Michael Oher claims Tuohy family tricked him into agreeing to conservatorship

[Shaqil915]

45 minutes ago, CRA said:

 

gotcha.   

I mean, unless there is something there not seen....I don't think the conservatorship was about them trying to enrich themselves.  Sounds like they had f you money.   

Doing it so he could go to Ole Miss?  that part is just going to sit weird.  I would think once that became an area of some concern.  The proper thing would have been to of steered Oher elsewhere.  Because that's the part that looks the worse.  Not them making money but the look of them wanting to help their college football team.   And traditionally, that what big f you booster folks play with. 

and I could see Oher finding out he wasn't legally adopted after thinking he was.....and reacting poorly.  If he went his whole adult life believing it. 

 

They have F you money now, sure, but 2004 when he signed the conservatorship could have been a different story. Doubt they were broke then either, but 100k to someone with 10 mil net worth is a lot more then to someone with 200+ mil.

I also don't think the conservatorship was about them enriching themselves, more so making it look less sketchy he was going to the school they were boosters for, and the book/movie benefits were just happy accidents.

I would really like to know how much influence the family had in the story of the book/movie, because it seems like while Oher was at college focusing on football they fabricated a story to make it seem like he would have nothing without them when in reality, the odds of him still getting to the NFL without them was a million times better than the Touhys getting an Oscar winning movie about them and all the benefits/opportunities that went along with it.

[ladypanther]

9 minutes ago, Ornias said:

Did the lawyer that drew this up not have a responsibility to make sure Oher understood what he was signing? Someone should have been Oher's advocate in this. 

The lawyer who drew it up knew it was improper. Ethics not in his DNA.   As we know, people with money have lawyers that will do anything.

[Mr. Scot]

2 minutes ago, Shaqil915 said:

They have F you money now, sure, but 2004 when he signed the conservatorship could have been a different story. Doubt they were broke then either, but 100k to someone with 10 mil net worth is a lot more then to someone with 200+ mil.

I also don't think the conservatorship was about them enriching themselves, more so making it look less sketchy he was going to the school they were boosters for, and the book/movie benefits were just happy accidents.

I would really like to know how much influence the family had in the story of the book/movie, because it seems like while Oher was at college focusing on football they fabricated a story to make it seem like he would have nothing without them when in reality, the odds of him still getting to the NFL without them was a million times better than the Touhys getting an Oscar winning movie about them and all the benefits/opportunities that went along with it.

Kinda doubt the family wrote the story that way because the book was written first. And while I've heard plenty of complaints about the movie, I can't recall any about the book.

As has been discussed, Hollywood's record with true story movies is pretty much sh-t, and I'm pretty sure the book's author has said as much on this adaptation as well.

[CRA]

20 minutes ago, Shaqil915 said:

.

I would really like to know how much influence the family had in the story of the book/movie, because it seems like while Oher was at college focusing on football they fabricated a story to make it seem like he would have nothing without them when in reality, the odds of him still getting to the NFL without them was a million times better than the Touhys getting an Oscar winning movie about them and all the benefits/opportunities that went along with it.

I mean it was a movie, the movie studio was always going to make up parts of the story to make it as interesting as possible.

Rudy, Remember the Titans, Miracle, etc.   Everything is part fiction in the interest of making a good movie.

 

[Mr. Scot]

21 minutes ago, CRA said:

I mean it was a movie, the movie studio was always going to make up parts of the story to make it as interesting as possible.

Rudy, Remember the Titans, Miracle, etc.   Everything is part fiction in the interest of making a good movie.

Some of which didn't even make any narrative sense that I can understand.

Oher's sister in the movie was portrayed as a volleyball player. In reality, she was a pole vaulter (and an all state one at that). 

Likewise, the roadside incident happened on a cold morning, not a rainy night. Maybe the rainy night was more dramatic, don't know.

One I kinda get: In response to racist taunts, Oher wasn't passive. He actually flipped off some of the people who were acting like jerks (not necessarily what you want from a sympathetic character in a family movie).

More examples here...

History vs Hollywood: The Blind Side

Edited August 17, 2023 by Mr. Scot

[cookinbrak]

https://www.today.com/popculture/news/michael-oher-conservatorship-rcna100270

Quote

TODAY viewed the book Fishman referenced — "I Beat The Odds: From Homelessness, to The Blind Side, and Beyond," which was published in 2011 and co-authored by Don Yaeger — and Oher had written about the paperwork he signed on that fateful day.

"It kind of felt like a formality, as I’d been a part of the family for more than a year at that point," he wrote in the book. "Since I was already over the age of eighteen and considered an adult by the state of Tennessee, Sean and Leigh Anne would be named as my 'legal conservators.' They explained to me that it means pretty much the exact same thing as 'adoptive parents,' but that the laws were just written in a way that took my age into account. Honestly, I didn’t care what it was called. I was just happy that no one could argue that we weren’t legally what we already knew was real: We were a family."

Oher wrote that the morning was a "joyful" time for him — they'd all gone out to brunch to celebrate afterward and his biological mother had been there and "supportive of the whole thing."

"My mother was going to be at the hearing to agree that she supported the decision to have the Tuohys listed as my next of kin and legal conservators," Oher wrote, adding that the "court hearing was quick — probably only about fifteen or twenty minutes, beginning to end. My mother was supportive of the whole thing and there wasn’t a whole lot of emotion all around because it was just a matter of formalizing the way we’d all been living for the past year."

 

[ZoneRead]

Hope it works out for Oher.

[BIGH2001]

Legally it only matters if they used the conservatorship for their own financial gain to his detriment. That’s it. The rest of it is irrelevant. At this point there’s no evidence other than statements from lawyers. It should be easy to prove either way. It does seem odd that oher was able to play in the league, sign contracts etc if the conservatorship was truly being enforced. He wouldn’t have been able to do anything without court approval. 

Edited August 18, 2023 by BIGH2001

[MechaZain]

18 hours ago, Mr. Scot said:

Do we really know that, though?

Mentioned previously that people who get featured in "based on a true story" movies rarely get any sort of creative control. There are plenty of previous examples who testify to that.

Whether or not there was any of that here is one of the big questions I have.

Say they had no input- why is Oher the only one who has spoken out against it? It props them up at Michael's expense but they've always supported it over him. Leigh Ann straight up dismissed his concerns because the movie "made a difference for so many people". 

 

Edited August 18, 2023 by MechaZain

[Mr. Scot]

2 hours ago, MechaZain said:

Say they had no input- why is Oher the only one who has spoken out against it? It props them up at Michael's expense but they've always supported it over him. Leigh Ann straight up dismissed his concerns because the movie "made a difference for so many people". 

 

Yeah, nothing in that video makes the case for what you're suggesting.

And honestly, if that's what you got out of the clip, you're really not interested in the facts at this point. 

[Paa Langfart]

20 hours ago, DaveThePanther2008 said:

now that he is out of money

The questions that come to mind for me are

 

is he out of money?

if he is why ?  If he is there is some Mike Tyson level poo going on.

[Cam Lawter]

So much conflicting information right now It's hard to believe anyone right now.  Now the Tuohy's are saying Oher tried to shake them down for more money years ago saying he would release bad press about them if they didn't pay him 15 million and that he declined royalties for the movie. The real question to answer here is if Michael knew about his conservatorship before 2023. In his book, he states that he was aware of the conservatorship but now saying he didn't know what it meant. 

 It looks bad for the Tuohy's I have to say though.  No matter how you spin it, the Tuohy's misled Oher into signing complex legal documents at 18 to get him to attend their school for football and everything that led after. 

They were not in need of money at all which is infuriating to think about how you can treat someone like this that came from a group home. 

Edited August 18, 2023 by Cam Lawter

[MechaZain]

On 8/18/2023 at 8:07 AM, Mr. Scot said:

Yeah, nothing in that video makes the case for what you're suggesting.

And honestly, if that's what you got out of the clip, you're really not interested in the facts at this point. 

My point is if they really loved him, they would want him depicted as the smart student he was and would have his back when he speaks out against how he was portrayed. They've done nothing but support the movie.

[MillionDollarCam]

Hugh Freeze has weighed in, looks like he’s Team Tuohy.