The Blind Side: The "White Savior" Mother
The "white savior" figure is characterized as a white person who believes they are a great aid to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. A white TV character who is viewed as non-racist or even "woke" is defined as having knowledge, understanding, or even consciousness of racial injustices or tensions. White people have already co-opted the term "woke" to characterize white characters on television and turned it into a safety net or safety pin. It's become a white character's self-identity and a personality attribute to stand out during racial tensions.
The "white savior" keeps a controlled society steady and maintains white supremacist ideals and conceptions. To do so, the "white savior" character must be recognized as privileged. This character reinforces this idea by marginalizing all other characters and their experiences, particularly those of people of color. The "white savior" persona usually proves his or her goodness by protecting or aiding a person of color. Its euphemisms help to reinforce racial prejudices and existing social power systems, such as white supremacy.
We witness how much the Tuohy family goes to in order to help Michael become a football player and get into college at the film's conclusion. We can see both the "white savior" mother and Michael's perspectives in this. In some ways, this is very similar to reality. The "white savior" figure is credited for improving the lives of a non-white character, reducing the person of color's authority. In the end, he plays for the alma mater of his white adoptive parents, which was the desire of their ultimate "white savior" goal.
This film doesn't accomplish anything to establish Michale as being in charge of his own destiny or having any influence over his life. Michael's character enlists the assistance of the white mother who has determined his life path. The film also instills in Michale a sense of gratitude for the family who took him in, while ignoring the possibility that Michale may have survived on his own without their help.The point of this "white savior" complex is to demonstrate that it has nothing to do with saving or helping people; rather, as demonstrated at the conclusion of the film. This establishes a colonizer complex in white viewers once the people they assisted achieve a beneficial ending.
Hey Justin, great analysis on The Blind Side. You bring up a good point about how the focus of the film is really on how Leigh Anne Tuohy and her family brings in Michael and helps him all the way to becoming a football player rather than focusing on Michael and how he deals with his own struggles. The movie establishes that without Leigh, Michael would have accomplished nothing and without the white character, the non-white character would have been helpless on his own. This movie does feel a bit different than other white savior movies as Michael is adopted into the Tuohy's family culture rather than the other way around, but nevertheless this movie is still able to perpetuate the idea that a "ignorant" non-white character needed a white person's help to win in the end.
ReplyDeleteHi Justin,
ReplyDeleteNice write-up on The Blind Side and the White Savior Trope! I also wrote about The Blind Side, and I'm glad you brought up how the film doesn't acknowledge how Michael is in charge of his own destiny. While doing research for my post, I found out that the real Michael Oher wrote in his book "I Beat the Odds," how he had a problem with how the film portrayed him as being clueless about football before the Tuohys and needing their help when in reality, he had been studying the game of football from a young age. It really is telling how the creators of the film tweaked Michael's story in order to further fit the narrative of how the Tuohys "saved" Michael and gifted him his future in football.
I also found your analysis of how the trope establishes a "colonizer complex in white viewers once the people they assisted achieve a beneficial ending" interesting because it reminds me of how history has sort of been 'smoothed out' to make it seem like European colonization was beneficial for everyone.
I really like your conclusion when you said "This film doesn't accomplish anything to establish Michale as being in charge of his own destiny or having any influence over his life. Michael's character enlists the assistance of the white mother who has determined his life path." I totally agree with the analysis because they make it seem like Michale can't do anything for himself, they make him seem kind slow and very dumb at times. They don't show the strong and powerful young man he. they don't show the talent that Michale already had in him, they show it as he learned it with joining that school. I really don't think they did a good job showing Michale's character, what do you think?
ReplyDeleteI am so excited that you did your post on the Blindside, this movie is the most classic white savior trope that I have ever seen. Although, it does serve a purpose as a feel good/ help your fellow man movie; we still need to address the very big fact Sandra Bullocks character is Michaels white savior. It bothers that even though, yes he is from the hood and really has himself to watch his back that they made him slow. In reality, many people growing in the hood aren't stupid and are actually quick thinker with some sort of survival skills because in a fast moving environment like the hood where you have to stay on top there is no room for the kind of slowness they make Michael perpetuate in the film. This film just fills me with a small pit of rage because they make it seem that he is lost without this white women telling him what to do and how to do it, even going as far creating his future for him. I think this film needs to be evaluated by the masses before we all jump with glee about a white woman being this young black mans savior.
ReplyDeleteHey Justin I really enjoyed your assessment of the movie the Blind Side. This film is the prototypical White Savior movie. This movie indirectly made Michael seem like some of the stereotypical versions of Black men from back in the day. He was very big and athletically talented but was depicted as being very dumb and clueless. The made him about out to be completely lost and hopeless without his White Savior. Although I genuinely think this movie had the right intentions at its core I still feel like it ended up just furthering the negative stereotypes of Black males and furthering the ideology of white dominance.
ReplyDeleteHey Justin,
ReplyDeleteThe Blind Side is a great example. It has so many portrayals of the white savior complex and it correlates to so many Americans still today. The complex itself is such a strange complex that has made its way through so many movies. The adoption of a large black boy who they essentially see as only having one opportunity is so sad. He is a football player but also he is someone who would essentially be nothing without them. He needs them and lets them take on the majority of the backlash so he can just play ball.