As you have seen, you need to take everything you see in a movie with a grain of salt. In one scene where Sean Tuohy meets Michael Oher, the scene was overly emotional and exaggerated.
In the movie, Sean Tuohy first meets Oher unexpectedly at one of Collins’ volleyball games. At the game, Oher is throwing out the garbage that hungry spectators left behind. However, in reality, Tuohy first visited Oher at his school after hearing about him from his daughter. He stopped by the school and created a lunch account for Oher to make sure he wouldn’t be hungry. This also happened before his wife saw him on the side of the road.
His Time at School
Michael Oher’s acceptance to Briarcrest Christian School was another part of the film that was tweaked in order to arouse a greater emotional reaction from the audience. While this may have drawn movie watchers even closer to the film, it did just the opposite for Oher who grew more frustrated at the overly-embellished film plot.
In the movie, teachers are hesitant to let Oher into Briarcrest, but change their mind when they notice how he opens up to them. Oher’s coach also advocates on behalf of Oher and helps convince authorities in his favor by delivering a convincing and emotional speech. However, in reality, Michael Oher didn’t get into the school this easily thanks to his nearly non-existent academic record as of 2002. While his coach did advocate for his acceptance, the principal at Briarcrest insisted that he participate in a home school program for a few months and complete some pretty challenging assignments before the school accepted him. How else was the film different than reality?
The Truth
Michael Oher made it his mission to deliver to the world the real story of his life. So, in 2011, he published his autobiography called I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness to The Blind Side, and Beyond.
In the book, he gives readers a more detailed story of his childhood and debunks any misconception that the film made about him. He also discussed in greater depth any story he felt that the film left unresolved and provided more details than the film was capable of doing.
The Preparation For The Mighty Role
Not only did Quinton Aaron have to get used to life on set, but he also had to grow accustomed to life on the field. As strong as he was at the time of filming, he still had to do a lot of work to get in tip-top shape. So, he started training with a real, top-notch college football team in order to get into the role.
To prepare for the role, Quinton Aaron trained with the football team at Georgia Tech. To fully immerse himself in the role, it was crucial that he got to know the field as best as possible. And the training seemed to work, because Quinton Aaron did a good job convincing people he was really a football player.
Doubts
Authorities of Briarcrest Christian School weren’t so pleased about the film using the name of the school. While they changed the name to Wingate Christian School, the authorities worried that the film would shine a negative light on the school because the film shows the teachers as being dismissive of Michael Oher’s academic abilities.
As fans of the movie know, the school was fully portrayed in the movie. The director, John Lee Hancock, even used the school’s color, green throughout the film. The film did not defame the school in any way, and only used the school in order to realistically portray information relevant to the story.