Cliff notes?

I'm participating I want to participate in Eva's Adoption Book Club. This month, I read was supposed to read The Blind Side by Michael Lewis. I just couldn't get past the football storyline. Ooops. I don't like football and I don't understand football. I sort of tried, really I did. But I was so confused by the first few pages. It was all about linebackers and blocking and sacking. And tackles who are nouns, not verbs. So ... we rented the movie. (Such a cheat! I'm sorry, Eva!)

I was suspicious of the movie, I have to admit. Suspicious of its treatment of race, and class, and adoption. Afraid that it was going to make me cringe. But the low expectations paid off. As in, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I mean, it was still all about the white woman and her family swooping in to save the disadvantaged black kid. But it was handled better than I thought it was going to be. At the moment in the film when Mrs. Tuohy (Sandra Bullock) goes to meet Michael's birth mom, I was gritting my teeth, totally afraid of how that would play out, but it was acted with more grace than I expected and was less stereotypical than I feared. And in the end, the story got me right where it was designed to, and I cried.

I didn't feel like it was an "adoption story" in some ways. Since Michael (at least in the film) was on the cusp of adulthood when he joined the Tuohy family. But I guess I should stretch my definition of "adoption" a bit. I liked that Michael's agency in the whole decision/process was addressed. It was clear that he chose to stay with the Tuohy family, just as they chose him. (Despite the age/class/power/wealth imbalances which had to have affected his decision-making power.)

The film paid lip service to racism and resistance from the Tuohy's community to their choice to adopt Michael. The whole football-league-investigating-the-Tuohy's-motives thing really threw me for a loop, as it seemed pretty "out there," but I guess it was real. I am a little concerned about the image of adoption that was projected and how the exceptionalism of Michael's circumstances (i.e. how many high school football stars make it in the big leagues?) was tied to his experience as an adoptee. You know, if the white family hadn't found him, he wouldn't have gone on to be a famous professional black athlete. But that's Hollywood, I guess. And in the end, the film grabbed my heartstrings.

So that's my (cheater's) attempt to answer some of Eva's questions. Next time, I promise to do the homework and read the book!