The cynical money grab

The Audacity of Caucasity

A case study of how white people are passing themselves as white saviors of the underprivileged classes

Bearded man in a stocking cap looking frustrated. Photo by Pavel Anoshin on Unsplash

Ooooo hoo hoo hoo hooooo!

It’s tea time with Honeylu. I’m dropping the “Sweet” for this one.

I mean….

I would warn you to strap in but, I think it’s a bit late for that if you’ve already had a visceral reaction to the title and header.

This horrific story focuses on one, Michael Oher, and his “adoptive family”.

It was nothing but a work of wishful thinking

The movie that shaped our opinions

Y’all remember that ridiculous “heart wrenching” piece of fiction mixed with fact with even more fiction called the Blind Side starring Sandra Bullock? As it turns out, it was nothing but a work of wishful thinking that White Americans just love to make them feel good about themselves. Our white saviors come to rescue us from ourselves would have made a better tittle but wouldn’t have made nearly as much money at the box office.

Woman with hand across chest taking deep breath. Photo by Darius Bashar on Unsplash

Shoo, lord! Let’s get into it.

American fiction sports drama film written and directed by John Lee Hancock. Based on the 2006 book of the same name by Michael Lewis, the film tells the story of Michael Oher, an American football offensive lineman who overcame an impoverished upbringing to play in the National Football League (NFL) with the help of his adoptive parents Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy. It stars Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne Tuohy, Tim McGraw as Sean Tuohy, and Quinton Aaron as Oher.

And yes, I shamelessly ripped this off of Wikipedia and here’s some more ripped paragraphs.

The film was a commercial success, grossing $309 million on a $29 million budget. Despite mixed reviews from critics, Bullock’s performance was universally praised, leading to her winning the Academy award for best…. bl-blah bl-blah bl-blah blah blah.

You get the picture

Capitalizing on Desperation

We’ll get to how Michael was portrayed in a minute, but I want to focus on the cynical caucastic opportunism that these people engaged in. As it turns out, they saw an opportunity to make money off of Michael and ride the wave of his success. In the movie, Michael is being taken out of a horrific situation and adopted by a white family and given opportunity he would not have had otherwise.

The reality is much darker. Instead of adopting him, they put him in a conservatorship when he was 18.

Where have we heard this inspiration for nightmares before?

Stylish woman wearing stylish sunglasses. Photo by Atikh Bana on Unsplash

Can anyone spell Britany Spears?

Bueller?

So this family lied about adopting him and have been controlling him ever since by tricking him into believing that there was little difference between getting adopted and conservatorship. He is now 37. This conservatorship came in handy when it came to the book about him and the movie it was based on which made which paid our two hundred and twenty five thousand dollars for the initial film and then an additional two and a half percent of the film’s proceeds.

Michael never saw a penny of that money. The other two white kids that were portrayed in the film? Oh, even they got paid, but not Michael even though, without him, there would be no story to tell.

That sounds about white.

I felt like it the movie. portrayed me as dumb instead of as a kid who had never had consistent academic instruction and ended up thriving once he got it.” -Michael Oher Beat the Odds: From Homelessness, to The Blind Side, and Beyond. 2012

The film’s claim that he didn’t understand football was another point of irritation for Oher. When talking about watching his adoptive family teach him he said, “No, that’s not me at all! I’ve been studying – really studying – the game since I was a kid! Michael Oher Beat the Odds: From Homelessness, to The Blind Side, and Beyond. 2012

White opportunism

These two yahoos have been able to fashion and sell themselves through the Right Wing Christian Nationalist propaganda machine but let’s hope that enough people are listening and paying attention. The trick is to recognise the patterns and be able to call it out in real time.

It’s tiresome as it is obnoxious. This white opportunism would be infuriating if it wasn’t so common and predictable.

Thank you for reading my article. If you loved it or hated it leave a comment.

As Jeb Bush once said: “please clap” like, a lot.

Cheers!

For further reading:

1. People’s magazine:

‘Blind Side’ Subject Michael Oher Alleges Family Lied About Adoption https://people.com/blind-side-michael-oher-alleges-family-lied-adoption-7643198

2. Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Blind_Side_(film)

3. Beat the Odds: From Homelessness, to The Blind Side, and Beyond. 2012 Michael Oher

4. People’s magazine: Where Is the ‘Blind Side’ Family Now? What to Know About Michael Oher … https://people.com/where-is-the-blind-side-family-now-all-about-michael-oher-and-the-touhys-7643280