Outside of football, many know Michael Oher as the inspiration behind 2009’s Oscar-winning movie “The Blind Side.” This “feel-good,” “post-racial” book was made into a film that made heroes of the family that “adopted” a vulnerable Black child. But Oher says the Tuohy family exploited him, eventually making millions off their “son.” And now he’s suing them.
The real Tuohys set 18-year-old Oher up for a 20-year conservatorship. In Black and Indigenous communities, conservatorships have historically been vehicles of exploitation and control. They reduced vulnerable elderly and disabled people to “property,” allowing the conservators to seize their assets, repossess land for oil reserves, and make financial decisions.
The Michael Oher depicted in the film is alone, helpless, nearly illiterate, and intellectually vulnerable. Treating Oher like an unclaimed suitcase that they have “found,” the Tuohys and other rich white investors assume they have the right to profit from his athletic prowess.
But in real life, Oher had agency and friends. He lived with Black teammates long before he encountered the Tuohys. “The Blind Side” minimized Oher’s intelligence and capability and ignored the strength of his community, people who were already supporting his academic and athletic development.
As the lawsuit drags on, Oher still feels “robbed.” The legal system not only facilitated his financial exploitation but disseminated harmful anti-Black narratives.