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| re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again | |
| Posted by: robert_j 10:25 am EST 02/11/18 | |
| In reply to: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again - mikem 03:39 pm EST 02/10/18 | |
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| When I saw the movie, my wife and I were sitting next to a group of about a half-dozen teenage girls who were singing along through the whole thing. They knew every word of the score. It was annoying, as you might imagine, but it also strangely enhanced my enjoyment of the film because I could see who the film was connecting with. My teenage self might have liked it too. I think, for me, what I kept coming back to was how shallow and ahistorical the whole thing was. Shows like "Spring Awakening" and "Hamilton" are period pieces with contemporary scores, but the idea is to evoke the same authentic feelings and emotions that people in that time and in that situation would have felt. Probably the closest the movie comes to that is when Jenny Lind gives her first performance because it illustrates what her audience was hearing and what a sensation she caused. My problem with the Greatest Showman is that it presents the circus in general, and P.T. Barnum in particular, as a progressive community that provides a safe space for people and celebrates their differences. But isn't the real legacy of circuses the exploitation of people (and animals) for profit? The fact that the movie does nothing to problematize Barnum feels irresponsible, glorifying a person who does not deserve it. |
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| re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again | |
| Last Edit: WaymanWong 12:34 am EST 02/12/18 | |
| Posted by: WaymanWong 12:26 am EST 02/12/18 | |
| In reply to: re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again - robert_j 10:25 am EST 02/11/18 | |
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| ''Isn't the real legacy of circuses the exploitation of people (and animals) for profit?'' This was one of my biggest problems with ''The Greatest Showman'': presenting Barnum as some progressive hero who championed people's differences and their humanity. In reality, he was a huckster who exploited people with deformities and human oddities. His first big success was Joyce Heth, a paralyzed, old black slave, whom he exhibited as George Washington's 161-year-old childhood nurse. After she died a year later, Barnum sold tickets to Heth's public autopsy. When the overseeing doctor announced Heth's age claim was a fraud, Barnum insisted the autopsy victim wasn't really Heth; he claimed Heth was still alive, on tour in Europe. Barnum later admitted to the hoax. Heth put Barnum on the map, but she is curiously missing from ''The Greatest Showman.'' Gee, I wonder why. Even the 1980 Broadway musical of ''Barnum,'' by Cy Coleman and Michael Stewart, includes her. Look, ''The Greatest Showman'' is a musical, not a documentary, but these lapses whitewash who Barnum really was. ''The Greatest Showman's'' portrayal of Barnum is inconsistent even within its own movie. (Spoilers ahead!) The movie wants you to buy that he was a fearless champion of his ''circus freaks.'' But at the high-society party for Florence Nightingale, Barnum literally slams the door in the face of Lettie, Tom Thumb, the Siamese Twins, etc. He's ashamed to have them mingle together with his tony friends. It's at this point, Lettie and her company lets loose with her defiant (and anachronistic) anthem, ''This Is Me.'' Barnum has cowardly betrayed them, but there is never any ramification or later dramatic payoff. Barnum never tries to explain himself, let alone apologize, to his human oddities. And he's their fearless champion? PUH-leeze! |
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| re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again | |
| Posted by: TheOtherOne 08:35 am EST 02/12/18 | |
| In reply to: re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again - WaymanWong 12:26 am EST 02/12/18 | |
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| Anyone else get a laugh out of the moment when Barnum tells his daughters that they have grown, or that they are getting so big? Something to that effect. It made me laugh because in spite of the fact that the film covers enough time for Barnum to develop his circus, see it become enormously successful, go on tour with Jenny Lind, see his circus burn down and bequeath his legacy to his associate so he could go back to his family, the girls never seem to grow at all. | |
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| More about Barnum, showbiz and the Bard | |
| Last Edit: WaymanWong 11:58 am EST 02/12/18 | |
| Posted by: WaymanWong 11:50 am EST 02/12/18 | |
| In reply to: re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again - TheOtherOne 08:35 am EST 02/12/18 | |
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| The fact that Barnum's 2 girls never age (in real life, he had 4 girls) is just one minor example of the movie's out-of-whack timeline. In real life, Barnum got his first museum at 31, and he didn't go into the circus business until he was 60. As a musical, I far prefer Cy Coleman and Michael Stewart's tuneful ''Barnum,'' which presents a more varied portrait: He also ran a clock company, tried to build a town, and ran for public office (serving 4 terms in the Connecticut legislature and was mayor of Bridgeport, Conn.). Barnum's real life had a lot of theatrical ties. He produced black minstrel shows, as well as a watered-down version on ''Uncle Tom's Cabin,'' with a happy ending where Tom and the other slaves are freed. He started the country's first theatrical matinees to encourage more families to attend. And he presented Shakespearean plays and even tried to buy the English home that the Bard was born in. He wanted to move it and re-erect it in New York. When rumors of his plan became public, it made the locals realize the significance of losing such a landmark and the need to preserve it. Barnum says his plans were thwarted by some ''interfering Englishmen'' who included some guy named ... Charles Dickens. |
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| Could some of this be from Dear Evan Hansen fans? | |
| Last Edit: Ann 12:30 pm EST 02/11/18 | |
| Posted by: Ann 12:27 pm EST 02/11/18 | |
| In reply to: re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again - robert_j 10:25 am EST 02/11/18 | |
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| It's a big crowd, and they put the cast recording at the top of the chart. Apologies if too obvious and already mentioned. |
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| Anecdotally, I belong to a largish Broadway fan group on FB w/a lot pf DEH fans in the mix & they certainly seem to be obsessed with the film | |
| Posted by: Esther 10:02 am EST 02/12/18 | |
| In reply to: Could some of this be from Dear Evan Hansen fans? - Ann 12:27 pm EST 02/11/18 | |
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| and many cop to seeing it multiple times. I work with a 60 year old woman who has seen it 3 times already. She's never seen DEH. |
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