Sandra Bullock’s ‘The Blind Side’ was long reviled for its ‘White savior’ view of a Black athlete

Critics of 'The Blind Side' now have even more reason to hate it, with former NFL star Michael Oher alleging that his life story was exploited for the financial gain of the White family who took him in.

Not all Americans fell in love with Sandra Bullock’s inspirational football movie “The Blind Side” when it was released in November 2009.

Sure, “The Blind Side” made $309 million at the box office and Bullock won her long-awaited Academy Award, but many Black viewers “never cared much for it” according to The Root. Discerning critics also saw the movie, based on a best-selling book by Berkeley author Michael Lewis, as another Hollywood project that uses “White savior” tropes.

Now, critics of the movie have more ammunition in the wake of bombshell court documents filed by Michael Oher, the Black athlete at the center of the story. Oher’s documents allege that the White savior character played by Bullock and her family basically exploited his life story for their own financial gain.

In the movie, Bullock plays plays Leigh Ann Tuohy, a Memphis interior decorator who rescues Michael Oher, a homeless Black teenager, from grinding poverty. She and her husband, Sean Tuohy, nurture his talents as a future NFL tackle and Super Bowl champion, while also adopting him and making him a beloved member of their family.

But Oher’s petition, filed in Tennessee Probate Court, allege that a central element of this story was a lie. Oher said the Tuohys never actually adopted him as they long claimed. Instead of an adoption, Oher alleges that the Tuohys established a conservatorship that gave them authority to manage his financial affairs.

ESPN reported that the Tuohys used their power as conservators to strike a deal that paid them and their two birth children millions of dollars in royalties from the movie, while Oher got nothing for a story “that would not have existed without him.” In the years since, the Tuohys have continued calling the 37-year-old Oher their adopted son and have used that assertion to promote their foundation as well as Leigh Anne Tuohy’s work as an author and motivational speaker.

As The Root said: “On top of the adoption being total BS, Oher is also claiming that the movie deal the Tuohys negotiated made them and their children millions of dollars and that he walked away without making one damn cent.”

According to the petition, Oher didn’t learn about the conservatorship until recently and was told that the conservatorship papers he signed as an 18-year-old in 2004 functioned the same as adoption papers, Slate reported. But there are important legal distinctions, according to ESPN. As an adoptee, Oher would have been a legal member of their family but would have retained power to handle his own affairs. Under the conservatorship, Oher surrendered that authority to the Tuohys, even though he was a legal adult with no known physical or psychological disabilities.

The conservatorship also contained a provision that disallowed Oher from negotiating “any contracts … without the direct approval of his guardians/conservators,” Slate said. This line implies that the Tuohys could have had a hand in approving contracts that Oher signed as an adult, possibly those he signed with the NFL, Slate added.

“The jig is up!” The Root said in its report about Oher’s petition. But even before this news, The Root said that Black moviegoers have long taken issue with the way the film portrayed all White characters as being a positive influence in Oher’s life, while “nearly all of the Black characters serve as hindrances to him.” The Root also said it falls in the tradition of White savior movies, such as “Green Book” or “The Help,” which typically focus on a White character who “heroically comes into the picture to save the day” for a person of color, with the White character’s personal journey taking narrative precedence over the amazing accomplishments of the person being saved.

“Now it seems that the White family that ‘saved’ his life turned out to be his biggest enemies,” The Root said.

Leigh Anne Tuohy has yet to respond to Oher’s petition but her husband, Sean, called his allegations “insulting” and “hurtful.” In an interview with the Daily Memphian, Sean Tuohy acknowledged the conservatorship but said it was executed to help Oher become a legal member of their family. This legal maneuver was necessary for Oher to be able to attend and play football at the University of Mississippi under NCAA regulations, given that the Tuohys were prominent boosters of the school’s football program.

“We contacted lawyers who had told us that we couldn’t adopt over the age of 18; the only thing we could do was to have a conservatorship,” Sean Tuohy said. “We were so concerned it was on the up-and-up that we made sure the biological mother came to court.”

Tuohy also dismissed the idea that the family profited handsomely from the movie, saying that author Michael Lewis gave the family half his share. “Everybody in the family got an equal share, including Michael. It was about $14,000, each,” Tuohy said.

Sean Tuohy’s son, Sean Tuohy Jr., disputed Oher’s contention that he only recently learned about the conservatorship, but said he understands his frustration over not getting paid more for “The Blind Side,” the New York Post reported. In an interview with Barstool Radio, Tuohy Jr. said that he, too, didn’t make much money from the movie, estimating he received about $60,000 to $70,000 in royalties over the years.

Even with the lawsuit, Tuohy Jr. said he wasn’t going to bad-mouth Oher.

“I’m gonna preface this by saying that I love Mike at 16, I love Mike at 37, and I (will) love him at 67,” Tuohy Jr. said. “There’s not gonna be any dossier or thing that happens that is going to make me say, ‘Screw that guy.’ That’s not the case.”

Oher’s lawsuit isn’t the first time he has suggested that his life story was exploited by Hollywood, and that elements were distorted to make the Tuoys look more heroic. In interviews, he objected to the way the movie showed him having to learn to play football when he started playing in high school — and that he needed Leigh Anne Tuohy to show him how to play aggressively, according to an analysis by the website History vs Hollywood. 

In the movie, Bullock’s Leigh Anne interrupts one of Oher’s practices to inspire him by telling him to protect his team as if he was protecting his family.

“That part right there, it really got me because it was never like that. I’ve always known how to play the game of football,” Oher told 20/20 in 2009. “I’ve always had a passion for the game. You know, it’s Hollywood, so I mean that’s what they do, but at the end of the day it’s still a good story.”

In 2015, Oher also told ESPN that he objected to the way the movie suggested he never had the innate skills to play football.

“I’m not trying to prove anything,” Oher said. “People look at me, and they take things away from me because of a movie. They don’t really see the skills and the kind of player I am. That’s why I get downgraded so much, because of something off the field.”