The Greatest Showman
for thematic elements including a brawl.
Reviewed by: Pamela Karpelenia
CONTRIBUTOR
| Moral Rating: | Average |
| Moviemaking Quality: |
|
| Primary Audience: | • Adults • Young Adults • Teens |
| Genre: | Musical Biography Drama |
| Length: | 1 hr. 45 min. |
| Year of Release: | 2017 |
| USA Release: |
December 20, 2017 (wide—3,006 theaters) DVD: April 10, 2018 |
Music in the Bible
Songs in the Bible
Being innovative
Are there things that the real P.T. Barnum did that bent rules or laws, or did things that were deceptive, wrong or immoral?
How can I know what is RIGHT and WRONG? Answer
How can I discern whether a particular activity is WRONG? Answer
What is SIN AND WICKEDNESS? Answer
What is RIGHTEOUSNESS? Answer
| Featuring |
Hugh Jackman … P.T. Barnum Zac Efron … Phillip Carlyle Michelle Williams … Charity Barnum Zendaya … Anne Wheeler—an acrobat, trapeze artist, and W.D.’s sister Rebecca Ferguson … Jenny Lind—a famous Swedish singer Paul Sparks … James Gordon Bennett—the founder, editor and publisher of the New York Herald Keala Settle … The Bearded Woman Gayle Rankin … Queen Victoria Natasha Liu Bordizzo … Deng Yan Yahya Abdul-Mateen II … WD Wheeler—an acrobat and Anne’s brother Austyn Johnson … Caroline Barnum—daughter of P.T. Barnum Sam Humphrey … Charles Stratton—a dwarf performer also known by his stage name of General Tom Thumb Jacqueline Honulik … Baroque Woman See all » |
| Director |
Michael Gracey |
| Producer |
Peter Chernin Tonia Davis See all » |
| Distributor |
 20th Century Studios, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Studios, a division of The Walt Disney Company |
“The Impossible Comes True!”
“The Greatest Showman” stars Hugh Jackman as P.T. Barnum, the mastermind behind The Greatest Show on Earth. The film opens in true musical style, then flashes back to a young Barnum. We see an impoverished youth, son of a tailor with upper class clients. It’s at the home of a client where he meets a beautiful young girl. He makes her laugh and is forbidden from seeing her again by her father. But soon they are doing just that. We learn her name is Charity, and they start a pen pal relationship that blossoms. All the while, Barnum yearns for more than the life of a poor man’s son.
The plot is brilliantly consistent and easy to follow. Plus the music is pleasant, catchy and memorable. Hugh Jackman, who has a strong Broadway background, brings that enthusiasm and versatility to the screen—acting, singing and dancing—and it is wonderful. Michelle Williams plays Charity Barnum and makes a satisfactory contribution to the film aside Hugh. Zac Efron plays Phillip Carlyle, and brings his “High School Musical” background to the film. The remainder of the cast truly makes the film whole—each bringing a unique piece to the cast puzzle and creating a magnificent motion picture.
With all the amusing attractions (pun intended) of the film, there are a few details that Christian viewers ought to be aware of. Barnum’s characters does dishonest things to achieve his dreams, he was known as a purveyor of hoaxes and a deceiver and an exploiter of people with unique oddities—some of which was portrayed honestly in the film. There is a scene where Barnum is tempted by another woman. Women are showed with revealing clothes; cleavage is shown and male is shirtless. There is also violence shown—from slapping a child—to an all out fistfight among men. Hatred of people who look different was a consistent tagline of the film—from a woman with facial hair to people with different skin color. This behavior is not condoned. Drinking is shown with enthusiasm as an indulgence and a coping mechanism.
Now for the biblical aspects, the film doesn’t address God directly, but there are some truths that can be derived. The hatred of people who look different is easily remedied by a Christian worldview; there is but one race—the human race—which was created by the One True God.
P.T. Barnum’s life was not an easy one, but he persevered to his great worldly success. As Christians, we too are not guaranteed an easy life, in fact, the Bible says explicitly that we will suffer for our faith.
Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name. For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? —1 Peter 4:15-17
Our suffering will not bring us worldly success or fortune, but everlasting life through Christ Jesus! Triumph over adversity and the value of helping make other people’s lives happier and more bearable, when we can, are lessons that can be taken from this film.
As for my recommendation, with the knowledge and discernment of what to expect, I would recommend it. Overall, the acting and cinematography is light-hearted and fun. We left the theater wanting to listen to the soundtrack and ultimately wanting to see it again.
- Violence: Moderate
- Profane language: Mild—“God no,” “Oh God” (2), “d*mn” (in song lyrics)
- Vulgar/Crude language: Minor
- Nudity: Mild
- Sex: Mild— • marital kisses • slightly suggestive lyrics in a song (“I want you… you want me”) • unmarried couple kisses (2 scenes) • female acts seductively toward P.T. Barnum and he rejects her advances • same female publicly surprises him with an unwanted kiss on stage
See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.
Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
The costumes are amazing, every frame is bright, beautiful, and full of color, and the soundtrack is so catchy I’ve listened to it 60 times since I left the theater, drove home, and ordered the digital download. It’s one of the most fun musicals I’ve EVER seen, and a perfect love letter to the arts.
Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
The main review does a good job of describing the movie, but I felt compelled to add a review, because, although I am not one for musicals, of the few I’ve seen, two of them starred Hugh Jackman, “Les Miserables” and “The Greatest Showman.” The only reason I even decided to give this movie a try was because of how good “Les Miserables” was, considering it was a musical. I am very close to saying that this movie was even better!
I know, as Christians, the Bible tells us that we are not to love the world or anything in the world (1 John 2:15), but that’s not what I saw in this movie from Hugh Jackman’s character, P.T. Barnum. What I saw was a man who loved life and had an imagination like not many others have and who was willing to take risks that not many others are willing to take; to “Dream the Impossible Dream!” One very powerful scene in the beginning was when Hugh Jackman looked out of his office window where he worked a “regular job” and saw the people in the office building across the street working away and behind the building where they worked, a cemetery! A picture perhaps of the lives that many people lead; an uninspired, purposeless existence that eventually simply ends without having made any difference in the world.See all »
Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
“The Greatest Showman” IS a gospel story. You can choose to look at it through the lens of “the nefarious progressive movement” and I can see that—the devil is at work in Hollywood, no doubt. But I choose to see the Gospel, and it is no more obvious than in its song list:
The Greatest Show
A Million Dreams
Come Alive
The Other Side
Never Enough
This is Me
Rewrite the Stars
Tightrope
From Now On
The first few songs I see through our strictly selfish human eyes—I, ME, in the spotlight for I am the Greatest Show, and the worldly Dreams I have are all I’m focused on; the fleshly part of me Comes Alive and I’m willing to even dive into the Other Side to reach them.See all »
Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 5
Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 4½
Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 4½
However, there are some bad apples that have been added to this barrel. In the opening song, Barnum’s show is referred to as “everything you ever want, everything you ever need,” which essentially elevates the circus in place of God. That song even uses a metaphor of religious devotion to explain the feeling of attending the show.
The other thing that bothered me was the presentation of the “freaks” vs. average people, with the latter being almost universally “narrow-minded,” unfeeling, racist, and attired in drab clothing to match their attitudes, (“like a zombie in a maze/You’re asleep inside”). Normality is portrayed as boring and meaningless. Of course, the circus folk are a riot of colorful clothing and virtue—self-sacrifice, bravery, love, laughter. They have embraced the lyrics of Barnum’s childhood tune (“we can live in a world that we design”) and added their own (“I make no apologies/This is me”) as they step out from the recesses of society onto the stage.
With the gender confusion and other lauded sins of radical self-expression in our culture, it’s easy to see how this is essentially a bait-and-switch to get audiences to accept a poisonous, anti-Biblical idea about individuals and a redefinition of tolerance. Caught up in the narrative, we cheer for the interracial romance, the neglected and spit-upon coming into their own…but I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were being asked to mindlessly agree that genetic defects or skin color are identical to gender identity or sexual orientation. A defiant song by the Bearded Lady sums it up, “I know that there’s a place for us/For we are glorious.” For all intents and purposes, this could be Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way.” And it’s all wrapped up in a beautiful, semi-historical, PG-rated package, with just enough sparkle to make you think it’s okay.Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 4
The musical pieces at first grab you emotionally, but halfway through the movie, become redundant. Yes, it is entertaining, for a one-time viewing. There is no profanity, nudity, or sex scenes. Some sensuality does occur a few times. There’s a ton of hubris.
Moral rating: Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 4½
The music was beautifully done and advanced the story, but, as a Christian, I wouldn’t make some of the lyrics my theme song, as they speak to giving in to desires that aren’t exactly Biblical.
Lyrics from “The Greatest Show”:
It’s only this moment, don’t care what comes after
It’s blinding outside and I think that you know
Just surrender “cause you’re calling and you wanna go
Where it’s covered in all the colored lights
Where the runaways are running the night
Impossible comes true, intoxicating you
It’s everything you ever want
It’s everything you ever need…
Lyrics from “This Is Me”:
I am who I’m meant to be, this is me
Look out 'cause here I come
And I’m marching on to the beat I drum
I’m not scared to be seen
I make no apologies, this is me…
During the film, there were moments where I felt a bit uncomfortable. While I cheered the husband/wife faithfulness and family aspect of the story, I cringed with the cleavage-baring in some scenes (which seemed very in-your-face to me), and the very sensual acrobatic duet where two characters sing about how much they want each other (the girl’s performance on the ropes is mildly reminiscent of a pole dance). I felt like I was at the circus watching the usual scantily clad girl performing tricks—everyone claps and marvels at her feats while pretending not to notice the sensual aspect. I was glad I had not insisted that my boys come.
I tried to view the diversity of the circus performers in the positive light of every Christian review I’d read, but I still couldn’t shake the feeling that something weightier was being leveled on us. I felt exactly what Christina B. wrote in her review, “I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were being asked to mindlessly agree that genetic defects or skin color are identical to gender identity or sexual orientation.” My husband was very bothered by that feeling and told me he would have left if he had not been in the middle of the row.
Perhaps we are overly sensitive. I came home and looked at tons of reviews to see that Christians are giving this movie rave reviews. This is the only site where I’ve seen a couple of reviewers mentioning the same things that bothered us.
Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 4
The positive aspects include love between PT Barnum and his wife surviving against such things as hard financial times, parental disowning, being separated by long distances (travel as part of his job), and also an extramarital temptation (which he resists). In addition, there is loyalty shown between PT Barnum and his associate.
The negative aspects are so weighty that I would not want to watch this film a second time. I could understand why the theater hardly had any viewers.
The biggest disappointment with the film was that the costumes and music were no where near what you would expect to see from people living in the late 1800’s. The musical numbers and dancing were very “Hollywood” like, with lots of typical modern dance moves and scantily dressed actresses. I could not understand having costumes that included a man with horns on his head and sequined outfits that barely covered people’s bums. The cleavage was over the top with the bearded actress.
What bothered me the most is that this movie could have been exceptional, had it not been a musical (a far cry from good musicals like “The Sound of Music”) and had it not thrown in such modern sensualism. I also did not like the fact that the movie made Jenny Lind out to be a seductress, when I could not find any evidence for that, and to the contrary—she was a gifted singer who donated her earnings to charity and ended the tour only because she felt used financially by Barnum. Lind was a remarkable woman, and it is a crime that this movie tried to sully her name.
Although there were some amusing parts to this movie, as well as some other valuable scenes, for the most part it was a disappointment, and my daughter and I were both happy when the movie ended and we could leave.
Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 2
The costumes and dancing were often very sexualized at times, and there was also violence and drinking (as a way to cope with disappointment and stress). I feel that this sends a wrong and dangerous message to kids. Another thing that struck me as being odd and out of place was the type of dancing they did for this time period… which was very modern hip-hop.
I really wanted to love this movie… and I did at first. It would have been an excellent film if the things that I mentioned would have been left out of it. This is just a reminder of how Satan takes something that is good and then twists it.
Moral rating: Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 4½
Overall, I would not recommend this, even with a streaming service meant to filter, it’s still inappropriate and not for children that it’s geared towards.
Moral rating: Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 5
Moral rating: Good / Moviemaking quality: 5
PLEASE share your observations and insights to be posted here.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Better than Average / Moviemaking quality: 5