Michael Oher.Photo:Scott Boehm/AP Photo
Scott Boehm/AP Photo
Michael Oher’s biological siblings aren’t concerned with how their family was portrayed inThe Blind Side,according to the former NFL star’s brother, John Oher.
“We’re all happy,” John says. “We don’t care how that movie was made because we know the truth. At least, I know the truth. Everybody knows the truth. So we don’t care about that movie.”
John, who currently works at a bar in downtown Memphis, says “the truth” of their family’s situation wasn’t accurately portrayed in the film adaptation. “A lot wasn’t shown in the movie,” he explains.
However, John believes that Michael Lewis’s book,The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game,offered a more truthful depiction of the Oher’s family life. “The book put it right out there. The book was better than the movie.”
Baltimore Ravens #23 draft pick Michael Oher poses for a photograph with his family at Radio City Music Hall for the 2009 NFL Draft on April 25, 2009 in New York City.Jeff Zelevansky/Getty
Jeff Zelevansky/Getty
One of the key discrepancies John points to between the book and the film is his inclusion in the story. “They mention me in the book, but they don’t mention me in the movie,” he explains. “But I don’t care because I know the truth. I know the truth about my life.”
But, John says, he’s “happy” that the film was able to highlight the adversity kids like himself faced growing up in foster homes. “We got to realize that we’re not the only ones who were going through this type of stuff,” he says.
John tells PEOPLE he was placed into five foster families throughout his childhood in Memphis. “I wasn’t around my brothers all my life. I was gone for 15 years in foster homes, so we really didn’t bond much.”
“I got taken away from my mom in ‘94, and I didn’t seen Michael again until we started visiting in ‘95. Then they cut us off from visitation, and I ain’t seen him again until ‘06,” John explains.
Michael’s first book,I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness, to The Blind Side, and Beyond,helped fill in some of the gaps in his brother’s life for John. “I read his first book and it was pretty good. I haven’t read his second one, but his first book taught me everything that I didn’t know about him,” John tells PEOPLE.
The brothers have since reunited, and John tells PEOPLEhe attended Michael’s wedding in Nashvillelast November, along with their mom Denise.
John says Denise is “doing well,” and hasn’t expressed concern over clarifying the accuracy of their family’s story, even amid Michael’s legal dispute with his former guardians. “I think she’s just past all of it,” John says. “But she’s down with Mike one hundred percent.”
Michael Oher runs onto the field with his team as they defeat the 49ers during Super Bowl XLVII between the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens.Tony Medina/Icon SMI/Corbis/Icon Sportswire via Getty
Tony Medina/Icon SMI/Corbis/Icon Sportswire via Getty
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Oher also claimed in the filing that the Tuohy family — and their two children — “collectively received millions of dollars and Michael received nothing for his rights” to the film. In astatement shared with PEOPLE Thursday,The Blind Sideproducers defended the film’s core message and asserted that Oher and the four members of the Tuohy family were collectively paid approximately $767,000 in payments delivered through their talent agency.
source: people.com
