A love for musicals, “The Greatest Showman” is found to be a guilty pleasure. PHOTO CREDIT: tvinsider.com
Whether by nature or nurture, I have grown into a very cynical person… unless someone flips on a movie musical.
The wonders of Disneyworld and the power of wishing upon a star are now as flat and hollow to me as the parents’ wallet who make their way home from the so-called happiest place on Earth.
However, the one thing that has seemed to escape my ever-growing cynicism is movie musicals. And I honestly could not tell you why, nor do I have any intention of figuring out why. Most of the time, I just sit back and enjoy them. The one that comes to mind first when I think of a movie musical as a guilty pleasure of mine is Micheal Gracey’s 2017 directorial debut, “The Greatest Showman.”
This film tells the “true” story of the American showman P.T. Barnum and his journey to create a successful circus, business and life for himself and his family while filling the world with joy. On the surface, it’s a standard musical that tells a decently compelling story. The reason I find this to be a guilty pleasure rather than a normal pleasure lies in the main character this movie is based on; P.T. Barnum.
If there is one thing anybody might know about this movie, other than the music, it is the fact that the P.T. Barnum in this film (played by Hugh Jackman) is nothing like the P.T. Barnum who existed in our reality.
To put it simply, P.T. Barnum was a scummy con man who did everything he could to milk as much money out of the general public as possible. He exploited people, sold tickets to live autopsies and his circus was responsible for numerous animal deaths.
A strange person to make the center of a feel-good family movie musical that went into theaters around Christmas time, isn’t it?
In fact, I would venture to say that if they had just made “The Greatest Showman” about a completely fictional person, the film would have received much less negative attention. But instead, they chose to make their movie about someone who should probably not be shown in a positive light, and the film was lambasted for portraying a lying con man as a suave and slick idealist who was a good man at heart and did everything out of love.
As you might imagine, it feels a little strange liking this movie as much as I do, guilty pleasure or not. But, for one, “The Greatest Showman” never claimed to be accurate to history and was clearly never going to be. And I am a sucker for a good energetic musical number, and this film proudly boasts at least half a dozen of them. From the bright colors to the fluid and engaging camerawork to the synergistic choreography, every time I watch a musical scene from this movie, I just end up smiling.
In spite of the real-world connection this movie has and the less-than-angelic figure this movie showcases, everybody involved with making “The Greatest Showman” takes the material seriously and gives it their all. Aside from Rebecca Ferguson, all of the actors are really singing and dancing and, in Zendaya’s case, actually learning trapeze.
The amount of effort that went into not just the star power of the musical numbers but some of the background details cannot be overlooked. Whether it’s making an entire miniature city that is only on camera for three seconds or painting a massive backdrop for Jackman and Michelle Williams to dance in front of, everyone gave this project 100% of their effort. Also, the music is catchy and does a good job of carrying the story along instead of interrupting it.
Seriously, if you have no interest in seeing the movie, at least give the soundtrack a listen. If anything, you’ve probably already heard one or two of the songs as long as TikTok got ahold of them.
While “The Greatest Showman” is a silly, corny musical that wears those terms like a badge of honor, I always end up finding myself humming the music or rewatching the musical numbers from time to time. If you can overlook the bizarre choice of making this movie about P.T. Barnum, you may be able to do the same. As the film states, “The noblest art is that of making others happy.”