Sociological Theory: The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

The symbolic interactionist perspective is one of the main sociological theories used. It is analyzed on a microlevel and states that how people define a situation becomes the foundation for how they behave. This theory has two parts to it, the significance of interactions between two or more individuals, and the significance of symbols. Symbols are people’s means of distinguishing and defining themselves from other people. A few examples of symbols are hand gestures, money, written languages, and clothes. Symbolic interaction transpires when individuals interact through the utilization of the symbols. An example of symbolic interaction is when people in a neighborhood give the individual(s) that have just moved into that neighborhood food

as gifts and also as a way of saying welcome. Self-awareness is another concept of the symbolic interactionist theory, and self-awareness is the process of observing and evaluating the self from someone else’s viewpoint.
The Blind Side is a true story about Michael Oher, the Baltimore Ravens’ offensive left tackle. Michael grew up in “Hurt Village,” a housing project in Memphis, Tennessee with his drug addicted mother. Family Services had taken control of Michael’s life while he was growing up, and he ended up going from one foster home to the next. Once a teenager, he found himself kicked out by the people he was staying with. A coach at a private Christian school wanted a football player the size of Michael, and so Michael ended up being enrolled there. There, he is befriended by the youngest Tuohy, S.J., who bonds with Michael. One night the Tuohy’s see Michael walking down the road and Leigh Anne demands that they go back and get Michael. As time passes, Leigh Anne gives him a bed and room, and eventually helps him to understand how to play on the football field. After that Michael begins to play better and becomes more useful to the team. Leigh Anne, at Christmas time, asks Michael to be in their family picture. When Leigh Anne meets with her friends at a local restaurant, they begin to laugh about her “project in the projects,” but she states that if they can’t respect what she does, she will stop seeing them.
Michael gets the opportunity to play football at the university level, but in order to do so he has to improve his grades, so the Tuohy’s hire a private tutor named Miss Sue to help him do so.

At one point, Leigh Anne wants to have an in person conversation with Michael’s biological mother, so that Leigh Anne can adopt Michael. At first his mother seems to not be responsive, but eventually she wishes Michael the best. While leaving, Leigh Anne encounters some guys from the projects who had previously made ugly insinuations about her. She threatens them and leaves them speechless. Several universities want to have Michael play on their teams, and so S.J. and Michael talk to the coaches. S.J. does most of the negotiating for Michael, but also for himself. Once Michael gets his grades improved enough, he must make a decision on which university to attend. He ends up deciding to attend Ole Miss, the university that Sean played for and that Leigh Anne had been a cheerleader for. After Michael’s decision had been made, Investigator Granger quickly investigates his choice, thinking that Miss Sue and the Tuohy’s are using Michael to benefit their alma mater. Before the interview is even over, Michael runs away to find his birth mother, only to be welcomed back by the leader of the tough guys at Hurt Village. The leader insinuates that Michael had sexual relations with Leigh Anne or her daughter, which caused Michael’s protective instincts to kick in, causing him to shove the leader into a wall after he threatens to go after the two women himself. Michael runs away and after deliberating and then questioning Leigh Anne, Michael realized that the Tuohy’s are his family. Michael proceeds to tell Investigator Granger that the reason he chose to attend Ole Miss is because of his family. The movie ends saying that Michael will go on to be a professional football player later

on.