The movie The Blind Side is a touching film about the real life events that happened to an upcoming player in football. The film features a young African-American man named Michael Oher who is taken in by a white family named the Tuohys. The family helps Michael to overcome his difficulties and to become a successful football player. This movie includes many situations that have psychological principles appearing in them. Some of the main principles that stand out are prejudice towards Michael, motivation from Michael, and altruism from the Tuohys.
Prejudice is shown throughout the movie The Blind Side. Michael experiences discrimination on and off the football field. One example off the field is when while at lunch with her friends, one of …show more content…
She found that, “Black faces looked more criminal to police officers; the more Black, the more criminal” (Myers 666). This would explain why Leigh Anne’s friends would be more likely to discriminate towards Michael. This would also demonstrate the scapegoat theory that says that prejudice gives people someone to blame for bad occurrences that happen to them. Both of these situations are demonstrating prejudice by using stereotypes (negative beliefs) and discrimination (negative behaviors). In these two cases the people criticizing Michael are associating him with their outgroup. An outgroup is when we think that someone or a group as being different or dissimilar from our own and therefore judge them differently (Myers 668). According to the Ontario Human Rights Commission, prejudice is, “any action undertaken for reasons of safety, security or public protection that relies on stereotypes about race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, or place of origin rather than on reasonable suspicion, to single out an individual for greater scrutiny or different treatment” (David, D). This supports the fact that both the referee and Leigh Anne’s friends are using prejudice. This shows that the people in the movie are using prejudice to gain protection and to be accepted by others in their ingroup. However, at the same time, they are hurting Michael for unreasonable assumptions …show more content…
A big example of altruism is when Leigh Anne notices Michael Oher out in the rain while they are driving home. Once Leigh Anne saw him she told her husband to turn around so that she could go talk to him. When they pull up next to Michael she asks him if he has anywhere to stay. When he says no, she tells him that he can come and spend the night with them. Later, this would develop to them letting Michael permanently stay with them and become part of their
Prejudice is shown throughout the movie The Blind Side. Michael experiences discrimination on and off the football field. One example off the field is when while at lunch with her friends, one of …show more content…
She found that, “Black faces looked more criminal to police officers; the more Black, the more criminal” (Myers 666). This would explain why Leigh Anne’s friends would be more likely to discriminate towards Michael. This would also demonstrate the scapegoat theory that says that prejudice gives people someone to blame for bad occurrences that happen to them. Both of these situations are demonstrating prejudice by using stereotypes (negative beliefs) and discrimination (negative behaviors). In these two cases the people criticizing Michael are associating him with their outgroup. An outgroup is when we think that someone or a group as being different or dissimilar from our own and therefore judge them differently (Myers 668). According to the Ontario Human Rights Commission, prejudice is, “any action undertaken for reasons of safety, security or public protection that relies on stereotypes about race, color, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, or place of origin rather than on reasonable suspicion, to single out an individual for greater scrutiny or different treatment” (David, D). This supports the fact that both the referee and Leigh Anne’s friends are using prejudice. This shows that the people in the movie are using prejudice to gain protection and to be accepted by others in their ingroup. However, at the same time, they are hurting Michael for unreasonable assumptions …show more content…
A big example of altruism is when Leigh Anne notices Michael Oher out in the rain while they are driving home. Once Leigh Anne saw him she told her husband to turn around so that she could go talk to him. When they pull up next to Michael she asks him if he has anywhere to stay. When he says no, she tells him that he can come and spend the night with them. Later, this would develop to them letting Michael permanently stay with them and become part of their