| 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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| Previous: | re: The Greatest Showman is in the Top 5 at the box office again - robert_j 10:25 am EST 02/11/18 |
| Next: | 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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