The Blind Side

A recent project I had students complete involved choosing a movie, ANY movie, and analyzing what the message of that movie was. Their movie choices turned out to be very revealing. My sweet, innocent students dove for Dumbo and Toy Story while the more advanced ones asked me if they could choose The Hangover. The movies ranged from My Girl to District 9 and everything in between.

Now I have one student whom I would describe as challenging on most days and unloveable on the worst. She's this giant sulking mass of a girl whose first instinct is to glare at me while sitting sideways in her desk. At one point, I snapped and said, "I'm sorry! Did I do something to offend you because you're giving me an attitude for trying to help you make up the credit for the work that you'd otherwise be failing!" Much to my surprise, she had this puzzled look as if she wasn't even aware of giving me the look of death a minute ago. Her expression softened and in that fleeting moment of repenting embarrassment, she looked more like a 12 year old girl as opposed to a hard worn woman.

She had chosen the movie The Blind Side which I finally got to see. As I saw the movie, I couldn't help but think of this student who I am slowly but surely giving up on. In my growing shame at the montage of moments where I had used her behavior as an excuse to turn away, I wondered how many others had given up on her. How many others got pricked by her thorns and learned to stay away? How many incidents conditioned her to always be on the defensive?

As the credits to the movie started rolling and the actors behind the characters were revealed, the photos of the real family were shown. Fantasy melted into reality, and I couldn't help but wonder why she had chosen this movie. What is her real story?