The Blind Side Synthesised with Peter Skyznecki
John Lee Hancock’s “The Blind Side” explores a diverse range of aspects and notions of belonging through the techniques presented in the text. The characterization of the central character Michael Ohers being a big illiterate black African American teenager coming from a broken home and family sets the context for the rest of the film where he is faced with many barriers restricting his comfort and pushing him towards his total disengagement from the “White” Society. After the Touhy’s accept Michael into their home, he begins his long path transitioning from the old “Big Mike” to the new Michael Ohers. The barriers that Michael is faced with include the school he goes to and the environment he is residing in being a new experience to him since he has never had anything in his life and is coming into a rich family’s home. The school Michael ends up attending emphasises the fact explicitly that he does not belong to them which is reinforced by his soliloquy type poem where he writes from his heart and puts all of his emotions and thoughts onto paper and recognises that he is changing into somebody he does not know this is depicted in the quote “This is not Michael Oher” and is additionally portrayed when the football coach describes “Mikes type” in the quote “Most kids with Mike’s background will not even come in 200 miles of the school” this places extra emphasise Michaels skin colour and his lack of belonging to the area he is now living in and is reinforcing the fact that most people from his background wouldn’t even come close to the area and Michael is faced with these barriers and is tackling them head on. Leigh Anne Touhy provides Michael with psychological and safety needs and social and belonging needs by accepting him into her family and giving him a “new life” this is reinforced when she is told by her good friend Beth that “you are changing that boys life”, and she replies ”No, his changing mine”, the dialogue between these two characters has a deep