Will the upending of the 'Blind Side' story help chill Hollywood's 'white savior' complex?

Too bad. I really wanted to believe “The Blind Side,” even though I knew it was sort of a fairy tale for grown-ups — or for kids who want to sound like grown-ups.

- Clarence Page

I’m old-fashioned enough to believe that a heartwarming story with the “BOATS” label — “based on a true story” — is Hollywood’s way of reassuring me that all is not rotten with the world.

“The Blind Side” is a 2009 Sandra Bullock movie that is based on a book by Michael Lewis, who explores changes in offensive football strategy since the early 1980s that gave new importance to the left tackle in protecting the quarterback’s vulnerable “blind side.”

The movie centers on a white family, the Tuohys, who take in Michael Oher (played by Quinton Aaron), a homeless and traumatized Black teen who later becomes an All-American football player for Ole Miss and later the Baltimore Ravens as a first-round pick.

Bullock won an Oscar for her role as Leigh Anne Tuohy in the Oscar-nominated movie, which follows the family through Oher’s years at a private Christian school, his purported adoption by the Touhys, and his rise to become one of the most highly coveted prospects in college football.

But, in real life, it turns out, Oher and the Tuohys were not to live happily ever after with each other.