The document provides a visual representation and descriptions of the characters in the film "The Blind Side". It summarizes that the Tuohy family originally consisted of Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy and their two biological children but became a blended family through the adoption of Michael Oher. It describes how each family member's role changed with the adoption to help support Michael's transition and development. Key themes of responsibility, family dependence, and perseverance that guided the Tuohy family were intensified and challenged with Michael's arrival and past experiences.

1. Family Collage: The Blind Side
A VISUAL REPRESENTATION OF THE FAMILY
DEPICTED IN THE BLIND SIDE (2009)
KAYLA MURCHISON

2. The Tuohy Family
 Leigh Anne Tuohy (Mother):
 Leigh Anne plays the role of wife, mother, and decision maker for
the Tuohy family. She is an interior designer that is strong-
willed, independent, and a representation of a “Southern
Momma.” She forms a strong bond with her adopted son Michael
early on in the plot as she assumes the role of his mother and
attempts to make the troubled life he has faced easier.
 Sean Tuohy (Father):
 Sean plays the role of husband and father. Compared to Leigh
Anne, his character is much more reserved and easy going. He is
a wealthy business man who often acts as the constant figure in
the family. His role seldom changes and he is constantly there to
pull Leigh Anne back down to earth.
 Collins Tuohy (Daughter)
 Collins is the biological daughter of Leigh Anne and Sean, a
popular cheerleader in high school. As a teenager in a high school
located in the Southern U.S., she faces some ridicule when it is
known that her parents have adopted a black teen; however, her
role changes in the family as she overcomes the initial struggle
and welcomes Michael as her brother.

3. The Tuohy Family
 S.J Tuohy (Son):
 S.J. is the youngest member of the Tuohy family, a very
outspoken, happy kid who accepts Michael from the beginning.
His role does not change very much throughout the film because
he acted as a sibling to Michael since the beginning. He helps
Michael train for football and helps him in the decision of which
college to attend.
 Michael Oher (Adopted Son):
 Michael Oher is black teenage male who finds himself living on a
friends couch due to the drug habits of his mother. When he is
enrolled into the religious high school that the Tuohy’s attend by
his friends father and then forced to find somewhere else to live,
he is found and taken in by the Tuohys. He bonds with the
family and becomes one of their own when he is adopted and
tutored in order to reach his aspiration of playing college
football.

4. “The media culture appears to have a singular,
The Tuohy family was idealized view of the family, vividly depicted in
originally a two parent media holiday advertising- a middle class, blood-
biological family, the
most common form of related family with smiling parents and
families. However, grandparents, eating a traditional turkey dinner.
through the adoption of In reality, this image represents only one family,
Michael they became a and a life experienced by a small segment of
form of a blended
family. people.” (4)
The adoption was
spontaneous and fast,
but included the aspects
typically found in a
more common adoption
process: the matching
of personal
characteristics and an
open style of
connections across
racial and religions
lines.

5. Roles
“Within families, roles are established, grown into, grown through, discussed,
negotiated, worked on, accepted and rejected.” (168)
 The Tuohy family acted as a unit when they adopted Michael, all taking on new
role functions to help his transition, such as:
 Providing basic resources
 Providing for individual development, nurturing, and support
 Although they acted as a whole, individual members played different roles.
Leigh Anne was very much the protector of Michael and the rest of her family,
as well as the decision maker. In return for their role functions, Michael also
provided for individual development of his family.

6. Roles Continued
 Kinship Maintenance was a large part of Michael’s joining of the Tuohy family.
Michael felt very strongly connected to his biological mother, and as though he
needed to take care of her.
 In an attempt to make Michael’s transition easier and perform maintenance to the relationship between
Michael and his birth mother, Leigh Anne visits her and discusses the adoption. She makes sure that his
birth mother knows he is safe and being taken care of.
 The Tuohy’s struggle to become an open family is very apparent. They have
somewhat flexible boundaries but struggle not to use censorship, force, or
coercion to guide Michael
 This is especially true in the very important and difficult decision Michael has to make about what college
to play football for.

7. Cohesion
 The Tuohy family begins the movie (before meeting Michael) as a
connected family; however, they became a very connected family who
strove for emotional closeness, joint involvement, and individuality
after the adoption.
 They Tuohy’s started the film very structured, with set roles and rules.
With the changes they experienced they became more flexible when
faced with bringing Michael into the family and learning of his past.

8. “A theme may be viewed as a pattern of feelings,
motives, fantasies, and conventionalized
The Tuohy family is understanding grouped around a particular locus
guided by certain family of concern” (42)
themes they all hold
true, which are tested The Tuohy’s began as a family very closed off from the
and intensified with the outside world. Their new relationships with Michael and the
addition of Michael: past experiences he brings with him open their eyes to more
of the world around them and the ways in which others live.
 We have a
responsibility for those
less fortunate then us
 You can always
depend on your family
 We are survivors
These themes were
tested in their attempt
to help Michael succeed
in not only football and
school, but also as an
individual and in life.

9. Relational Maintenance
 Marital Maintenance:
 Leigh Anne and Sean often use positivity, openness, and
sharing tasks regarding the responsibilities of being parents
and the large decisions made that affect the family
 Rituals:
 The most noteworthy ritual throughout the movie is the
attendance of the children’s sporting events or school
activities.
 The Tuohy family made plans before the end of the movie to
attend all of Michael’s football games at Mississippi
University.
 Relationship Currencies:
 Leigh Anne & Sean:
 Positive verbal statements, listening, gifts (for example, a truck for
Michael)
 Michael:
 Self disclosure: the voluntary self-revealing of information
(especially to Leigh Anne) and physical protection for his family
members/team mates
 S.J.: (for Michael)
 Time, favors in preparing Michael for football, positive verbal
statements

10. Conflict
• Meanings and Messages: “Communication involves the negotiation of shared
meanings; if they are not held in common, confusion or misunderstanding is
likely to occur.”
• A primary task of the Tuohy family changed to “meaning making” and the
development of shared meanings when Michael entered the family. There were many
messages that were misinterpreted due to uncommon meanings. For example:
• When Leigh Anne was taking Michael to buy new clothing, he was hesitant to trust her and felt
as if she was taking him away from his life. He protested by stating that he had clothes at his
home, until they used relational currencies to compromise. Over time the family developed
shared meanings.

11. Conflict Continued
“Conflicts in families stem from many issues and are handled in many different
ways. Change may trigger uneasiness and conflict. A new family member . . .
all have impact within the family system.” (233)
 A major conflict in the film was Michael’s decision of what college to go to, and
the question of whether the Tuohy’s pressured him to attend the school they
did
 To overcome this conflict, which was mainly between Leigh Anne and Michael, the family
used strategies like listening, managing the physical environment, and making it known that
each family member has control over their individual choices.

12. Family Change Throughout the Film
 We see the Tuohy’s move from one stage of the family life cycle (families with
adolescents) to another throughout the film (launching their first child-
Michael- into the world).
 Because they have younger children, Leigh Anne and Sean did not face negotiation of
the martial system as a dyad but had to realign relationships with Michael and the
children remaining at home
 “Communication between people not only reflects their environment but
depends on their experiences and which stage they are at in the life cycle . . .
Each stage enables the person to make more sense of a greater variety of
experiences in more adequate ways.”

13. References
BROMMEL, BYLUND, AND GALVIN, KATHLEEN.
FAMILY COMMUNICATION: COHESION AND CHANGE.
BOSTON, MA: PEARSON EDUCATION, 2004. PRINT.
“THE BLIND SIDE.” IMDB. IMBD.COM, INC., WEB. 20
NOV. 2009.