Melissa Anderson, a writer for the Dallas Observer, wrote a review of the new Sandra Bullock movie, “The Blind Side.” She condemned the movie, which tells the tale of a large mute African American who moves in with a white Christian family, as a racist story about white saviors who save downtrodden African Americans. She writes:
Blind Side the movie peddles the most insidious kind of racism, one in which whiteys are virtuous saviors, coming to the rescue of blacks who become superfluous in narratives that are supposed to be about them.
She continues:
Viewers, however, are constantly reminded of the pathologies the black gentle giant has escaped: the crack-addicted mother, the thugs of the country-ghetto housing project who offer him a 40-ouncer. Life with benevolent white people gives Michael the golden opportunity to partake in one of the most patronizing, we-are-the-world scenes imaginable: dueting with S.J. on “Bust a Move.” S.J. becomes an unbearable martinet, bossing Michael around during drills for football practice, where the large lad shines as a left tackle at the Christian academy, eventually drafted to Ole Miss. But Michael is unable to figure out what he actually needs to do on the field—until his white mama explains it to him: “This team is your family. You protect them.”
She concludes:
The filmmakers would like to lull you to sleep with this milk of amnesia, hiding behind the fact that this bewilderingly condescending movie is based on an actual person—but one who you end up knowing almost nothing about.
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