The Blind Side

Shawn and I have been waiting to get The Blind Side from Netflix, but it has been a long wait since so many people want to see it.  I am a sucker for any movie that is about football and based on a true story, so I have been anxious to see this one.  Plus, I have heard so many good things about it!

Well, it finally arrived today!  Shawn and I just watched it and it was really great.  These type of stories are so touching...and yes they always make me cry!  Just in case you haven't seen it, the basic story is about a homeless teenager from the bad side of town who happens to get a chance to go to a private Christian high school.  He is the only black student and due to his past he doesn't do well in the classes.  He has never had much of an education since he spent most of his childhood in many different foster homes.  Luckily he has a second chace at Wingate.  At first, it seems that he is going to fail once again, but the teachers finally begin to understand him and a wonderful family takes him in and makes him a part of their family.  They get him involved in sports and he ends up being a great football player.  He goes on to play football in college and now plays in the NFL.  Sandra Bullock won an Academy Award for her portrayal of Leigh Anne Tuohy. The cast also includes Kathy Bates and Tim McGraw.  The acting was great, especially the lead role of Michael Oher played by Quinton Aaron.

If Leigh Anne Tuohy is anything like her character is portrayed in the movie then I wish there were more people like her and her family.  This woman took in this boy and gave him a place to live, clothes and food and in the end gave him love and a family, something he had never experienced before.  They discussed briefly at the end how so many other kids that grew up in nthe neighborhood that Michael Oher did don't have the chance at life that Michael was given, or even anything close. They have the potential to be so much more, but are never given any oppotunities.  Not that all of those children are looking for something better, but many of them are.  They discuss in the film how so often children that are raised in an environment of drugs and violence, as Michael was, end up with extremely violent tendencies.  But not Michael.  He would rather do anything hurt another person.  It is just wonderful to see how one person can make such a profound difference in the life of another person.

I have told Shawn many times that I am going to bring home a baby from work one day.  He knows that I am kidding...now...but maybe one day.  There are so many babies that come through my NICU that deserve more than they are going to get out of life.  Everytime we send a baby into protective custody or foster care I wish I was in a situation to bring them home with me.  Hopefully more people will decide to offer good homes to children who need them.