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Works Cited

Denise Vs. Leigh Ann

The Typical "White" Family Unit

  • Chambliss, William J., and Daina Stukuls. Eglitis. Discover Sociology. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, 2014.Print.
  • "Social Systems, Basic Concepts of Sociology Guide." Social Systems, Basic Concepts of Sociology Guide. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2016.
  • The Blind Side. Dir. John Lee Hancock. Perf. Sandra Bullock. Warner Bros., 2009. DVD.
  • The way Leigh Anne presented herself towards Denise in which -
  • Leigh Anne’s gestures were comforting, approachable, and guarded when speaking to Denise
  • Leigh Anne said to Denise, “Mrs. Oher, you’ll always be Michael’s mama.”
  • Denise was also very guarded and was unwilling to admit her lack of responsibility with Michael.
  • This interaction between the two mothers forced tension yet ultimately brought out the truth to both Leigh Anne and Denise when they open up to each other
  • Denise said to Leigh Anne with an assertive gesture, “This all real nice, what you’re doing… but don’t be surprised if one day you wake up and he gone.”
  • Denise saw Leigh Anne as truly replacing herself as Michael’s mother because of everything Leigh Anne was able to provide for Michael
  • A food, home, cultural capital - education, a family, especially a mother
  • Denise soon accepted the truth about the mistakes she made

This interaction changed the way both individuals behaved around one another and their perspectives of one another

  • The roles of each of the members of a typical white family serve as interdependent parts to bring about a smooth running and happy family unit
  • The latent function of a white family - nuclear family of 2 parents and one or more child - is to provide for the children and give them accessible opportunities

Latent function: Functions of an object, an institution, or a phenomenon that are obvious and intended

  • The manifest function of the parents - like in the movie with Leigh Anne and Sean - is to act as role models to the children and to guide them through their life journey - to prepare them for the outside world
  • The manifest function of the children - like in the movie with SJ and Collins - is to follow their parents rules
  • The way they are raised shows, how they act and their roles in life - a reflection of the parents - and this functions to pass their legacy onto the next generation

Structural Functionalism

The Tuohy Family (cont.)

Introduction

  • In The Blind Side, Michael Oher, a teenage boy who had no permanent home, was fated to encounter a rich white family and this his life changed forever.
  • By using the theories/terms mentioned to help understand Michael’s journey, he was able to gain the cultural capital he never had before and was able to change the lives of the Tuohy family and the people around him
  • Theory: Structural Functionalism

-Social Systems

-Manifest functions

-Latent functions

-Cultural Capital

  • Theory: Symbolic Interactionism

-Symbols

THE BLIND SIDE

A Sociological Perspective

Wingate Christian School as a Social System

The Tuohy Family as a Social System

  • Definition: “Seeks to explain social organization and change in terms of the roles performed by different social structures and institutions.” (Chambliss and Eglitis 15-16)
  • Each part, whether it was an institution, phenomenon, person, or social group, has a certain function that ultimately correlates and complements the society, as a whole and ultimately brings about balance, to “ensure equilibrium and health of the entity as a whole” (Chambliss and Eglitis 16).
  • Functionalists asks the question, “What function does a particular institution, phenomenon, or social group serve for the maintenance of society?”
  • In other words, this question asks about what contribution does a given institution, phenomenon, or social group make to bring about the equilibrium, stability, and functioning of the whole?
  • Social systems, being defined as “a social system [like an institution - government, factory, etc.; phenomenon, etc.] basically... [consisting] of two or more individuals interacting directly or indirectly in a bounded situation”, bring about a functions of a society (“Social Systems”).

  • The whole Tuohy family acts as a social system of “interdependent parts”, having a latent function, and works together to contribute to Michael’s well-being - to his “stability and survival” in society
  • Latent function: functions of an object, an institution, or a phenomenon that are not recognized or expected (Chambliss and Eglitis 17)
  • Family as interdependent parts:

-SJ: worked with Michael to train him for playing football by acting as a coach -

-SJ taught Michael all the football terminology and applied that knowledge to push him through physical practice

-Collins: acted as an inclusive sister, especially in the scene where Michael sat alone at the library and she decided to leave her friends to sit with Michael and said to him, “Quit looking at me like that. I mean, we study together at home” (The Blind Side)

Baily Mott

Connor Lawrence

Christine La

Elisha Hussain

The Tuohy Family (cont.)

  • The teachers undermined Michael’s knowledge and skills
  • In an essay he wrote for Mrs. Boswell he said:
  • “I look and I see white everywhere. White walls,white floors and a lot of white people. The teachers do not know I have no idea of anything they are talking about. I do not want to listen to anyone especially the teachers. They are giving homework and expecting me to do the problems on my own. I have never done homework in my life. I go to the bathroom and look in the mirror and say ‘This is not Michael Oher’” (The Blind Side).
  • BUT, in a scene, a Mrs. Boswell said to the rest of the teachers in a board meeting, “Everyone passed him along. They gave him D’s, so that they could hand him off to other schools,” (The Blind Side).
  • After this realization made by Mrs. Boswell, she gathered with the other teachers to convince them that Michael had potential, and they all had functions interdependent of each other but
  • Coach Cotton said, “Look at the wall, Christian (Wingate Christian School) we either take that seriously or we paint over it. You don't admit Michael Oher because of sports, you admit him because it’s the right thing to do” - in this scene, Coach Cotton told the principal to admit Michael to the school because it is the right thing to do
  • One teacher gave the test to Michael verbally and this gave Michael (The Sarcastic Teacher)
  • Dad (Sean): put down the family’s information as emergency contact information for Michael at school and this showed an act of security and dependence for Michael as this was the first step into him becoming a part of the Tuohy family
  • Mom (Leigh Anne): She helped Michael obtain a “driver’s license” to give him a sense of identification -Michael did not have many documents to help identify himself, so asking Leigh Anne to help him obtain a driver’s license would give him a sense of a solid identity and importance in society

-She also interviewed candidates to fulfill the role of a well-fitted - academically and socially - tutor (Miss Sue) for Michael to help him do better in school and help him fulfill the academic requirements to play football

  • The entire family: helped Michael become a part of the family
  • The entire family gave Michael the opportunity to become a part of the family through strength and support and ultimately, adoption
  • Having the opportunity to become adopted would help give him a sense of identity, a home, and more benefits in terms of documents, college, etc. - the cultural capital needed for him to succeed in society
  • Cultural capital, being defined as “wealth in the form of knowledge, ideas, verbal skills, and ways of thinking and acting”, was granted to him or at least it gave him better cultural capital by the Tuohy family- through a better school (education) and its teachers, through opportunities of enhancing his protective skills by participating in football, through support and helping him find a good college (Chambliss and Eglitis 64)
  • His family and the cultural capital that accompanied them helped serve as a whole social system to help Michael

SJ and Michael

Symbolic Interactionism

  • Sj and Michael met by the swingset
  • SJ’s gestures and his conversation with Michael was very cordial and social
  • SJ’s interaction acted as a symbol of a non-racial environment because of Michael’s size and skin color, and this made Michael surprised that a young white boy was interacting with him in a pleasant manner
  • SJ was not intimidated by Michael’s size when he first meets him
  • SJ interacts with Michael normally, if anything he was very welcoming
  • This interaction with SJ from Michael’s perspective made him think otherwise about the kind of person SJ was, or anyone in the Tuohy family for that matter
  • SJ helped train Michael in football skills-offense, defense, tackle, etc.
  • SJ was morally supportive of Michael and his decisions
  • As SJ and Michael’s relationship progressed throughout the movie
  • SJ considered Michael as his older brother
  • Michael was very protective of SJ, and at one point blocked an airbag from exploding on him
  • Symbolic Interactionism “argues that both the individual self and the society as a whole are the product of social interactions based on language and other symbols” (Chambliss and Eglitis 19).
  • “argues that people acquire their sense of who they are only through interaction with others”
  • “They do this by means of symbols, representations of things that are not immediately to our senses. Symbols include such things as words, gestures, emoticons, and tattoos, among others” (Chambliss and Eglitis 19)
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