The Blind Side Rhetorical Analysis

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Media such as movies, video games and television, in general, are all created to support some form of social context. This helps with generating popularity because people are able to relate to the form of media. In Greg Smith’s book What Media Classes Really Want to Discuss, he describes 6 different representational strategies that justifies people’s way of thinking. The trope that I will be amplifying is the white savior tactic. In addition, I will connect this strategy to the movie The Blind Side. There are clear examples throughout the film where racism and low-income cultures exist in which the white family is there to help. The Tuohy family from the movie “The Blind Side” serves as the white savior for the progression of Michael …show more content…

Oher is presented as being helpless, poor and basically homeless. His mother is said to be a massive drug addict, therefore, his future could be cut short if help doesn’t arrive soon. Throughout the beginning of the movie, the white family notices Oher and immediately realizes that he is in need of help. Although, the community recognizes him as a black beast in need of taming. When the family met Oher for the first time, it seemed as if he had no clue how to interact with other humans. This justifies Smith’s definition of “othering”, showing that Oher is shut out by everyone and over looked because of his abnormal appearance. One scene, in particular, reinforces his untamed demeanor when Oher meets S.J., the son of the family, for the first time. In an attempt to make some friends, he approaches S.J. while he is playing on the swings and all of the children get scared and run away. As the film progresses, the audience is told that he placed in the 98th percentile for protective instincts. This fact supports the claim of Michael Oher being an outsider who, like a dog, needs taming and only possesses the most elementary of evolutionary traits. After the family had officially taken him under their wing, they discover that he is in fact a loving, caring individual whose instincts can carry over onto the football field. Overall, the white savior in The Blind Side is easily dissected to be the Touhy family and the abandoned “other” is Michael Oher. The family ultimately discovers a hopeless person, who is talented at football, and takes full

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