Many movies and books have moral lessons or ethical dilemmas and the movie “The Blind Side” is no different. This movie will capture many hearts to those who are in touch with their own morals. It is based on a true life story of an African American boy named Michael who lives in a bad section of the city. Michael is slow at learning and keeps to himself for the most part. At school he comes across another boy in school named S. J. Tuohy, who is quite a bit younger but tries to talk to Michael. After S. J.
’s mom, Leigh Ann Tuohy, hears of Michael and finds out he doesn’t really have a place to call home, she invites him to stay with their family. Everyone in the family eventually gets attached to Michael and invites him to live with them. Leigh Ann gets into a few ethical dilemmas with many different people because of her choice to open her doors to this boy. Leigh Ann helps Michael achieve excellence in his grades, gets him into football, provides clothing and anything else he may need, and also ends up adopting him.
After sticking up for what she believed is right, people start accepting the fact that she wants to help Michael. Michael goes on to achieve many great things after a lot of hard work and dedication from Leigh Ann and eventually moves on to college (IMDb, 2009).
There are many situations in this movie that can be considered ethical dilemmas and here is an example. Leigh Ann always goes to lunch with her sister and a few close friends who are in the same class as her. They give Leigh Ann trouble about Michael and search for any reason she may be doing this besides the true reason of doing the right thing.
The Essay on Leigh Ann Walker, Staff Accountant
Leigh Ann Walker was an exceptional student in college. Her 3.9 grade point average and her involvement in numerous business organizations set her apart from most other students. As a result of her hard work and dedication on campus, Leigh Ann received a total of six job offers. Upon graduation, Leigh Ann accepted an offer from a Big Six accounting firm to be an entry-level auditor. Despite such ...
They laugh and make jokes about the situation but Leigh Ann gets aggravated with this and states she is willing to give up her “richy” friends if they cannot respect her values and choices. After they realize she is serious they suddenly change the tone and state Leigh Ann is changing Michael’s life, but Leigh Ann responds with “No, he is changing mine. ” The stakeholders in this situation would be everyone involved because they are all in the same community. All these people would be affected by the choices each one makes.
The richy friends are concerned on how Leigh Ann’s choice would make their community look but Leigh Ann’s train of thought is more based on the fact it would make the community look better. Another example of an ethical dilemma used in the movie is the fact that Leigh Ann wants to get Michael into the football league at the school. The school and football coach all think Michael will fail at both football and the grades needed to stay on the football team. Leigh Ann proves all these people wrong (IMDb, 2009).
The school, the football coach, and the football league are also stakeholders in this movie.
All these people would be affected by the choices Leigh Ann makes (Lynn, 2011).
This movie can help close the many gaps in society like black versus white, poverty versus rich, and failure versus success (Wallace, 2009).
Also it can relate to business. With football playing a huge impact on this movie, comparing it to business is quite simple. First, the main guy of the show, in football this of course would be your quarterback, but in business this would be your CEO or owner. Now, what helps the main guy? In football all the other players protect the quarterback from what he cannot see.
In business this is the same, all the other employees need to be protecting the stakeholders from what the boss cannot or does not see. To do this there needs to be an ethics code of conduct. The ethical theory that best describes the situations in this movie is virtue ethics. The Virtue Ethical Theory states “what a good person would do in real-life situations with virtues such as courage, temperance, wisdom, faith, justice, and charity” (Medindia, 1997).
The Term Paper on Movies: The Changing Society In The 1920's
The 1920s was an important time period in American history due to the significant transformation of the film industry that further influenced the economy and the society. Both silent and sound movies were largely produced during the time that not only made the entertainment more popular but also created a new trend in the society. With such big influences, the economy in the United States also ...
Leigh Ann places many of these virtues high on her list of importance and follows through with her beliefs.
These qualities are also related to leadership because a good leader must have these virtues. Some leadership examples that Leigh Ann shows in this movie are identifying strength in others and drawing out the best in others. She does this with Michael by finding his strength of protective instincts and using it to benefit him, and then she uses this strength he has and communicates with him in his terms. Leigh Ann is trying to be a leader in changing her community and its beliefs (“Leadership With You”, 2013).
These situations can and do happen in everyday life. Some situations are to
this extreme but not always. Little things people do can help change a community. If I were in the same situation as Leigh Ann was, I do not know that I could have been as strong as her. I do have the same beliefs that she posed but I do not believe I have the courage that it takes to be the leader that she was. However, if I was one of the different stake holders in the movie such as faculty in the school, or one of her friends then I do believe I would have been able to do the right thing. I would have backed her up completely and done whatever I could have to help her accomplish the goal.
