This is everything Michael Oher says The Blind Side got wrong about his life
Topics: Film and TV, US News, The Blind Side, Michael Oher, Sport
Katherine Sidnell
Featured Image Credit: George Gojkovich/Getty Images/ Warner Bros.
Topics: Film and TV, US News, The Blind Side, Michael Oher, Sport
It’s been over fourteen years since The Blind Side first hit the big screen.
Now, the man who inspired the film, Michael Oher, has filed a lawsuit against the Tuohy family claiming they made millions off him.
The 37-year-old also alleges that the 2009 film gets a lot wrong about his life.
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If you aren’t familiar with the sports movie, here is a quick synopsis about how it plays out.
Based on the book of the same name, The Blind Side follows a teen Oher (played Quinton Aaron) who is in and out of mainstream education after being made homeless.
However, Leigh Anne Tuohy (Sandra Bullock), and her husband Sean (Tim McGraw) become the teen’s adoptive parents with Oher eventually going on to NFL glory.
You’d think this would be pretty heart-warming stuff, right?
Well, it turns out the film is extremely problematic for numerous reasons.
Oher claims that the adoption never actually took place and that Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy simply 'tricked him' into signing a document making them his conservators.
By doing this, it would allow the couple to have legal authority to make business deals in his name.
However, Sean Tuohy told The Daily Memphian that the-then teenager was asked about the decision, with his biological mother invited to the court hearing.
In a fourteen-page petition given to Shelby Court, Tennessee, the lawsuit claims that the Tuohys saw him as 'a gullible young man whose athletic talent could be exploited for their own benefit'.
Oher previously claimed that the movie inaccurately portrays him.
In his 2011 memoir, I Beat the Odds, Oher wrote: “I felt like [The Blind Side] portrayed me as dumb instead of as a kid who had never had consistent academic instruction and ended up thriving once he got it.”
Even more shockingly, The Blind Side shows Oher being taught how to play American football by his adoptive brother with ketchup bottles.
The former NFL star expressed his frustration with this during a recent appearance on The Jim Rome Show, saying that the movie ‘took away the hard work and dedication’ he’d had as a child.
He explained: “First one in the locker room, last one out in. I think the biggest, for me, is being portrayed as not being able to read or write.
“Second grade, I was doing plays in front of the school. When you go to a locker room and your teammates don’t think you can learn a playbook, that’s heavy.”
In response to the allegations, Sean Tuohy told the Daily Memphian that the family were prepared to do ‘whatever Michael wants’ - including ending their conservatorship.
He added: “We’re devastated. It’s upsetting to think we would make money off any of our children. But we’re going to love Michael at 37 just like we loved him at 16.”