Running head: COMMUNICATION THEORY LINKED TO A MOVIE 1
Fall 2018
MCOM 2223
Communication Theory Linked to a Movie
The movie The Blind Side is a film from 2009 based on a true story of a homeless
teenager named Michael Oher and his journey to become a successful football player. As a
teenager, he is behind in education due to being in and out of school due to his broken,
dysfunctional, and absent home life. Although Michael does not speak or socialize much,
viewers understand his mind views society as sad, depressing, and violent. Michael avoids drugs
and violence. Michael begins to attend a private school because the coach thinks he could be
beneficial to their sports. One day, Michael becomes friends with a younger boy named S.J.
Tuohy even though there is a significant age difference. The Tuohy family takes Michael in and
provides him with a safe, warm, and supportive home environment. The Tuohy family and
Michael have to deal with racial issues as the Tuohy family is Caucasian and Michael is African
American. Michael struggles with how others view him. Many experiences are eye opening to
the mom, Leigh Anne. The situations that arise help bring the Tuohy family closer with
Michael. Michael is often judged due to being a very tall, big, and black male. Michael joins the
football team and everyone expects for him to instantly be great due to his size and their view of
him; however, he is not. Michael is a very protective, gentle, and caring individual. With the
help of Leigh Anne and the use of the symbolic interaction theory, Michael learns how to play
football to the best of his ability. Michael goes on to play football for Ole Miss and then for the
NFL.
Body
Running head: COMMUNICATION THEORY LINKED TO A MOVIE 2
Symbolic Interaction Theory
The book Mind, Self, and Society was written by George Herbert Mead’s students and
based off their collection of Mead’s lectures and class notes in the 1930s and later revised.
“George Herbert Mead’s lectures on social psychology have established themselves as one of the
foundational texts of this discipline, as a crucial component of classical sociological theory, and
as one of the most stimulating products of the great American philosophical movement called
pragmatism” (Mead, 2015, p. 9). Symbolic interaction theory is a theory by George Herbert
Mead who suggests that people behave based on how they view themselves and others around
them. According to West and Turner, “he (Mead) proposed that people act based on the
symbolic meanings that are communicated in a given situation” (Introducing Communication
Theory: Analysis and Application, 2018, p. 68). Meaning is constructed when communicating
