The Sweetness of Solved Problems: A Helping Hand Found
This is a heartwarming film that suggests all problems are solvable, provided a helping hand is extended.
A wealthy woman, driven by genuine compassion, adopts a destitute teenager. Encouraged and supported, he goes on to forge a successful career in American football. Sixteen-year-old Michael Oher is a large, black youth, awkward, ungainly, and struggling academically. His IQ is just 80, bordering on intellectual disability. He seems unwilling (or unable) to complete school tests. The only thing this gentle giant excels at is throwing and catching a ball.
Like a stray kitten, he is taken in by a kind-hearted, white woman (a designer, Christian, and Republican). She offers him a bed on her ten-thousand-dollar sofa, but still asks her husband before bed, “Do you think he’ll rob us?” “We’ll find out in the morning,” the angelic husband replies cheerfully. The young man proves honest and steals nothing. Overjoyed, the woman becomes his legal guardian. Under the guidance of this tender white woman, human feelings and intelligence quickly blossom in the thick-skinned behemoth. He begins to call her “Mom” and writes a thoughtful essay on Tennyson’s poem “The Charge of the Light Brigade.”
The film resonates strongly with the sentiment of the old Soviet song: “Remember how many good people there are!” It’s a triumphant display of optimism and the absolute victory of goodwill over social adversity. For those who find the plot too fantastical, the end credits feature photos of the real-life counterparts: the “behemoth” is now 24 and a star in American football.
A Dose of Optimism
“The Blind Side” is less a movie and more a sermon with a simultaneous injection of antidepressants. The dosage and composition are precisely tailored for an American audience. In the USA (“that beautiful, dreamy, trusting land,” as another child adopter, Humbert Humbert, wrote), the film grossed a quarter of a billion dollars. In Europe, it earned mere pennies. In Russia, it stood no chance at all: phrases like “The world is a good place, and everything will be alright” are instantly rejected as obviously inedible Hollywood sugar.