Jennifer Graham
Deseret News, Aug. 15, 2023
“You don’t have to be a fan of the movie or the song to be disappointed by this turn of events. And to be clear — there’s no proof that any of these accusations are true.”
At first glance, “Rich Men North of Richmond” and “The Blind Side” have nothing in common, except that they both originated in the American South.
The first is a ballad that went viral last week, elevating the singer, Oliver Anthony, to the sort of overnight fame that can be had on social media if people love you (or hate you) enough.
Anthony, a farmer who lives off the grid in Virginia, didn’t have an X/Twitter account 10 days ago. Now, he has more than 340,000 followers on X, including Joe Rogan, Bari Weiss and Seth Dillon, and “Rich Men North of Richmond” is being hailed as the new anthem of the working class.
As I write, it’s the No. 1 song on iTunes, having surpassed both Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” and Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town.”
“The Blind Side,” of course, is the hit movie from 2009.
Sandra Bullock won an Oscar for her portrayal of a feisty Tennessee mother who took in a homeless teen and helped him with his education and eventual football career. It is the sort of film often described as a “feel-good movie” and depicted Leigh Anne Tuohy, the character that Bullock played, as something of a saint in ignoring the objections of her family and friends and opening her home to Michael Oher, who went on to play for the Baltimore Ravens.
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