly white school, Oher did encounter bigotry from some of the students there. When he played football at the high school, he'd often be called slurs during games with other schools.
The family itself also had to learn how to navigate issues that arose involving Oher's race and his attending a private, mostly white high school. These issues were largely left out of the movie.
Getting To Know Each Other
During most adoptions, especially those involving older kids, there is a phase where both sides feel each other out. However, in "The Blind Side's" rags-to-riches story, Michael Oher and the Tuohy family seem to immediately feel comfortable around one another. They completely skipped the awkward phase that's a part of nearly every adoption. The truth is that there was some anxiety and tension at first, but Oher eventually grew comfortable around the family.
Despite all of the recent accusations, Oher has also said that he still thinks of them as family. So, there was and still is some kind of bond there.
Michael Oher Apparently Wasn't A Fan Of The Film
It's not uncommon for films to bend the truth when telling a story. Hollywood versus reality is a common talking point among fans of both films and history. However, things start to get into an ethical gray area when filmmakers bend the truth to present one side of a story. Michael Oher has said that filmmakers didn't accurately portray his life story and, even worse, wrote his story in an untruthful way.
He's since expressed his feeling that ultimately the movie has done a lot more harm than good. So, let's get into exactly why he said that and what he meant by it.
Michael Oher's Past Athletic History
Another sticking point for Michael Oher has been the film's portrayal of him after arriving at the private school and joining the football team. In the film, Leigh Anne is shown basically teaching him how to play football. She was very involved in that part of his life, but he'd played football at schools he attended before. So, he had some experience on the field and wouldn't need to be shown how to play the game.
Oher has said that he felt this inaccuracy basically stole his history of hard work and his determination to do things for himself. It's another case of Hollywood versus Reality.
Sandra Bullock Almost Wasn't In The Film
Sandra Bullock's role as Leigh Anne Tuohy was praised by pretty much everyone when "The Blind Side" was released. But the truth is that she almost didn't take the part. Apparently, she was originally worried that she wouldn't be able to play a devoutly Christian woman very well. Her opinion was changed after she met with Leigh Anne in person. However, she did end up playing the part for much less money than she usually earns.
Still, her performance earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress. Although, her decision to play in the movie has recently drawn some criticism from people after Oher's accusations came out.
Julia Roberts Almost Played In The Film
While Sandra Bullock is now remembered for her incredible performance in the movie, her part was almost played by another actor. Julia Roberts was initially considered for the role of Leigh Anne Tuohy, but she turned it down. She said that she just thought the role wasn't right for her. It could have very well been Roberts who won a couple of awards for her portrayal of Leigh Anne, had she decided to take on the role.
However, like Bullock is now, Roberts could also be the one receiving some criticism for her part in the film now had she decided to take on the role.
Quinton Aaron And Michael Oher's Age Difference
Quinton Aaron is another actor whose performance in "The Blind Side" was generally lauded. He played Oher, and while the two have a lot of similarities, there are also some differences. Aaron is two years younger than Michael Oher, which usually wouldn't really matter all that much. However, he was playing a high school kid. Still, both Oher and Aaron have a similar build, so it ultimately didn't matter too much.
Aaron has since come out and said that the recent accusations from Oher have not been a "good turn of events" and that he's "not taking sides" in the legal battle.
Sandra Bullock's Ties To The Family
While Sandra Bullock may not have been very excited to play the role of Leigh Anne Tuohy at first, it seems she has since made friends with both the Tuohy family and Michael Oher. At one point, it wasn't uncommon for her to be spotted at NFL games alongside the Tuohy family. The actress hasn't said much since accusations about the movie and Oher's familial relationship have surfaced, but she has said that the accusations have left her "heartbroken."
It's unclear if Sandra Bullock has talked to any members of the Tuohy family or Oher since all of the controversy surrounding the movie started to go viral.
Michael Oher's Wasn't The Only Rags-To-Riches Story
Before Quinton Aaron landed the part of playing Michael Oher in "The Blind Side," he was actually working as a security guard. In fact, he even gave the director his card during the audition in case he needed any security during the filming of the movie. So, Oher's story wasn't the only one that was a rags-to-riches story. It was Aaron's very first time taking on a leading role as well.
After "The Blind Side," Aaron went on to play in a number of different movies. He's also recently started making music, according to People, which interviewed him shortly after the accusations were made.
Oher's Own Hard Work
One of Michael Oher's big complaints with the film has been that it made him look like he didn't work all of his life to get into the NFL. In another case of Hollywood versus reality, the truth is that Oher was playing football before the Tuohys came along. Now, he says that people view him as the guy who had a movie made about him instead of the guy who worked to make it where he is now.
Oher alludes to there being some sense of people thinking he only made it to the NFL because of his feel-good story instead of him having put in the work to develop is talent.
The Private School Michael Oher Attended
While "The Blind Side" does depict some of the issues Michael Oher had to deal with when switching to Briacrest High School, it doesn't touch on everything. It's true that after Oher's speech, many of the school's staff changed the way they interacted with him, and his coach advocated for him the whole time he was there. However, Oher also had to pass a couple of pretty difficult tests in order to get into the school.
These tests proved pretty difficult and it was only after the school's football coach continued to push for his admission that he was finally let into the private school.
Michael Oher's Autobiography
Michael Oher hasn't made it a secret that he takes some issue with the film made about him. However, he has also said that a lot of good came out of the movie. Still, he wanted to detail what really happened and tell the true story of his life. So, he wrote and released I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness, to The Blind Side, and Beyond to tell the real story of his life and upbringing.
The book is still a rags-to-riches story but without all of the questions that follow around so many biopics come out of Tinsel Town. There are no Hollywood versus reality issues.
The Real-Life Collins Tuohy
In the film, Michael Oher's younger sister, Collins Tuohy, is something of a star athlete herself. She's both a cheerleader and a volleyball player. However, it turns out that she's even more incredible in real life. The real story is that not only did she get a scholarship to cheer at the University of Mississippi, but she also won the state's pole vaulting championship at one point.
In the movie, her character was played by Lily Collins, who many might know from the movie, "Emily In Paris." She's also played in a couple of other big-name films since "The Blind Side."
The First Time Michael Oher And Sean Tuohy Met
Another dramatized scene in the film is the one in which Sean Tuohy first meets Michael Oher. In the film, Sean first sees Oher while he's picking up food that has been left behind after a game. The truth is that the two's first meeting was much more realistic. In reality, Sean first met Oher when he went up to the school in order to make sure that his lunch money was processed by the school.
He wanted to make sure that everything had been taken care of so that Oher could buy lunch and eat, which is very different from the film meeting.
Quinton Aaron Had To Train To Play Michael Oher
Quinton Aaron may have had a similar build to Michael Oher, but that didn't mean that he was as in shape or knew the game of football as well. As such, he decided to join Georgia Tech's football practices for around three months. This was so that he could get into shape and better understand the game of football and how players act on the field. He may not have been an NFL-caliber player when he finished, but he was still a very believable football player in the film.
His time spent with the Georgia Tech football team wasn't easy either, as shown by the amount of weight Aaron was able to lose in just three months of practicing with the team.
The School Was Hesitant About The Film
It turns out that there's a reason the private school that Michael Oher attends in the film has a different name than the one he attended in real life. The truth is that Briarcrest was nervous that the film would make the school staff look bad, so they asked the filmmakers to change their name in the movie. In the movie, the school is named Wingate Christian School instead of Briarcrest.
That said, you can still see the real school's colors displayed all throughout the film and nobody was really fooled by what school Oher had actually attended in real life.
Quinton Aaron's First Taste Of Fame
As mentioned before, before Quinton Aaron landed the role of leading man right beside Sandra Bullock, he was working as a security guard. As such, when he went to Los Angeles for his second audition for the film, he actually had to ride on a plane for the first time. He was probably pretty nervous, but he probably also got acclimated to it pretty quickly after the film was released.
His popularity exploded after the film was released, and he recently said that the movie helped change both his life and many others who were involved with the making of the movie.
Quinton Aaron Wouldn't Had Gotten The Role Without His Mom
It turns out that Quinton Aaron's mom was pretty much the only reason that he landed the role of Michael Oher. She happened to read a call for actors and noticed that her son fit the description almost perfectly. She tried to persuade him to try out for the role and just ended up signing him up herself. Aaron attended the first audition, then the second, and eventually landed the role.
If he hadn't gone to that first audition, then there's no telling who would've played Oher in the film, and we couldn't had a very different movie than the one we got.
Quinton Aaron Prepared A Lot For The Film
Quinton Aaron did a lot of preparation for the film, which is understandable. It was his first leading role and he would be playing beside veteran actor Sandra Bullock. He ended up taking acting lessons in addition to his three months of training with the Georgia Tech football team. He also ended up slimming down considerably for the role. By the time he'd finished his training, he was already around 100 pounds lighter.
However, the film was somewhat of a rags-to-riches story for Aaron as well, so in the end it was all worth it. Aaron went on to play in many other films after his appearance in "The Blind Side."
The Man Who Played Sean Tuohy
It wasn't very hard for audiences to recognize Sandra Bullock when she first appeared on screen as Leigh Anne Tuohy. However, the man who played Sean Tuohy was new to acting, if not stardom in general. The truth is Sean was played by country music legend Tim McGraw, and there were a lot of fans out there who recognized the person playing Sean the moment he appeared in the movie.
Lilly Collins, who played Michael Oher's sister in the movie, also had some musical roots. Her father was legendary rocker Phil Collins, who used to play in Genesis back in the day.
The Movie's Effect On Sandra Bullocks Career
While "The Blind Side" certainly helped make many people's careers, Sandra Bullock was already a star when she signed on to play Leigh Anne Tuohy. She, along with Tim McGraw, were the most recognizable faces in the movie when it first premiered. However, that's not to say that it didn't help her career, too. In addition to clinching a couple of different awards, it also marked the beginning of her being considered for more serious roles.
In reality, it also saw her name written above the movie's title on posters, which is a pretty big honor in Hollywood and, at the time, a first for a woman in a film that grossed over $200 million.
'The Blind Side' Didn't Take Much To Make
"The Blind Side" was one of the biggest financial successes in Hollywood both then and since. However, the truth is that it was actually made on a pretty tight budget. Despite this, it went on to please both critics and audiences when it was first released, which is no easy feat. It was racked up big at the awards shows with both a Golden Globe and an Academy Award.
The movie ended up making around $309 million at the box office, which was a lot more than the $30 million it took to make it. It's still one of the highest-earning sports films ever.
Every Frame Of The Movie Was Considered
At first glance, "The Blind Side" might just seem like another sports movie. But the real story is that nearly every frame in the movie was thought about considerably. For example, the scene in which the family is about to sit down and have Thanksgiving dinner is actually a recreation of a famous painting. It's from a Norman Rockwell painting called Freedom from Want and it's pretty symbolic for the film.
It's also another case of Hollywood versus reality in which filmmakers change something in order to make for a better story or, in this case, add some more layers to a dinner.
The University Of Mississippi
The University of Mississippi, or as a lot of sports fans know it, "Ole Miss," features prominently in the film. It's where Michael Oher eventually ends up playing football when he goes off to college. It was also where Sean, Leigh Anne, and their daughter, Collins Tuohy, went to school. It was also where Oher's old coach from Briarcrest, Hugh Freeze, would eventually end up coaching, but that's an entirely different story.
Ironically enough, Sandra Bullock also played a former Ole Miss student when she played Ellen Roark in "A Time To Kill." So, she was probably pretty familiar with the university by this point.
The Story Before 'The Blind Side' Film
Before filming ever started on "The Blind Side" and before he released his own autobiography, Michael Oher's rags-to-riches rise to the NFL had already been documented in a book by author Michael Lewis. The book told both Oher's and another player's stories. The screenplay for the film was actually heavily influenced by the book, and the inspiration for the entire movie was pretty much based on Lewis's prior work.
The author had also been friends with Sean Tuohy when they were both younger, which is how he heard about Oher's story. Sports fans might also know him from "Moneyball," which was a really popular movie based on a book he wrote.
Sports Cameos In 'The Blind Side'
NFL and college football fans likely noticed a couple of different cameos during "The Blind Side." In addition to Sean Tuohy being played by Tim McGraw, there were a number of actual coaches who showed up in the movie. The Ole Miss coach in the movie was actually played by the University of Arkansas's coach at the time, Houston Nutt. Hugh Freeze, who wasn't nearly as famous then as he is now also made an appearance.
Possibly the greatest college football coach of all time, Nick Saban, also made an appearance in the film, alongside the likes of Ed Orgeron and Lou Holtz, among others.
Set In Memphis, Filmed In Atlanta
The movie is set in Memphis, Tennessee, which is where the actual events of the movie took place. However, that's not where it was actually filmed. The movie was actually filmed in Atlanta, Georgia, and there are a couple of different tells of that throughout the movie, albeit very small tells. For example, in this scene, you can just barely make out a sign that says "Georgia Lottery PLAY HERE."
Audiences are given a little bit of insight into one family member's history in the movie when Leigh Anne Tuohy says the line “I have been in Memphis my whole life.”
Sandra Bullocks Pay Cut
Sandra Bullock was a pretty big star when she decided to get on board with this movie, so it makes sense that she took a pay cut for a movie with a budget as small as this one. The truth is that her decision to take a pay cut ended up being the right move in the end. The film would go on to gross a lot more money than anyone expected and luckily, she'd agreed to a percentage instead of her usual salary.
That decision probably saw her end up making a lot more money than she would've if she'd just been paid her usual rate for a movie at the time.
Hugh Freeze's Appearance In The Film
Today, Hugh Freeze is a big name in college football. However, back then, he was simply a high school coach and then a coach at a small college. So, a lot of people probably initially missed his cameo in "The Blind Side." He can be seen in this scene from the movie next to Houston Nutt. Freeze would also go on to be the head coach at Ole Miss a number of years later.
There, he was involved in a scandal. We'll let you read the real story behind that for yourselves, but today, he's back coaching as a head coach at the University of Auburn in Alabama.
'The Blind Side's' Working Title
Not many people know this, but while a film is still in the production phase, it often goes by a different name or a working title if you will. "The Blind's Sides" working title was "Wonderbar" when the cast was filming. The idea behind this is to give shooting a bit more secrecy and also allow flexibility in case the official name ends up being changed later during production.
It's thought that "Wonderbar" was from the German "Wunderbar," or wonderful. This could've been both a nod to Sandra Bullock's German heritage or to the fact that the story seemed wonderful.
Sean Jr. 's Role In The Film
Various members of the Tuohy family appeared in small cameos in the film. One such cameo involved Sean Jr. Tuohy, who appears in the stands next to Tim McGraw who plays his father. Sean Jr. went on to play football at Loyola University in Baltimore after his time in high school. He eventually went on to work on the University of Arkansas's football staff and today works with NIL.
The younger Tuohy has since denied Michael Oher's Accusations in interviews while also saying "You will never hear me say anything bad about Michael Oher in any capacity other than I’m upset that he feels the way that he does."
Some Help In School
Some may have noticed that the movie portrays Michael Oher as getting a little bit of help getting into private school. In one scene, after he's done taking one of his exams, we can see that a teacher marks one of his incorrect answers as correct. The question had to do with where the Battle of Waterloo took place, and Oher marked Germany when it in fact took place in the Netherlands.
It's not entirely clear if some of the exams Oher had to take in real life in order to get into the school were manipulated the same way, but he did have a couple of powerful people advocating for the school to accept him.
Other Inaccuracies In The Film
These are more of just small things that weren't caught rather than a case of Hollywood versus reality. The film was released around the same time Michael Oher was starting his NFL career, so not everything in the movie was 100% accurate. For example, there was one scene in which someone is handed some recruiting film, (or in this case a DVD) of Oher and it's placed on a magazine.
On the cover of that magazine if a football player named Bryce Brown, who would've only been around 12 years old when the events in the movie took place.
A Couple Of Other Irregularities
On top of the whole Bryce Brown thing, there are a couple of other inaccuracies in "The Blind Side." These include the fact that Sean Tuohy can be seen using Safari at one point in the movie. However, that browser didn't come out until 2007, while the film is set all the way back in 2003 and 2004. Another small error involves Sandra Bullock's character driving the wrong model car.
Depending on how well you know the history of technology and cars, these could've either been small, unnoticeable errors or larger inaccuracies that stood out to you when you watched.
Issues Of Student Privacy
Despite being an uplifting film, there are a couple of different ethical questions that are raised throughout the movie. One has to do with student privacy and involves a scene where Sandra Bullock's character goes up to the school and asks for Michael Oher's files. Oher had not been officially adopted at this point in time, so she shouldn't have been able to see his files. However, the staff gave them to her anyway.
We're not sure what the real story behind this scene is, but it does raise a couple of interesting questions considering Leigh Anne was only doing it to help Oher.
The Film's Southern Roots
While most of the actors in the film prepared in their own ways, there was one area that Sandra Bullock had down pretty well before filming. That's the Southern accent since Bullock is originally from Virginia. She also spent some time in North Carolina during college. Obviously, Tim McGraw also had some Southern roots, being a pretty popular country music singer and originally born and raised in the state of Louisiana.
That said, Bullock did say she spent some time with a dialect coach since there are multiple Southern accents and someone from Tenessee is going to sound a lot different than someone from Virginia.