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:
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.
Fox's anti-Trump hatred comes from the boardroom and requires no further evidence. Their internal divisions are not representative of their viewership, former viewership, or the voters.
Stories about spin room access come from Fox, using Trump's name to generate publicity. Candidates who use the event to attack Biden can come off well, others not. If an unemployable blowhard from New Jersey falls on a political grenade in the middle of summer, will anyone hear? Do we care?
Want real news? A meaningful, in-depth look at Trump's actual policy approach quietly aired on Fox Business last week, his interview with Larry Kudlow. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHU2XNaX-Q0
The debate's most meaningful context: auditions for the Vice Presidency, and Trump's seal of approval on their futures.
Dems Created Systemaic Racisim since 1866