MovieChat Forums > The Blind Side (2009) Discussion > The 'lottery winner' syndrome

The 'lottery winner' syndrome

posted 12 years ago by sd45-1
22 replies | jump to latest

One thing that bugged me about this movie is how this well-off family could have made an impact in the lives of many underprivileged youths, by donating to public schools in distress, or buying laptops for every student, rather than just pick one kid and transform his life via the royal treatment, as if this one kid, like Michael, had just won the lottery.

Where I live, there is a local businessman who has done very well in the air cargo transport business. Every year, he gives out 10 scholarships for high school grads, giving them each a free ride to top echelon schools. As a condition, the guy pretty much micro-manages their college careers. The kids give him quarterly reports, and he places performance conditions on the continuation of the scholarship. A family member of mine knows a woman whose granddaughter was picked for this scholarship. She chose to attend Purdue. One of the conditions of the scholarship was all the kids had to spend 6 months in China. When she came back from China, she had espoused some very big pro-globalization ideals. Today, she works as an engineer for Chrysler somewhere in the midwest.

This kid was from a broken home, raised by her grandmother, and this scholarship money has transformed her life to where she now works on the winning side of the globalization fray. I can assure you 90% of her high school friends have parents who are losing in the globalization war. It bugs me that this guy is spending his money to create 10 mini versions of himself, 10 little privileged proteges, rather than spending that money to give the entire county school system some high-tech teaching tools, like broadband or electronic video classrooms that allow the kids to learn from instructors on the other side of the globe, in a way that benefits the ENTIRE class of kids, year after year.

This movie reminds me of the negatives that I see in this local scholarship program. Rich people out there creating little mini-me's, hand-picking their own 'lottery winners', rather than doing something much more productive for a broader audience.

We need to celebrate the rewards of hard work more, rather than celebrate the tap on the shoulder by a rich man who is passing on a life of privileges to his chosen disciples.

[–] starwolf 12 years ago

Well, here's the thing. You don't know what else that family may or may not have done. The movie centers around one thing they did. It never says that's all they did.

I don't know the family personally so I can't say, but from my experience people who give usually give a lot more than you realize.

[–] jwiles1 12 years ago

From what I have read, they have done much for underpriviledged youth, both before and after the events that occurred in the blindside. But whether they helped one person, or a hundred, or ten thousand, they still helped. Many people in their position don't help anyone.

[–] Albert_Ingalls 12 years ago

You sound like a liberal Obama living fool..this guy you talk of helps without being required and it isn't enough..,you want him to give more to even more people..typical liberal.,.you're probably a welfare bum yourself

[–] Hasjtracker 11 years ago

You sound like fool yourself.

Just read the crap you wrote and think about it,not that you have chance to understand it anyway.Understanding seems to a liberal exclusive in the Usa,it is the most democratic party in a undemocratic two party system :)

[–] mrtron81 12 years ago

There are problems with just donating money. You don't know if it will be spent wisely by the charity. Also, the problems with most schools have nothing to do with money. We spend more per student on education than almost any developed nation.

[–] blahblahblah12345 12 years ago

So you really think that a classroom of students getting funding for new laptops that end up being used for games and Facebook is more productive than giving one girl a scholarship that goes on to transform her life so she can become an engineer?

[–] keep-flying 12 years ago

You completely fail to see the bigger picture... Sure, she could have spread the same amount of money over a large number of people and they could be fed for a few months or be able to go online more often, BUT... she took a chance on this one kid and with that chance he turned out to have received enough encouragement to reach for the stars and grab one of them.

Can you imagine all the other people who will be affected by what Michael will do for them using that success he achieved? Just understand how many lives will be changed because of what those ten scholarshipped kids will be able to achieve.

This woman LEARNED through him, meaning she didn't realize how much she could really do for somebody or what it would be like until this happened. I bet she still helps people now. Michael was just her introduction to all of this and she gave Michael the ability to help others too, which is way better than what your alternative is. HOW could someone in Michael's situation have a chance of really benefiting from a school computer? Some people have it bad to such a high degree, and you don't seem to get how crucial intensive help can be. Some cases just need a different approach, like here.

[–] Soodinum 12 years ago

What have you done lately?

'Then' and 'than' are completely different words and have completely different meanings.

[–] SpiltPersonality 9 years ago

Amen to that.

I don't know the OP, he could be out there doing loads, but in my experience many people tell others 'how it should be' but don't 'do' themselves.

"Be the change you want to see in the world"

SpiltPersonality

[–] ChrisRey3156 12 years ago

So because you work hard all your life to provide a quality life for you and your family all of a sudden you are EXPECTED to carry the load for others?

Thats the kind of mentality that is creating a lazy generation. Make yourself rich, don't ask for handouts.

That being said, who is to say they didn't run charity work elsewhere?

"Half of what I say is meaningless, but I say it so that the other half may get to you."

[–] Captain_Wesker 12 years ago

Make yourself rich, don't ask for handouts.

Not everyone can be rich, therefore, it is best to create a society where everyone's standards of living/opportunities are better.

---
It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing .

[–] Ratchapakinai 12 years ago

lol @ the OP. Yeah, *beep* that guy for helping people when he doesn't have to. What a bastard that guy is! HAHAHA

[–] sd45-1 11 years ago

"So because you work hard all your life to provide a quality life for you and your family all of a sudden you are EXPECTED to carry the load for others?"

To put it bluntly, yes.

Our interstate highway system is just one of many things that was built by taxing the rich, and yet it benefits the poor and middle class (and you) the most. Same thing can be said for hooking up rural America to the electrical grid, and the government programs that pushed access to these basic necessities to rural areas.

People really don't know their history, they really don't understand just how much of the infrastructure we have, and that they seemingly take for granted, was built on the very principle of taxing the successful that they love to demonize on internet chat rooms. They ignorantly demonize the very confiscatory process that built America from its 1880-1910's guilded age into a more moderated and balanced America of the 1950's and 60s'. The exact balanced footing that got today's IMDB critics off to a good middle class start.

The America that built the interstates and pushed the basic utilities to every corner of the country was the America that had statesmen as politicians. They have been replaced by, shall we say, a less educated radical element, who now represents the most fiscally selfish and civic-blinded generation in the history of the republic.

If individuals of your thinking had been the dominant political force back in the 1950s and 60's we wouldn't even have the interstate superhighway system today, at a time when everybody else in the world would be beyond roads and engineering their internet superhighway. We would be so far behind everyone else today, this great country wouldn't even be able to compete.

[–] tf424 11 years ago

You are mixing up your arguments. Taxes are not voluntary, everybody has to pay them. And yes, they do go to benefit the public weal, not just the rich who get the highest tax bills.

But charity is voluntary. We can lament when donations are wasted or stolen by unscrupulous or incompetent charities. But I see no reason to ever criticize a person who donates their time, money or talent to someone in need. The idea that you somehow "know better" how to spend the money is irrelevant, precisely because it is NOT your money to spend. That is one of the tenets of private ownership in a free society.