From "The Blind Side" To "The King's Speech", Here Are 6 'Based On Real Life' Movies That May Not Actually Be Accurate

That "based on real life" intro can be very loose...

Retired NFL star Michael Oher has recently alleged that a key storyline in The Blind Side was untrue.

Warner Bros. Pictures / Getty Images / Icon Sportswire

The sports star claims that the movie, which has reportedly made the Tuohy family "millions," is inaccurate. He recently filed a lawsuit claiming that the family never officially adopted him. Instead, he was in a conservatorship, he says.

The petition claims the Tuohys "tricked him into signing a document making them his conservators, which gave them legal authority to make business deals in his name."

People on Twitter (or X, I suppose) naturally have strong reactions to the allegations.

"For years, Oher has chafed at how "The Blind Side" depicted him, saying it hurt his football career and clouded how people view him. He has said that based on the film, some NFL decision-makers assumed he was mentally slow or lacked leadership skills." https://t.co/pUjizqqIMD pic.twitter.com/Cv6iwKSAWU

— Adwoa's back (@TheeAdwoanow) August 14, 2023

Twitter: @TheeAdwoanow

Y’all do realize Michael Oher thought he was the Tuohy’s legal son for TWO DECADES??? he just found out this year that it was a conservatorship and not an adoption. I hope they go to the deepest parts of hell

— nylah (@yumcoconutmilk) August 15, 2023

Twitter: @yumcoconutmilk

And although people are angry at the family, calls to revoke Sandra Bullock's Oscar for the role have not gone down well...

1. If Michael Oher didn’t know he wasn’t adopted by them white folks and the full extent of the scam until 6 MONTHS ago, how the hell would Sandra Bullock know?

2. The love of her life and her children’s father just DIED of cancer last week. Can y’all please fuck off? https://t.co/dEkNeTxaL1

— Gabrielle A. Perry, MPH (@GeauxGabrielle) August 15, 2023

Twitter: @GeauxGabrielle

It's not the first time Michaeal Oher has taken issue with the film's depiction of his life.

Penguin

He wrote a book to set the record straight in 2011. He was particularly careful to point out that, unlike in the film, he'd actually been perfecting his football skills for years before he met the Tuohys.

The Tuohy family have since released a statement via their attorney, Marty Singer, claiming that Oher knew the details of the legal arrangement from the offset. “Over the years, the Tuohys have given Mr. Oher an equal cut of every penny received from The Blind Side," Singer says.

You can read their full reponse here via TMZ.

And in happier news, some are sharing the gorgeous family he's helped to create since.

On a happier note, Michael Oher has a beautiful family of his own now. pic.twitter.com/ZK4nTVWhk3

— Again, for Taquita! (@CoriAgain2) August 14, 2023

Twitter: @CoriAgain2

This isn't the first time that a "based on real life" movie might have missed the accuracy mark, however. Here are five others:

1. The Greatest Showman

Hulton Archive / Getty Images /  20th Century Fox

The film, which starred Hugh Jackman, was meant to show the life of a real-life person name P.T. Barnum. However, the IRL man was a lot less palatable than his on-screen counterpart.

In fact, the real-life man kidnapped and manipulated Aboriginal people to keep his show afloat. "I wonder if the world would consider this self-professed 'humbug' light, innocuous entertainment if they knew he sent henchmen to the colonies to kidnap and coerce Aboriginal men, women and children, before casting them as 'human oddities' in Barnum & Bailey’s 'show-stopping' exhibition The Ethnological Congress of Strange Tribes?" asks The Guardian. 

2. Pocahontas

Disney /  Archive Photos / Getty Images

The animated movie was meant to represent the real-life story of a Native American girl who was given the nickname (it meant "playful one").  Her real name was Amonute or Matoaka. 

As for the romance in the film, it's unlikely the real-life Pocahontas could have been meaningfully in love with John Smith. After all, she would have been 11-ish years old in 1607. On top of that, the film is based on what is largely believed to be a lie told by Smith -- Pocahontas likely didn't save his life and fall in love with him.

3. Cool Runnings

Walt Disney Pictures / Getty Images /  picture alliance

The coach Irving "Irv" Blitzer never existed, and the team actually had several trainers. On top of that, the army (!!!) put the team together (at the behest of two American businessmen, George Fitch and William Maloney). 

Oh, and you know how everyone ignored the team in the film? Well, in reality, once the team actually reached the Olympics, they were so popular that they couldn't go anywhere for fear of being mobbed. All sounds pretty intense, right?

4. The King's Speech

Momentum Pictures / Getty Images /  Underwood Archives

You'd never guess from the film that Lionel Logue and the king actually hit it off from the first time they met, but they did -- there was no real animosity between the two. In fact, "Logue wrote in a note later published in the king’s official biography that Bertie left their first meeting brimming with confidence," say the LA Times.

5. The Imitation Game

Getty Images / Universal Images Group / The Weinstein Company / StudioCanal

In the movie, Alan Turing was depicted as the sole creator of the code-breaking machine pivotal to Britain's WW2 victory; however, in reality, parts of the machine were already developed before he joined the project.  

Back in 1932, Polish mathematicians successfully deciphered early machine versions, a detail omitted in the film. The movie also overlooked Gordon Welchman, Turing's co-inventor. And guess what? In real life, Alan Turing was way more charming and amiable than he seemed in the film!   

Do you know any other 'based on real life' TV shows or movies that missed the mark? Let us know in the comments below!