The Blind Side

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Perception

The scene that plays in our mind when hearing about perception is when Michael goes back to Hurt Village to look for his mother. This is when one of the big drug dealers he knows, Alton, tells him to come in and hang with them while he waits. They are sitting down with a bunch of people and Alton said to Michael “you tap that?” (about Michaels adoptive sister) and Michael didn’t say anything. So Alton laughed and said “yeahhhh you tapped that Big Mike!” Michael didn’t say anything to the first comment and the perceived meaning that Alton got out of his silence was that he did and that he didn't want to talk about it. This is not what his silence meant, but that's how it was perceived. His silence was because he did not want to talk about something like that because he loves his family and didn't want to be in a disrespectful conversation.

Michael gets up and says he's going to wait for his momma. This gesture is form of non-verbal communication saying that he's uncomfortable and done with the conversation. His facial expressions also signify this.

Physical Appearance

The idea of physical appearance in this movie significant. There is the big difference between the Tuohys and Michael, both in race and in size. In one of the scenes, Collins gets up away from her study group of friends in the library to study with Michael. They give looks of disapproval to her and him studying together. Of course, Michael is huge and much bigger than any of the other people in the movie and his stature makes him stand out and be scouted by all the football coaches from the different universities. His size made his ability to tackle be much easier and stand out among the other players.

Physical appearance is a problem in this movie for almost all the characters, seeing that it was not what people expected to see. Physical appearance in this movie is the difference between the social classes, the economic standing, an the way characters in the movie are treated and the way they treat each other.

Disclosure

The scene in this movie depicting disclosure was when Mrs. Tuohy asked Michael to tell her everything she should know about him. He just looked at her and said nothing. He finally said the one thing that he didn't like is being called Big Mike, so from then on he is Michael to the family. Disclosure is important because even the smallest amount of disclosure, like this scene depicts trust between the parties. Disclosure doesn't have to be big, but it is important in any interpersonal relationships to be able to have an understanding of the other person as well.

I think that if I were in the type of relationships in the movie I would act similarly in certain ways. If I was in Collin's shoes, I would have probably acted the same way that she did in different situations. Like the situation where she goes and sits with Michael to study even as her friends disapproved. Or the fact that she was sceptical in the beginning about having a strange guy in the house but eventually became close.

I believe that this movie is a great example of interpersonal communication because of all the different issues and personalities in the characters. The scenarios depict great examples of nonverbal communication, disclosure, and realistic ways that people in that society and situation would react. It shows many different kinds of communication all very realistically, and it is easy to put yourself in the characters shoes.