Media analysis essay

Senquetta Brittingham

Writing workshop

Prof. George

April 8, 2014

            The Blind Side is a movie about a young boy who was homeless and traumatized. His name is Big Mike he is played by actor Quinton Aron, in the film he is adopted and cared for by a Caucasian family. Through watching this film it appeared to me that Big Mike had a learning disability. I came to this conclusion because he displayed symptoms of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder). When asked questions he always seemed unsure and hesitant, through multiple scenes displayed in the film. Although a specified disorder isn’t discussed in the film, it still appears to me that he has PTSD.   The code of freaks is a documentary that I watched in class. In the code of the freaks they touch on a topic called “relief of anxiety for the viewer”. I correlated the term “relief of anxiety” with the film The Blind Side. “Relief of anxiety” basically means how the audience is left in suspense when viewing a character in a film that has a disability. They explain how throughout the film the audience has a longing to watch this character ultimately succeed after watching them struggle so heavily throughout the movie. The way that they describe it is more apparent in horror films but as a viewer I noticed this in The Blind side. Therefore the “relief of anxiety” expressed in the Code of Freaks is present in Big Mike’s character through his assumed PTSD.

            In the film Sandra Bullock plays Leigh. Leigh is a mother that takes notice in a young boy who goes by  Big Mike In this scene where these two meet Leigh is headed home and notices Big Mike standing alone in the cold rain. In this scene Big Mike is holding his arm and appears to be lost. He carriers a sense of depression as he walks, because he is looking at the ground the entire time. When Leigh sees him she and her husband ask where he is going. He says that he is going to the gym. Then they began to drive away. Leigh talks to her husband about how she is shocked by Big Mike attire; because he is wearing shorts a short sleeved shirt, and is carrying a bag. Leigh then tells her husband to circle back around, and Leigh gets out of the car and she talks to Big Mike. When she spoke to him he seemed very unresponsive and confused. He is a man of great magnitude in size so for him to appear so disoriented and child like it then became indicative to me that he suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. During their conversation Big Mike tells her that he has nowhere to go, and she invited him to stay with her and her family. After watching this scene, I became really enthralled in the perception that the movie is trying to convey. The film makers are trying to capture the essence of Big Mike being displayed as poor African American male who has had a difficult life. Leigh is acting as a Caucasian woman who is acting as a savor in this young man’s life. Throughout the film, Leigh’s  friends are intimated by him and feel that he is a threat to her and her family.  She disregards everyone and their judgment about Big mike.

In the film she made it her priority to see that Big Mike receives a proper education. When he finally got to school after have not  been in a classroom since he was a child, it was depicted in the film that his academic level of a child. After the football team saw Big Mike, they wanted him to become a player because of his size and height. In the film they, focused on getting his academic level improved so that he could play on the football team.  Leigh kept encouraging Big Mike to go to college during the film. He later got scholarships to go to school for football. When I watched this movie I felt a sense of sorrow for Big Mike. I believe that that is the appeal that the audience was trying to capture. As a viewer, I wanted Mike to be able to excel and be successful regardless of his circumstance of growing up in a drug infested neighborhood and being the child of a drug addicted parent. In the end of the film, when Big Mike finally gets a scholarship to college as a viewer, I felt a sense of relief because this is how I hoped the movie would end. Most likely other viewers experienced this because his characters journey and functional capability throughout the movie. This film mostly captures the essence of a story that correlates with a rags to riches story. This directly connects with the theme of feeling sense of relief that is described in the code of the freaks.

            In the code of the freaks they depict a series of different movies that are stereotypical in the representation of people who have disabilities. In one of their movie depictions there is a woman who is sick in the hospital who appears to be dying. When they describe this scene they use the term “relief of anxiety for the viewer.” When they use this term they are basically exemplifying the fact that the viewer is terrible or is left in suspense of hoping that the main character gets help or is relieved  of whatever they’re trying to obtain throughout the film. When describing this, they said this is more apparent in horror films but I noticed this in The Blind Side. This created empathy that I felt toward Big Mike. He had such a hard life that as a viewer I was hopeful that the film would end on a positive note with him ultimately succeeding. That’s why I believe that the term that they use closely relates to that theme in The Blind Side.

            In this movie they are trying to display Big Mike as a less fortunate African American male and this Caucasian family is represented as the heroes who rescue this boy from a violent and destructive neighborhood. This family is displayed as compassionate caring and attentive.  He displays a certain social awkwardness which lead me to believe that he had some sort of learning disability. There was one scene in particular where the coach of the football team was trying to get Big Mike to run a play but he was unresponsive verbally and physically to the direction that the coach has given him. This scene relates back to my ideology of Big Mike having PTSD, because of his inability to cooperate and Big Mike’s level of comfortability, which relates to how the “relief of anxiety” in the Code of Freaks is displayed in the film throughout this scene he was verbally unresponsive when given direction form the coach. In order for him to retain the information.  Leigh goes onto the field and after a brief conversation with Big Mike he then completes the play.

In conclusion in the Code of Freaks I noticed direct observations that were discussed regarding “relief of anxiety” for the viewer. I experienced this throughout watching The Blind Side, and was able to draw parallels between how I perceived him as a viewer, and how my hope of his success has captured my attention throughout the film.