It's not always about race

Finding racism, no matter what

1. Media watch: The “Blind Side” drama isn’t driven by race

“The Blind Side” was the feel-good movie of 2009, earning an Oscar for Sandra Bullock and for Best Picture that year. Bullock played Leigh Anne Tuohy, a real-life woman who, along with husband Sean Tuohy, cared for Michael Oher. In the movie, the Tuohys get college scouts to notice Michael’s football talent, leading ultimately to his NFL career. 

Last week, Michael Oher said he recently discovered he was never actually adopted by the Tuohys, and that they defrauded him. He says the family made millions on the movie and he earned nothing.

Some outlets jumped on the fact that Michael Oher was black, and unquestioningly followed the narrative that the rich, white folks must be exploiting him. Here are a few of their headlines:

• NYT: ‘Blind Side’ Lawsuit Shows Strains in Depiction of Black Athletes

• MSNBC: 'The Blind Side' isn't the only film that gets things wrong. All white savior movies do.

• The Guardian: The Blind Side’s white savior tale was always built on shaky ground

None of the stories mentioned that Michael Oher had already explained in his book why the Tuohys had a conservatorship rather than formally adopting him. Or the Tuohy response that they fairly divided the money between the entire family (including Michael). A Tuohy family attorney says Michael recently threatened the family with a “negative story in the press” if they didn’t pay him off.  

I don’t know what actually happened in that family. But some media is making Michael the victim of rich, racist white people without asking some pretty basic questions. 

2. Fat bottomed girls no longer make the rocking world go round

Queen’s hit song “Fat Bottomed Girls” has been dropped from their newest Greatest Hits collection. The anthem which, let’s face it, is fun to belt out at top volume, won’t be on Universal Records’ release of Queen’s Greatest Hits album on a new streaming platform.

Apparently, if we like big butts and we cannot lie, we’re not allowed to sing about it anymore.

3. Do scandals matter anymore? 

Researchers at the University of Houston found that scandals just don’t deter voters the way they used to. In fact, scandals barely affect politicians at all.

Perhaps it’s because we live in an era where we can know everything about everybody, so it’s hard to find someone who hasn’t had some kind of scandal, especially in politics. Or perhaps politicians’ base just want their side to win and don’t care about the scandals of one person?

Thoughts?

4. No, Fox isn’t banning Trump surrogates from the spin room

The headlines sounds rough:

• Fox News BANS Trump's team from debate spin room

• Fox News tells Trump surrogates no ‘spin room’ access at first debate

• Fox News Bans Trump Surrogates From Debate Spin Room

Here’s what’s actually happening – the “media spin room” is a backstage area where candidates can have supporters like other politicians and pundits available. These guys talk about how great their candidate did that night, and bash everyone else. Trump has decided not to participate in the first two debates, both sponsored by Fox News. Since he’s not debating that evening, he doesn’t get to have people like his family backstage ready to grant interviews.

However, those same people can still be backstage if they’re invited guests of media organizations covering the debate. 

This isn’t evidence of Fox News’ hatred of Trump or an attempt to censor him. These are simply the rules of the debate. You don’t get to send people to talk about how great you are if you’re not going to participate. 

5. CNN discovers a “crisis” … when it hits New York.