There's A Good Reason Why The True Story Behind 'The Blind Side' Was Kept Hidden Until Now

The Blind Side was a box office success. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Film. The movie is the story of football star, Michael Oher’s life. While the critics and the audience loved the movie, Michael didn’t love it as much. There are plenty of things that he didn’t like about the film. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the actors, because he said that Quinton Aaron, the actor who played him did a great job. He was also impressed with Sandra Bullock’s performance. He just feels that there were things about the movie that didn’t portray him accurately, while some things were spot on. There’s a good reason why the true story behind ‘The Blind Side’ was kept hidden until now.

Wrong Personality

The way the writers portrayed Michael in the film had him seeming aloof, overly serious, and uptight. He was also a loner. Michael says that he was the exact opposite and never took himself so seriously.

They Got Michael’s Early Life Right

One part of the story that the filmmakers got right was his early life. He was homeless when he was young. His mother favored drugs and alcohol over him and his siblings, and his father was in jail. They even got his father’s murder right in the movie. There was a part in the film where his mother says she has so many kids, that she doesn’t remember how many. In real life, he has 12 siblings, so this part of the movie is correct.

Meeting the Tuohys

The movie was a bit wrong about when Michael met the Tuohys. While the family did see him on the side of the road, they didn’t pick him up right away. It was some time after that; Leigh Ann went to see him at school. After, they went shopping for new clothes. There was a transition period before Michael moving in their home was longer than the movie showed.

Leigh Anne’s Day Job

The movie got it right that Leigh Ann is an interior designer. In the film, she was working for football great, Patrick Ramsey. This was also right. She did work for the Washington Redskins quarterback.

Racial Tensions

The racial tension issue was mentioned in the film. Her family jokingly calls and asks about the “colored boy” in the Christmas picture. This was true. Leigh Ann’s family was racist, but they didn’t let it come between their relationship with Micheal.

Bonding With the Family

In real life, Micheal did bond with SJ and Collins Tuohy. In the film, it happened overnight. In real life, it took a bit longer.

Michael’s Mentor

While Leigh Ann did play a role in shaping Micheal’s football career, it wasn’t all her. He got a lot of the training that he needed from his coach and his team. The film didn’t show the hard work that he put in.

Sandra Bullock Turned Down the Role

Sandra Bullock won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for her role in the film. She was offered the part several times, and she declined. She didn’t think she could portray a pious Christian woman. She changed her mind when she met the real-life Leigh Ann Tuohy.

Micheal and Quinton

In real life, Quinton is older than Michael. Quinton was born in 1984 and Michael was born in 1986.

Friends

Michael may not have liked the way he was portrayed in the movie, but he didn’t hold it against the cast. In fact, he and Sandra Bullock are still friends, and they check up on one another from time to time.

First Lead Role

The role of Michael Oher was Quinton’s first lead role. When he was cast, he was working as a security guard.

Briarcrest Christian School

The movie makes it seem that Micheal had struggles when he first started school, but they ended quickly. Michael says that the transition wasn’t as quick and as smooth in real life.

Correcting the Inaccuracies

Michael Oher wanted to do what he could to correct the inaccuracies in the movie. In 2011, he wrote his autobiography called; I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness to The Blind Side, and Beyond.

Collins Tuohy

Lily Collins played Collins. In the film, she was a high achiever playing volleyball and being a cheerleader. In real life, Collins was a cheerleader and became one when she attended Ole Miss. She was also a state champion in pole vaulting in high school.

Meeting Sean

In the film, Sean meets Michael while Michael is cleaning up food left behind by hungry spectators. In real life, Sean first went to see Micheal at school, when he went to make sure that Michael’s lunch money had processed.

Quinton

Quinton had to train with top-notch football coaches to play the role of Michael.

Briarcrest

Briarcrest didn’t want their school name being used in the movie, so they changed it to Windgate.

Ole Miss

In the film, Sean and Leigh Ann both went to Ole Miss, and they rooted for nobody else. This is true, and Michael and the Tuohy children also went there.

The Movie’s Inspiration

The inspiration for the movie came from a book written by Micheal Lewis called The Blind Side: Evolution Of a Game. This book wasn’t all about Michael Oher; he was just a small part of it.