In sociology symbolic interactionism explains the individual in a society and their interactions with others and through that it can explain social order and change. This theory was compiled from the teachings of George Herbert Mead in the early 20th century. Mead believed that the development of the individual was a social process. People are subjected to change based on their interactions with other people, objects or events and they assign meaning to things in order to decide how to act. This perspective depends on the symbolic meaning that people depend on in the process of social interaction. This paper will examine the movie “The Blind Side” through the symbolic interaction perspective. The movie The Blind Side is about a homeless young man named Michael Oher, who was from one the worst …show more content…
Herbert Blumer noted that people act toward others based on the meaning they give them. The meaning we assign to someone is shown by the language we use toward that person. Words we use have default assumptions, and people label others with words. Thought then comes into play as we modify our interpretation of what we see by our thought process. The thought process includes someone taking the role of the other. You imagine you are someone else who is viewing you, and sometimes act as that person would act. A lot of the people in the movie, The Blind Side, act differently toward Michael Oher based on the meaning they assign to him, and they give him different labels. Those labels are mostly negative because people see Michael him with ratty clothes, nowhere to live, and always failing school. Michael Oher’s mom in the movie, Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock), and her family represent love and caring. Michael starts showing love and caring. When he goes back to the “hood” with his old friends, they represent problems, and he doesn’t want to be problematic, so he stays away from
Being bold is crucial when exemplifying heroism. Leigh Anne Tuohy steps out of her comfort zone multiple times in the movie The Blind Side to positively affect Michael Oher. Michael Oher is a homeless African American teenager who grew up in the projects around Memphis, TN. Micheal comes from a drug centered and broken family, which lead him to be controlled by Family Services. SJ Tuohy, the son of Leigh Anne, formed the first relationship with Micheal when they bonded over their grade school habits. One
Tuesdays with Morrie is a book about and old college sociology professor who gives us insight not only on death, but also on other topics important in our lives like fear, marriage, and forgiveness while in his last days being on Earth. Using symbolic interactionism I will analyze one of Morrie’s experiences; while also explaining why I chose such an experience and why I felt it was all connected. Seven key concepts will be demonstrated as well to make sure you can understand how powerful Morrie’s messages truly are. The one big message I took from Morrie was to learn how to live and not let anything hold you back
The movie Crash examines the interpersonal communications that exists between different groups’ of people. In this film, characters are highlighted by the contact that occurs when disparate people are thrown together in large urban settings. Crash displays extreme instances of racism and shows how the thought, feeling, and behavior of individuals are influenced by actual, imagined, or implied presence of other human beings. My analysis will focus on Social Cognition and how people process, and apply information about other people and social situations.
What is sociological imagination? Our textbook describes sociological imagination as the ability to see our private experiences, personal difficulties, and achievements as, in part, a reflection of the structural arrangements of society and the times in which we live. The movie entitled Forrest Gump is a great example of sociological imagination. In this paper, I will cite examples from the movie and tell how they correlate with sociological imagination. Sociological imagination allows us examine the events of our lives and see how they intersect with the wider context of history and tradition of the society in which we live. (Hughes/Kroehler, The Core, p. 7)
After completing this assignment, I am amazed on how much of a better understanding I have on these concepts. Not only am I able to connect them with situations in daily life, but even to the extent at which I can relate them to circumstances in a movie. The two topics that I chose to explore further and relate to the movie and each other were conflict and politeness theory. Not only did I realize my ability to connect such topics to fulfill this assignment, but I somehow feel that my future experiences watching movies or paying attention to others daily behaviors will be more analytical after completing this assignment.
Life is an ongoing process of learning and growing through challenges and experiences. It is mentioned by Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American poet, that “unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.” Emerson contributes to the idea that change is inevitable and it is key to one’s personal development (Lipovetsky, 2012). Well, such is an essence in the film “The Blind Side” when the protagonist, Michael Oher, changes and grow through adversities, which eventually shaped him into the man he is today. Oher, also known as Big Mike, is a 16 year old African American teenage boy. Oher was one of the twelve children living in a broken extremely impoverished home in the ghettos of Memphis surrounded by drugs.
Everyone has a different view on life. One's perception can significantly impact the way that he/she views the rest of the world. This perception can be both positive and negative. Perception often plays a big role in determining how one is viewed by both themselves and others. People are often judged by their appearance and their actions. However, it is things such as their personality and their character that truly define them as individuals. In Budge Wilson's "The Metaphor," Miss Hancock is faced with the fact that other individuals often overlook her. Though others may not be aware of what they are doing, their actions can greatly impact another individual throughout their lifetime. The way that one is perceived can both positively and negatively affect the way that others view them as an individual, which can greatly affect their entire life.
Forrest Gump is uneducated and acts if so he was a teenager. He does not think of what he is doing most of the times. Forrest had a hard time from when he was a child with braces on his legs to being bullied by other students. No one takes Forrest seriously and it goes on throughout his lifetime. Michael Oher is a young black African American who was abandoned by his drug addicted parents and left him alone to defend for himself. He does not have the proper education to be successful in life. He goes through hard times by going back to school and trying to make himself successful and two adults with a family of their own take him in as their own. In the end both character’s make out rich. Michael and Forrest never seemed to give up on what they believed in.
Both the films, The Blind Side and Rudy, address many common issues. Two in particular that stand out are education and sports. Both Michael Oher and Daniel Ruettiger (Rudy) pursue their education in order to follow their dreams. In these cases, both dreamed of becoming college football players. The long journeys they take to reach their goals bring out each characters motivation and dedication to get to the top.
In contemporary times, interpersonal relationships are the most important part of the human social life. Take the example of the popular culture; films and popular songs are popular among all cultures. With these, the themes of life and enduring families are very common. In fact, these, love and family, are the themes to the greatest films (such as Titanic and Avatar) and the best songs. However, these relationships are often punctuated by conflicts. This paper will show that conflict plays a defining role in interpersonal relationships using demonstrations from the film Good Will Hunting.
In the blockbuster movie The Blind Side, director John Lee Hancock brings to light an emotionally charged and compelling story that describes how a young African American teenager perseveres through the trials, tribulations and hardships that surround his childhood. The themes of class, poverty, and also the love and nurturing of family encapsulate the film mainly through the relationship that Mrs. Tuohy and Michael Oher build during the entirety of the movie. This analysis will bring together these themes with sociological ideas seen throughout the course.
(Kingsle, 2011) He is the quintessential White Messiah in the film, the imagery of him walking through a parted crowd of Na’vi who call him the chosen one, grateful for his help. The Blindside had similar characteristics of white privilege, the Sandra Bullock character appeared to be headstrong, passionate, capable, and effective while Michael Oher was perceived as emotionally stunted, and unable of helping himself. The White Savior syndrome, as we have seen, has the tendency to render people of colour lacking the capacity to seek change, and erasing their historical agency (Cammarota, 2011). Any progress or success is from the aid of a white individual, which suggests that escaping poverty, or ignorance, is thanks to the intelligence of the White Savior.
While watching this movie I noticed many social psychology concepts throughout. I have never paid attention to these concepts when watching the movie before, so it was interesting to pay close attention and see how many came up. The movie displays foot-in-the door technique, social facilitation, deindividuation, ingroup, scapegoat theory, among many others. Being a very real and honest movie, it is easy to understand why so many social psychology concepts are present. Our textbook defines social psychology to be, “the scientific field that seeks to understand the nature and causes of individual behavior, feelings and thought in social situation” (Baron & Branscombe, 2012). There are many strong characters within the movie, and they display these concepts.
The Blind Side is a film that follows the life of Michael Oher, an underprivileged high school football player that is supported by an upper class family, the Tuohys, and taken into their home. They provide him with shelter and a bed that he says he has never had. As the Tuohys are driving down the street one night, they see Michael walking alone in the cold. Mrs. Tuohy tells her husband to stop the car and she lets Michael inside. The couple discusses later that night about whether it was a good idea or not to allow Michael into their home. They ultimately decide that they are doing what is best for him and they can sacrifice a little bit of their life to help Michael. They support him in school, on the football field, and when he is
We’ve all been told not to judge someone primarily on the way they present themselves but by the content of their character. “You know my name not my story” is a common phrase that is thrown around in our society today. Despite the effort we give to not judge it happens subconsciously, because we are human. In this essay I will use my observation of others around me to better understand more about how we as individuals size up others based on their Socioeconomic status; a measure of an individual's place within a social class system; often used interchangeably with “class”(Ferris 2016). I will also use the perspective of a symbolic interactionist which explains social behavior in terms of how people interact with each other via symbols to help me better understand the idea behind class consciousness.