The Greatest Showman': Whether It is The Best Movie Ever

I recently saw the movie “The Greatest Showman” and was very pleased with it. It is a musical directed by Michael Gracey. It revolves around how Phineas Taylor (P.T.) Barnum with his imagination and persuasive language rose from nothing to the “Greatest Showman”.

The movie is filled with one of the best actors who truly make the movie a musical masterpiece. Hugh Jackman with the role of P.T. Barnum gives his best performance in the lead role. Zac Efron is Philip Carlyle who becomes Barnum’s partner in his show business, a major role in the movie. Zendaya acting as Anne Wheeler plays a role in expressing the feeling of being suppressed by the society as working in the circus.

One of the main reasons why I was amazed by this movie and why you should be too, is that it is a biopic which means this is the real story of Barnum. The Circus was actually the imagination of Barnum who started this show business. Do you know when the first circus started? It was ‘The Barnum and Bailey Circus’ found on 10 April, 1871 and the founder was Barnum himself.

[image: ]The movie begins with the song: The Greatest Show. The scene is an ongoing circus, which takes place in a tent with Barnum as its host. This spirited song gives a good start to the movie as it attracts and engages the audience. As half the song gets over, the music with the audience in the circus slowly fades away and the song gradually slows down until a reflection of a young Barnum is seen through a mannequin wearing a suit and top-hat. The slow fading signifies transition from fantasy world of Barnum to the harsh reality. This shows how Barnum had his vision about the circus since childhood and how a child of a tailor has such tremendous imagination.Other Movie Reviews

The next scene brings out the main message of the movie. The scene takes place in a big house owned by the father of Charity who is the love interest of Phineas. Phineas’ father is called by Charity’s father for a tailoring job. The former is a tailor who belongs to the lower class whereas the latter belongs to the higher class. Phineas’ father takes him along to work, where Phineas makes Charity laugh and because of that Charity’s Link for Aqua man review father slaps Phineas and tells him to stay away from her.

The next scene provides the first exposure to the marginalization and Marxism aspect of the movie. This shows how the lower-class were classified in the society and how they were oppressed by the higher class. In the later part of the movie, Phineas finally settled with Charity. He had a small job in a company until it was declared bankrupt and he was unemployed. He takes loan from the bank to open a museum. After the approval from bank, he opens the museum: “Barnum’s American Museum of Curiosities”. He uses wax statues to attract people to come to his museum. His museum eventually fails and he goes home. At night, he visits his daughters’ room to wish them good night, where they tell him that the “museum had too many dead things and there was nothing alive in the museum”. With his daughter’s words he imagines the show which we all see today. Link for Avengers Infinity War Review

After the wax museum failure Phineas tries to find people with unique appearance and talents which would make his show “come alive”. The musical part of the movie comes in this part when he persuades people with unique appearances with his persuasive language in form of music to join his show. With that, he uplifts people who were first suppressed by the society due to their unusual appearance by giving them equal opportunities and a platform where they could prove themselves to the society. These people also got employment and a family. He also persuaded Philip Carlyle - known for his scandals and fraud plays to become part of the show by having 10% share.

The circus got love from many and also got hatred from others who were supporting an article in the newspaper which was against the show. The editor called Phineas’ show a “circus” and the society called the people working in the show as “freaks”. With the help of the media he chose to keep his show’s name as The Barnum and Bailey Circus. But due to its success Phineas got a chance to meet the Queen of England along with his “freaks”.

Barnum later invites the greatest European singer Jenny Lind referred to as the ‘Swedish Nightingale’ to do a tour with him. His show business soon collapses as he becomes greedy for money which led Jenny cancel the tour halfway. But do you know how he acquires his business back? He partners with Philip again and produces a circus not in a building, but in a tent, yes, a tent. Towards its end, Philip takes on the mantle of the Greatest Showman, after Barnum realizes he should give more time to his family. Barnum leaving and Philip taking over symbolizes how an idea passes on from one generation to the next.

This movie is some of the movies which tries to use the power of the media to send message to the audience. I think movie directors should direct more movies which bring out the social problems of the society for mass communication. Media is so powerful that it gave rise to someone’s imagination to a world-wide sensation and it is also the one responsible for its failure in today’s world by exposing how animals are harshly treated in circuses. Do you also think that movies are a powerful form of media and should be used wisely? Please share your thoughts about the movie and movie as a form of media to send message in the comments.

Bibliography

• “P.T. Barnum.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 8 Jan. 2019, www.biography.com/people/pt-barnum-9199751
• “SHORT HISTORY OF THE CIRCUS.” SHORT HISTORY OF THE CIRCUS - Circopedia, www.circopedia.org/SHORT_HISTORY_OF_THE_CIRCUS
• “The Greatest Showman.” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/title/tt1485796/fullcredits