Wednesday, November 25, 2009

The Blind Side: the Story of Michael Oher and the Tuohy family

This afternoon my brothers and I went to go see the "The Blind Side", which is a movie based on a true story. The movie revolves around the story of Michael Oher, a homeless African American sixteen year old (whose father is dead and his mother is a drug addict), who is taken in by the (Caucasian) Tuohy family. Oher happens to be in the same grade as Collins Tuohy, and Collins had mentioned to her parents about the new kid.

In his first nine years of school Oher was enrolled in eleven different schools, and each continuously passed on the "problem" to the next. When he arrived at the Briarcrest Christian School at the age of 16, Oher had a measured I.Q. of 80 -- which put him in the ninth percentile -- and had a GPA of 0.6.

I'm a pretty sensitive and emotional person as it is, so it shouldn't even be a surprise - but i found myself tearing quite a few times throughout the movie! But the movie's comedic side struck a balance as well, fortunately. It is such a sad, yet inspirational story; heart breaking, yet motivational.

If you haven't seen "The Blind Side" yet, i highly recommend it for all of you.  it is a poignant movie and aside from a violent scene near the end of the movie that limits the movie to a PG-13 rated audience-  it is full of great lessons for everyone (from racial tensions to education)!

If you haven't seen this yet, definitely read that too. One of my brothers shared that with me about three years ago when the piece was written, and then again later when Oher was in the NFL draft. Like the read said, for someone to be in the 99th percentile, someone also has to be in the one or two percentile - but it's so hard to fathom its reality.

Here's an amazing and powerful quote from the article:
Leigh Anne Tuohy grew up with a firm set of beliefs about black people but shed them for another — and could not tell you exactly how it happened, except to say, “I married a man who doesn’t know his own color.” Her father, a United States marshal based in Memphis, raised her to fear and loathe blacks as much as he did. The moment the courts ordered the Memphis City Schools integrated in 1973, he pulled her out of public school and put her into the newly founded Briarcrest Christian School, where she became a student in its first year. “I was raised in a very racist household,” she says. Yet by the time Michael Oher arrived at Briarcrest, Leigh Anne Tuohy didn’t see anything odd or even awkward in taking him in hand.
And here's a short clip i came across earlier:


As Thanksgiving approaches, It's so amazing to think that of how much we take for granted every day... and even complain for some of it! I can't even imagine how many times i've stressed over academic work, for example, without even thinking about how blessed i am to even receive such an education in the first place!

While i think we should be thankful for our blessings every single day, I still wish a Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Hope everyone has a great few days off to relax with their family and friends.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I watched this movie last night and immediately researched it on the www. I was raised and now live in the deep south. Thank God, I had parents who taught us to judge people by their actions and not their outward appearance. I stand in awe of the people who took him into their hearts and showed him real family. As she said in the movie I'm sure more blessings were received than given.

Summaiyah Hyder said...

I agree, there were many great lessons in the movie and the story itself. We don't hear about such great people often enough, unfortunately, but thankfully they still exist.

Unknown said...

I just want to say that leigh anne tuohy I an awesome person for doing what she did not alot of people would do that and then make them family that your family is full of greatness and i never really liked football but im going to watch the ravens just for michael and your family i know i am some crazy chick you dont even know but i watched your movie and heard his story and he is a great man i wish one day i get to meet him and you guys or atleast someone like you. there is definitely not alot of people like your family and i wish my family was exactly like yours i am so glad i had the opportunity to hear that story and i wish him and you best of luck in life god bless

Unknown said...

how do we know if they read this i know they are only like five people with the whole world who love them and i wish i knew if they read our words i just want to THANK THEM for that very awesome story and im going to start watching the ravens just to support that very sweet hard working guy it lets me know if he came come from nothing and now be a pro football player then i can get my ged and go to college even if the math is hard i want to support my family and be hard working loyal soul exactly like michael oher. I want to make an impact in this world where i can look back and say hey i made something of myself im not just that 21 year old mom with two kids and works at a gas station for the rest of my life if he can do that then im going to help my life so thank youMICHAEL AND THANK YOU LEEANNE AND SEAN TOUHY

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