Most sports fans, and movie fans, know the story of Michael Oher. It’s the story of a homeless teen who was taken in by a wealthy family that helped turn him into a D1 athlete and later NFL star. His story is told through the feel-good sports movie, The Blind Side, based off of the book The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game. We all know that most based-on-a-true-story movies throw in some extra details that might be a stretch from the truth. However, recently more information has come out that the movie may have stretched the truth a little too far.
One of the first discrepancies in the film was the way Michael was portrayed. Oher is seen in the movie as pretty shy and reserved. However, many who actually knew Michael described him as enthusiastic and cheerful. There were also some parts of Micahel’s life that were omitted or not told accurately. The movie shows Michael being homeless when the Tuohy’s first met him. But, he was actually in and out of foster homes and staying with friends when the family took him in.
Another inconsistency in the movie was Michael’s knowledge of football. The movie depicts a scene where S.J., Michael’s adoptive little brother, is teaching him different plays in football. This gives most viewers the idea that Michael didn’t know much about the game. In real life, however, Michael had been a football fan since he was a little kid and knew a lot about it.
Now, most of these stretches of truth can be explained by the fact that the producers wanted to make the story a more interesting watch. But, the producers and the Tuohys’ made up one inexcusable lie. Michael Oher was never actually adopted. Instead, Michael had signed a document making them his conservators. The conservatorship that he was under granted the Tuohy’s, “all powers of attorney to act on his behalf.” The Tuohy’s had told Michael that the conservatorship he was agreeing to was the same as getting adopted. However, it was very different from adoption and they ended up abusing their powers as his conservators.
Michael claims that the Tuohy’s had made millions from The Blind Side, none of which made its way into his pocket because of the conservatorship that he was under. It should also be noted that Leigh Anne, his “adoptive” mom, had made a lot of money off of the idea that he was adopted, using it to promote her foundation and book.
The Tuohys recently released a statement explaining that they deny all of the allegations against them. Nonetheless, there is still a lot of investigation to be done to determine if it really was one big lie.
