"The Greatest Showman": Run, Don’t Walk, to Rent This Family Movie! by Ann Marie Gardinier Halstead
My kids and I saw "The Greatest Showman," and we enthusiastically recommend it. Inspired by the life and imagination of P.T. Barnum, the original musical is the story of a visionary who rose above his station to create the “greatest show on earth.” I love the movie’s message of inclusion, acceptance, friendship, unconditional love and the American dream.
Barnum features “oddities” in his circus and they come to accept each other and themselves for who they are, gaining confidence, becoming a family and singing about their bravery and originality in the show-stopping number, “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.”
The PG film is indeed a “celebration of humanity.” My boys enjoyed it as much as I did. I asked them what they learned from the story:
- My 8-year-old: “Everyone is their own self. They’re unique. No one is like them. They’re not afraid for people to see them in performances. They’re brave.”
- My 11-year-old: “You weren’t put on the earth to be like other people. Different is good. P.T. Barnum treated everybody like they were like him, equally. People should treat others like they would want to be treated.”
Message received!
This video is longer than 30 seconds, but we think it's worth it.
Photo: Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.
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