Rhetoric of Space

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

What gets more American?

 


What Can Be Any More American?
 Nothing is more American then the extraordinary story of The Blind Side. This movie is based on a true account centered around America’s favorite past time, football. The story follows Michael Oher from his impoverished childhood to his adoption by the Tuohy family and finally when he was the top recruit and first round pick for the Baltimore Ravens. Michael Oher was a stellar athlete and was offered full ride scholarships to multiple schools for football. As the schools went on marketing themselves to Michael, the movie did some advertising of their own.
            In 2009, when The Blind Side was released, Sony released a small handheld camera with which you can instantly record video and put it onto a DVD. S.J., Michael’s best friend and younger brother, is constantly holding this video camera. He uses this camera to film Michael Oher at practice, training camp, and around the house. He then takes his Sony camera and creates Michael’s recruitment video on an Apple laptop. At the time, this camera was a new, hot item on the market and everyone wanted one. The film took the camera to the next level by showing S.J. filming an incredibly talented athlete who makes it to the big leagues. This is positive endorsing for Sony because it passes along a message stating that through using their camera you can create professional videos. The use of this camcorder also sheds light on the economic status of Tuohy family.
            The Tuohy family took in a random boy from their daughters’ high school and made him one of their own; only very affluent families can afford to do this. Their money is shown not only by accepting Michael into their family and buying him a Ford truck, Nike shoes, and Under Armor football gear, but also by their house and the cars they drive. The entire movie is about football, but within the story line the director shows multiple shots of BMW’s. According to Orange Country register “brand-name products and logos realistically
reflect the landscape of everyday American life.” By showing BMWs  it is saying that the BMW brand is a high class car but not unattainable such as a Ferrari or Lotus. This is a great endorsement for BMW because it shows the car has an affluent stigma attached, but it is an attainable dream, which is directly relatable to Michael Oher’s story.
            In his high school years Michael Oher was frequently filmed wearing Under Armor. Under Armor became a big franchise in the 2000’s due to their dri-fit shirts that football players wore under their pads to stay dry. In 2006 Under Armor began to develop shoes. Since then Under Armor has combined with the NFL to create a collection of apparel for athletes. The movie advertised Under Armor, until Michael was offered positions by every college in the nation; then all of the clothing portrayed in the film was Nike. Although Under Armor was shown throughout a large majority of the film, this sudden shift in clothing was a very subtle slap in the face to Under Armor. The change symbolizes that Under Armor is for amateurs and Nike is for the professional players. This is still good advertisement to Under Armor to get theor relatively new logo out in public, but Nike stole the show towards the end of the film.
            The Blind Side is a movie about acceptance, love, honor and kindness. Having any brand recognition in this movie is a complement because it is telling a true story about the football player Michael Oher and explains his journey, shows his great talent, and publishes his hardship. This will inspire children who are in his position, and they will look up to Michael Oher, thus the subliminal brands of Sony, Under Armor, Nike and dreams of BMW will begin and will soon be bought and worn in hopes of becoming the next biggest thing.
I give this movie five pickles because all the brands shown in this movie were in a positive manner.  

 

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