Tenderness
In my Form 4 (10th grade) English class, we've been watching The Blind Side . Even though I've watched it multiple times, there is one scene that always hits me. Leigh Anne sets up a bedroom for Michael and Michael says, "I've never had one before." Leigh Anne says, "What, your own room?" Michael says, "No, a bed." Leigh Anne tears up and quickly leaves the room. What hit me about this scene is not that I teared up with Leigh Anne. Rather, it's that I didn't. I am stunned that her heart can be so wrenched by the thought that a boy would grow up without a bed that she starts crying, because I am unmoved. My dear Form 4 girls told me after watching this movie that it was too touchy-feely, and asked that we stop watching Hollywood-feel-good movies. Being smart, worldly young people, they are suspicious of emotionalism and bored with good people. They have a point, of course. Much of the pathos in the movie is not subtly presented,