Hey people! We are back with an all-new movie with a message. This has got to be one of my favorite segments of the website because it combines two of my passions—movies & writing. Did I also mention that the last post I did about Miracle in Cell no. 7 went viral? People from all parts of the world keep stumbling upon that post, and I am just so blown away, that something I did out of the love I have for the movie has increased the views on my website tremendously in the past month (views have tripled).
Throughout the lockdown, I have come to watch many movies. Some great and some, not so great, but on this platform, I talk mostly about movies that have great underlying messages, so others can watch and learn from them as well. Today’s movie of focus is titled—Drawing Strength, which happens to be a Nigerian movie. Let’s Talk!
The movie is set in Abuja, the federal capital of Nigeria, and it follows the story of a young vibrant, Christian girl, who happens to be a top architect, portrayed by the beautiful Sophie Alakija. She is a single girl who loves God and is also thriving in her career. She makes the cover of a top architectural magazine (think architectural digest), which listed her as one of the bests in her field.
Then one day she is approached by a rich politician’s son, who wants her to design the plans for his strip club. She is caught between a rock and a hard place. She grapples with the fact that she is a Christian and any industry which exploits women, especially sexually; is something she doesn’t want to be a part of. But then again, she is also a professional and wants to keep her business afloat, how then does she come to a resolution where she can make both God and her business happy?
She takes her dilemma over to her friend, who advises her that her job is just to design, whatever the client decides to do with her work is the client’s business. And that God will understand. She also conveys her reservations to the client, who says back to her that all the women he would employ as strippers are adult women, who choose to work in that industry.
While I watched, I was reminded of a similar situation where I asked to be passed up to work on a project that did not align with my values. For me making such a decision was very easy, especially when I did not have anything else to lose. Some said you have to be able to distinguish between your faith and your job, but I disagree. My faith is the general mark-up of who I am; everything else flows from that sphere. This one I am running my mouth like this so, I haven’t found myself in a situation where the pay is so darn good! But the values don’t just align; when that day comes, so help me God.
Now, there is another part of Miss Top Architect’s story, that the movie began to explore; miss young talented architect, doesn’t come up with her drawings herself, she outsources the job and takes the glory for it. One day, the outsourcee got tired of living under her shadow, and he began to threaten her. While she was on the phone with him, trying to calm his nerves, one her friends cut wind of the conversation, and then proceeded to sell the story to the blogs, after a disagreement erupted between both of them, and Young Miss Talented Architect’s career, came crashing down.
The Wakeup Call She Needed
After all of these happened, she decided to leave her city to spend time with her family. In those moments of solitude, she realized that the way she had conducted her business over the years, was not the right way; passing up people’s work as hers, was not a noble thing to do. It was not like she did not know how to draw; she just did not believe her drawings were good enough to pull the big dogs to her business.
This wakeup call, made her realize that she had to begin to do things differently. As a child of God, any form of deceit is unacceptable. When she began spending more time with God, He built her confidence back-up. She then realized that she could do all things through Christ who strengthened her. She apologized to those she had deceived in the past and moved on with what was left of her career.
Lessons Learned
Being a Christian doesn’t mean you won’t make bad choices—while I watched the movie, I said to myself; you are worried about building a strip club, meanwhile, you are busy deceiving your clients that the drawings/designs you provide for them are 100% your work. Which one is worse? But as her journey unfolded, especially with the breakdown of her business, I was quick to take back what I thought. Because she was a Christian didn’t mean she was not going to make bad decisions. I thought about my life as well; the times when I had done things that were not right in the sight of God, but that did not mean that I loved God any less; I just made bad choices.
God will allow you to hit rock bottom to make things right again in your life—if her friend didn’t sell her off to the tabloids, she wouldn’t have realized that what she was doing was wrong. She revealed to her father that she felt as long as no one knew about it, then it was okay. God had to let her be embarrassed, strip her of the influence she thought she had, so she could stop the deceit, believe in herself, and walk in the fullness of her purpose. Two times I have hit rock bottom in my life, both times brought about a significant change. God will literally bring everything to a halt, to get your attention.
Miss Young talented architect had to go through her process to become who God had called her to be. Many of us live our lives today as Christians, but yet doing things that are not pleasing to God. It is not that God thinks that it is no big deal; He is just waiting for the right time to get your attention and set you on the right course.
I was glad to have watched this movie because it gave me things to think about. It is also refreshing to see content that is uplifting and bringing God glory, through everyday life situations that most can relate to. This incredible piece premiered in December 2019 and was written, produced, and directed by Dimbo Atiya. It also had lots of unfamiliar faces in it, who did justice to their roles. The set, wardrobe, hair, and makeup were on point as well as the cinematography.
I desire to keep seeing positive content from Nollywood, which will also have underlying messages that people can learn from. Enough of all the subpar work, your audience deserves better. Drawing Strength is now streaming on YouTube. You can go directly to the movie by clicking the video below. Be sure to watch it and discover why it is a movie with a message. Also, remember to share your thoughts with us.
Video courtesy Innovative Television Kontents
Don’t stop here; click this link to explore more on our Movies with a Message page.
About The Author: Evi Idoghor is a Christian, writer, and content creator on Letstalknationblog.com. She is a chemical engineering graduate from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Consumed by her love for writing and desire to effect change, she launched her online platform––Let’s Talk Nation––to tap into her creativity and start meaningful conversations that would make a difference around the world.
Most of her writing has been influenced by her time spent in America, where she lived for about 11 years. Also, she lived in Nigeria and South Korea and currently loves traveling the world while learning about other fascinating cultures. You can find her on all social media platforms with @eviidoghor.
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