db's Medical Rants
Contemplating medicine and the health care system
Search
Favorite Quotes
"For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong." - HL Mencken
====
"I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand." - Confucius
====
"The good physician treats the disease; the great physician treats the patient who has the disease" - Sir William Osler
====
" The best test of a person's character is how he or she treats those with less power." - Bob Sutton
====
"Those are my principles, and if you don't like them - well, I have others." - Groucho Marx
====
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
====
"It is hard enough to remember my opinions, without also remembering my reasons for them" - Friedrich Nietzsche
====
"Anyone can make the simple complicated. Creativity is making the complicated simple." - Charles Mingus
====
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted." - Albert Einstein
====
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesman and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
====
"This ain't no party, this ain't no disco, this ain't no fooling around." - Talking Heads, Life During Wartime
====
"What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour. This is the whole Torah; all the rest is commentary. Go and learn it." - Hillel, Talmud, Shabbath 31a
====
"You will never understand bureaucracies until you understand that for bureaucrats procedure is everything and outcomes are nothing." - Thomas Sowell
====
"An idealist is one who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup." - HL Mencken
====
"If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail." - Abraham Maslow
====
"A great teacher is one who realizes that he himself is also a student and whose goal is not to dictate the answers, but to stimulate his students creativity enough so that they go out and find the answers themselves." - Herbie Hancock
====
"There are no facts, only interpretations." - Nietzsche
====
"An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you do know and what you don't." - Anatole France
====
"In character, in manner, in style, in all things, the supreme excellence is simplicity." - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ====
Nov - 15
Dec - 19
Jan - 21
Feb - 8
Mar -
Why I like The Blind Side?
21 Nov2009
Last night we went to see The Blind Side. All 4 in my party loved the movie. As I often do after seeing a movie, I read reviews on returning home. The reviews were generally positive – 65% on the tomatometer.
The movie, based on a book, is (as Miracle Max might say) mostly true. As Hollywood does, they take a story and redo that story to make the movie they want to make.
The movie worked for us. It tells a story of an athletically gifted boy from the projects who was almost homeless. An affluent family takes him in and helps him achieve both academically and athletically. The boy, now a man who plays in the NFL, is Michael Oher.
Why did the movie work for us? We had no preconceived notions of what the story should be – we went with the flow of the movie. The movie touched you, but was not saccharine.
We live in the deep south – Alabama – and the movie takes place in Memphis. We know all the characters in the movie. The movie worked because it was believable (and the acting worked for us too).
Some critics disliked it because they wanted a different movie. I like the movie for what it is – an inspirational story about a young man who got a chance and succeeded. His chances were not good at the beginning of the story.
The story should remind us of the different worlds we live in. This is not a Southern problem, it exists in every big city, and many rural communities. We do not have equal chances at success.
As a society we should work to at least understand the problem, and perhaps find different solutions to the problem. I am reminded of a recent interview I saw with Newt Gingrich and Al Sharpton. They have teamed forces to improve education for the underserved – Newt Gingrich and Al Sharpton team up to rally for education on tour
So I see Michael Oher as a fortunate young man, rescued from a bad situation. Perhaps he was only rescued because of his football talent, but he as graduated from college and now will have financial security.
I am reminded that we should do more to allow the less fortunate to succeed. That really is the American Dream.
Related posts:
- The health care summit – 10 ideas
- Health care reform requires attending to basics
- Advice for 3rd year students and interns
- Visiting my alma mater MCV (or VCU)
- Newt on health care policy
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
- In: Criticism
3 Responses to Why I like The Blind Side?
This Is Halloween » Blog Archive » Michael Oher Family Michael Oher
November 21st, 2009 at 4:01 pm
[...] DB’s Medical Rants » Blog Archive » Why I like The Blind Side? Movie bases on a true story of Baltimore Ravens rookie Michael Oher . The story revolves around a Christian family who provides shelter to a homeless boy growing up in inner city Memphis. They look him walking along the road, … [...]
This Is Halloween » Blog Archive » Michael Oher Family Michael Oher
November 21st, 2009 at 7:50 pm
[...] DB’s Medical Rants » Blog Archive » Why I like The Blind Side? Movie bases on a true story of Baltimore Ravens rookie Michael Oher . The story revolves around a Christian family who provides shelter to a homeless boy growing up in inner city Memphis. They look him walking along the road, … Tags: charge of the light brigade, michael oher No Comments charge of the light brigade [...]
Evelyn
January 5th, 2010 at 12:02 pm
This story is not your typical "rags to riches" story. It was amazing and left me really inspired. Since you liked "The Blind Side," you may also like the book, "What Else But Home." It is a story about the author Michael Rosen and his struggles with and the positive forces of an "accidental family," formed from informally adopting 5 older boys from the projects.