By: Joyce Muhizi
We go to movies to be entertained and very rarely do I find tears a fitting part of that experience, of course I don’t always have a choice. This was one of those moments for me. “I Can Only Imagine,” directed by Andrew Erwin and John Erwin, was based on a Christian band, MercyMe’s hit single “I Can Only Imagine.” The movie depicted a young boy growing up being abused by his father and then coming back from a church camp to find that his mom had abandoned him. Life wasn’t the easiest for him and all he had going for him was football. The thrill of the game came to a halt when he was injured and couldn’t play anymore. He found himself in a music class where he was forced by his teacher to lead a musical play. Embarrassed to tell his father about it, he secretly became a success in his school and his town. After realizing that he had a shot at music he pursued it and didn’t turn back until he decided to go make things right with his dad. This movie took a turn when he returned to find his father a changed man. Forgiveness and death of the father are what shortly followed. The change he had witnessed as well as the absence of his father brought him to tears and inspired the song that became the best Christian selling hit single. This song sold 2.5 million copies and went double platinum. Overall, what started out as a typical Christian movie, ended up being one of the moving movies I have seen. I just wanted to hug my loved ones after seeing it.
