Featured Image Credit: Alamy
Topics: Film and TV, Netflix
Jess Hardiman
Many viewers have found themselves in tears after Sandra Bullock’s emotional Oscar-winning movie was added to Netflix recently – although some have also spoken out to say they believe it’s a ‘problematic’ watch.
Bullock won the Best Actress Oscar for 2009 sports drama The Blind Side, which is based on the real life story of Michael Oher, a black American football player who went on to play in the National Football League following the help of adoptive white parents Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy.
After the film was added to Netflix in the US on 1 April, it went on to become one of the streaming site’s most popular films – currently sitting at fourth place in the global top 10, having been watched for 9.88 million hours this week alone.
A synopsis from Netflix reads: “A teen without a home finds success on and off the football field after he’s taken in by a determined mom and affluent family. Based on a true story.”
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Many viewers have taken to social media to say just how emotional they found the movie after either watching it for the first time or revisiting it, with one tweeting: "I watched The Blind Side on Netflix last night and cried damn near the whole movie... lol."
Another wrote: "The Blind Side is on Netflix again... my favourite sports movie about to make me cry for like the 10th time."
A third wrote: "The Blind Side always makes me cry. Without fail. Bawled w/in the first 5 mins. Thx @netflix."
Others, however, have expressed how ‘problematic’ they feel the film is after reflecting on it years after its release.
While the movie received a number of positive reviews – and was nominated for the coveted Best Picture Oscar alongside Bullock’s win – it has also been the subject of a great deal of criticism for the depiction of race issues, including its controversial ‘white saviour’ narrative.
One person said: "Rewatching The Blind Side.. sooo problematic."
Another agreed: "The Blind Side is in my top 5 problematic movies lol."
Another tweeted: "The Blind Side racist af. The fact that it’s #2 on Netflix today proves how much work we still have to do."
A fourth added: "The Blind Side trending 2nd in the US on @netflix is such a good snapshot of where we actually are 2 years after the biggest surge in #blm protests."
Melissa Anderson of the Dallas Observer was one of many critics to speak out about the problems within the film when it was released, expressing her concern over Oher being portrayed as being 'mute, docile and ever grateful to the white folks who took him in'.
She added: "The movie peddles the most insidious kind of racism, one in which whiteys are virtuous saviours, coming to the rescue of blacks who become superfluous in narratives that are supposed to be about them."
Even the real Michael Oher has spoken out about a number of the film's shortcomings, saying his biggest 'hang-up' was how uneducated his character appeared.
In his book, I Beat The Odds: From Homelessness, to The Blind Side, and Beyond, Oher wrote: "I felt like it portrayed me as dumb instead of as a kid who had never had consistent academic instruction and ended up thriving once he got it.
"Quinton Aaron did a great job acting the part, but I could not figure out why the director chose to show me as someone who had to be taught the game of football.
"Whether it was S.J. moving around ketchup bottles or Leigh Anne explaining to me what blocking is about, I watched those scenes thinking, 'No, that's not me at all! I've been studying - really studying - the game since I was a kid!'
"That was my main hang-up with the film."
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