Overcoming Life

Overcoming Life

From the day someone is born, they are set on the long journey down the path of life. This path has many twists and turns, and it crosses other’s paths countless times a day. More often than not, these other paths have no effect on one another. However, occasionally there is another path, another person, that sends that person in a completely different direction, altering their life in ways that they never thought possible. People have power to affect others around them, sometimes subtly and sometimes drastically. Life isn't about looks, possessions, money, or occupations. Life is about the effect people have on others. This theme was captured by John Lee Hancock, who went into the life of Michael Oher and perceived how he affected lives and how he lived before turning into an expert football player through the film The Blind Side.

The film The Blind Side is about a homeless teen named Michael Oher who lives in Tennessee. He lived in the “hood” and was moved from one foster home to another. Because of his big size, he gets into a Christian school because the football coach wanted him on the team. One night, it was freezing outside and Leigh Anne Tuohy and her family drive passed him on their way home. Her kids know Michael from school, so she offers to let him to spend the night with them. She eventually makes her guest bed his own room and lets him stay there as part of the family. Michael does not fit well in school because he is not used to the social environment. Michael does not have many skills in the school world, but he can be very protective towards others. Leigh Anna sees this and uses this for his football career. Michael keeps improving at football and becomes the best player on the team. To be able to play in college, he needs to get better grades. They hire a tutor to help him. Many universities around the country want Michael to play for them. He eventually picks Ole Miss because that is where his family wanted him to go. His decision is then investigated because officers think that the only reason that his new family is taking care of him is to convince him to go to Ole Miss. If he goes there to play football, then the school will make money off his recruitment. As he is being relentlessly interrogated, he comes out of his shell and defends his new family. Later he becomes a successful player for the Baltimore Ravens and is still supported by his new and amazing family.

The movie The Blind Side has one overarching message; overcoming obstacles. This message is seen throughout the film, and inspires people to overcome obstacles and reach their goals. Adam Sicinski said, “It’s important to understand that every goal we set naturally comes with a plethora of landmines that are attached to that goal. These land-mines show up in our lives as a set of obstacles, challenges and problems that we must surpass in order to get to our end destination, which is our goal. In fact, unless we successfully maneuver through these land-mines and overcome them, then we will fail to learn the valuable lessons that are required to help us achieve — and keep — our goal when we get to that end destination”. With every goal, there are many obstacles that accompany it. Michael had many situations that he needed to overcome, including playing in his first football game, getting his grades up, and changing his whole way of living.

In Michael's first football game, he was struggled at the beginning. The person he was defending was overly aggressive and yelled at him throughout the game. This got into his head and as a result, he was doing poorly. At one point, the guy he was defending kicked him in the head, which is clearly against the rules. Michael’s coach tried to defend Michael to the referee, and the referee ended up throwing a flag. However, he called unsportsmanlike conduct on Michael’s coach for yelling at the referee. Michael’s coach got extremely upset and started screaming at the referee and said, “This young man plays for my team. My team! And I will defend him like he's my own son against you or any other redneck sonofabitch!” Then Michael grabbed him and pulled him away from the referee, saying “ Don't worry, coach. I got your back.” The next play, Michael had the play of his life. He pushed the defender all the way off the field and over the wall behind the endzone. Michael then said “ Sorry coach, I stopped when I heard the whistle.” His coach asked, “Where were you taking him, Mike?” Michael replied “To the bus. It was time for him to go home.” For the rest of the game, Michael played extremely well and crushed anything in his way. This one example of how the movie send its message about overcoming obstacles. All he needed was a little pep talk and to know that his coach cared about him in order for him to realize what he needed to do. This also shows that others can help to overcome obstacles that cannot be overcome alone.

In order for Michael to be able to play football in college, he needed to get his grades up to a 2.5 GPA. He started his first semester of his senior year with a 1.7 GPA, so he had a lot of work to do to get his GPA high enough. All he had left was his last semester to get his grades up or he could not play. His parents got him a tutor to help him with his work. His teachers did not think he would be able to do it, especially his English teacher. Michael’s reading skills were very poor, but his writing skills were not as bad. Michael started doing better in all of his classes except