"If not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled." - P.B. Wodehouse

Here follows my assessment of the movie Blind Side, which we saw this afternoon. But first, some disclaimers:

• I've been up since 3:30 a.m. so I could take Pam to the airport. She's gone to visit her mother and our friends for about 10 days. So I'm tired.
• I knew by that hour of the morning that I have come down with a cold. I feel cruddy.
• When I am tired and sick my stomach moves to just under my skin; my emotions hang right out there, at least the ones that come out my eyes.
  
• I am a sucker for stories of redemption under any conditions, especially when they have to do with children and/or the disadvantaged. I am a conservative in almost all my moral, social and political views. But when it comes to people I am a bleeding heart liberal, or a pushover, or something like that.

I was told once that there are three ways to view a movie (same applies for a novel). You can watch it with an eye for the technical aspects, critiquing the cinematography, the script, the acting and such. Makes sense, but I don't know anything about those things, so I can't tell bad from good. Haven't a clue. Besides, I either get caught up in the story and don't notice those things, or get bored with the story and fall asleep.

The second dimension of a movie is the story line. Was it engaging? Did it interest you, draw you in and keep you there? Or was it predictable, unbelievable, insulting.... (think anything involving Claude VanDamme)

Finally, you can watch a movie with a view to its content. What lesson, what point did the movie try to make? What values and standards did it promote? Were the language and behavior uplifting? And if not, did it show the outcomes of bad behavior?
Of course this third perspective is unique to the person with a moral base, a person like a Christian. To the viewer without moral standards no behavior is wrong, no lesson or point good. For them the third dimension of the critiquing process doesn't happen. "Art doesn't judge, it just reflects."

OK, now to Blind Side.

To be honest, I thought the first half of the movie was better than the second half from the storyline perspective. That probably has everything to do with my bullet points above. Once Michael was settled into the household and his situation stabilized my gut sat back. I didn't really care about the football part (which isn't really about football, but about how he grows into success in every area of life). The real action was the stomach part of the movie, the part where a family with everything encounters a kid with nothing and chooses to do something about it. Once that was settled the story lost some - not all, but the best part - of its power.

Regarding the morality of the story - whether it's a good story in the biblical sense of the term good - I have a pretty strong reaction. My reaction is undoubtedly strengthened by some of the criticism I've read about the movie. So pardon me if this comes off a little like a rant.

This is a true story. The Touhys are real people and this is what they did. They are rich, they are white and they live in the South. Michael Oher ("like oar, that you use with a boat") was incredibly poor and still is Black. Those who consider those facts and insist there must therefore be some layer of patronization or racism or elitism in this story are the real hypocrites. They sit in their comfortable homes in the suburbs writing reviews on their laptops judging people who get up off their butts and do something. Put up or shut up. I think social liberals are often more interested in condemning the privileged class than in any real good that happens. Their stock-in-trade is diatribe, and any story of redemption must have some hidden evil they will expose.
Yeah, put up or shut up.

It's a 2-hour movie, so a lot of stuff doesn't fit. And it's a movie. But it is a true story. And when Leigh Anne Toughy (Sandra Bullock) wonders if the good they did was done from selfish motives she wrestles with a question most of us have struggled with. But here's my bottom line: Go ask Michael Oher, the real one who now plays for the Baltimore Ravens and has a shot at Rookie of the Year. Ask him what he thinks of the Toughys and what they did for him. As him if they got everything right (I'm sure he'll say no). And ask him where he thinks he'd be if the Toughys hadn't stepped into his life. 'nuff said.

If you haven't already, go see The Blind Side. Or rent it when it comes out on DVD. It's a good story, it's clean, it's pretty funny in some spots and it will remind you that with great privilege comes great responsibility, and that taking a risk can transform a kid's life. Christian virtues.

But if you got up very early or if you have a cold make sure the lights are off when you watch it. They'll figure the sniffing is because of the cold.