If You Could See What I Hear (1982)

Taglines: The true story of a born winner!

If You Could See What I Hear movie storyline. Tom Sullivan is in many ways a typical student attending a Boston area college, he, showing his immaturity, partaking in, often leading, mainly harmless student hijinks with his pipe smoking friend, Will Sly. He funnels many of his energies into his music as a singer/pianist. Tom also happens to be blind, which he’s been since a newborn due to being provided too much oxygen while in an incubator.

Tom is independently minded, and wants to be treated just like any sighted person. Like most men his age, he is also in the pursuit of the opposite sex, in the process of which he finds that he falls in love easily. Through all these activities, Tom is affected by real life including the temporariness of college life, some not being able to get over their own prejudices of being sighted in their dealings with him, and coming to the realization that there are some things more difficult to do in life when one is blind.

If You Could See What I Hear is a 1982 Canadian biographical drama film about blind musician Tom Sullivan, starring Marc Singer and Shari Belafonte, directed by Eric Till.

About the Story

Tom Sullivan (Marc Singer) is a blind college student who wants to be normal. When not in class, Tom hangs out with his friend, Will Sly (R. H. Thomson), who does not treat him like a blind person. In fact, he goes out of his way to challenge Tom. Tom likes to go jogging while Will leads him on his bicycle. Will leads him past obstacles such as park benches, shouting out “Bench!” at the last moment so Tom has to jump over it.

On campus, Tom meets a black woman named Heather Johnson (Shari Belafonte), with whom he falls in love. But she breaks off the relationship because “the black and white thing,” coupled with Tom’s blindness, is too complicated for her. Crushed by Heather’s abandonment and experiencing loneliness, Tom continues to struggle with himself, still denying that his blindness affects his “normalcy”. Then he meets his future wife, Patti Steffen (Sarah Torgov), and his life changes irreversibly.