10 Movies That Ruined Real Life People's Reputations
3. The Blind Side - Michael Oher
2009's biographical sports drama The Blind Side may have won Sandra Bullock a dubious Best Actress Oscar for her performance as well-to-do white woman Leigh Anne Tuohy, but the American football player around whom the story revolves, Michael Oher, ultimately rubbished the film as damaging to his career.
Oher was played by Quinton Aaron in a rock solid performance, though Oher took issue with how aggressively the film both simplified and exaggerated aspects of his life story, such as making him look "dumb" and downplaying the racism he encountered throughout his life in favour of a more crowd-pleasing drama.
More than anything, Oher expressed frustration that the film caused fans and even those in the industry to regard him differently - particularly giving his adoptive mother Tuohy more credit than himself. Oher said:
"I'm not trying to prove anything... People look at me, and they take things away from me because of a movie. They don't really see the skills and the kind of player I am. That's why I get downgraded so much, because of something off the field. This stuff, calling me a bust, people saying if I can play or not... that has nothing to do with football. It's something else off the field.
That's why I don't like that movie. [It's] taken away from my football... That's why people criticise me. That's why people look at me every single play. I'm tired of the movie. I'm here to play football."