# The Greatest Showman (spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 1, 2018, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-showman-spoilers/805712 "2018-01-01T22:22:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2018, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-showman-spoilers/805712/1 "2018-01-01T22:22:19Z")
I have seen this movie and was wondering what everyone thinks. Actually, I’ve seen it twice, and already prepurchased the Blu Ray. I thought it was pretty awesome. I would say, not as good as Moulin Rouge, but good. Someone must like it, because the soundtrack CD is sold out everywhere we look. As a historical biopic, the film is useless. But that’s not the point. Of all movies of this ilk, I can say the deviations from reality in this one don’t bother me in the slightest. It’s not like _Saving Mr. Banks_, where a movie about Disney-fying Mary Poppins ends up Disney-fying both PL Travers AND Walt Disney. A movie about a self-described humbug, a purveyor of the false and the tall tales that actually stuck to the truth would in some ways be wrong. But it’s not a biopic, it’s a fantasy musical. And the opening sequence is awesome. As is the flying pas de deus between Zac Efron and Zendaya. And I love the cg animals, the perfect lions, the 150% larger than life elephants. I don’t think the film is flawless, though. A sequence where Barnum ignores his “freaks” at a public event seemed out of place, not because it was a downer, but because it didn’t fit the story, and was never further explored. It’s like a survivor from an earlier, grittier draft of the story. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-showman-spoilers/805712/2 "2018-01-03T20:18:11Z")
I saw this movie a couple of weeks ago with some friends and we all enjoyed it. It definitely has its flaws, some of them IMHO major ones, but if you enjoy big old-fashioned musicals then I think it delivers. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2018, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-showman-spoilers/805712/3 "2018-01-03T20:38:08Z")
Wonderfully entertaining. Just about every biographical detail is false, and several characters are completely fictitious, but I think P.T. himself never let facts get in the way. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-showman-spoilers/805712/4 "2018-01-04T00:26:57Z")
I wanted to like it a lot more than I did. I thought the opening number was wonderful and then it lost a bit of steam in the middle. (I just did not enjoy Zendaya. It felt like the filmmakers were trying so hard to push her as the hottest new thing around that everyone must adore regardless of any actual talent.) I’ll admit though that the music from it has been stuck in my head since I saw the film 2 weeks ago. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-showman-spoilers/805712/5 "2018-01-04T00:58:54Z")
She is somebody? I thought they just found a pretty, light skinned Black actress for the love interest. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-showman-spoilers/805712/6 "2018-01-04T03:20:10Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > She is somebody? > > I thought they just found a pretty, light skinned Black actress for the love interest. I’m unhip and had not previously heard of her, but the movie came up on the Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast a while back (before I saw it) and someone mentioned that Zendaya played an acrobat in such a way that I gathered she was some sort of celebrity. I assumed she was a pop singer looking to break into acting, but [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zendaya) tells me she does have previous acting experience and was in the most recent Spider-Man movie. Anyway, I thought she was pretty good in _The Greatest Showman_. Like the other circus performer characters she hardly had any lines (one of my big criticisms of the movie), but she managed to convey a lot of emotion non-verbally. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-showman-spoilers/805712/7 "2018-01-04T15:22:24Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Wonderfully entertaining. > Just about every biographical detail is false, and several characters are completely fictitious, but I think P.T. himself never let facts get in the way. I liked the throwaway line from Barnum’s daughter that he should get something “living” for his museum. Like a mermaid. Which, in real life, [he did](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiji_mermaid). It, of course, wasn’t living, but that’s just details… ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-showman-spoilers/805712/8 "2018-01-04T17:27:27Z")
They had Chang and Eng, what are worth a film on their own, but they had no lines. They had Frank Lentini (despite his being born twenty years after the setting of the film) but again he had no lines. They had the albino Martin sisters but used them as background dancers. I’m not complaining because I loved the film but I think they spent too much time on the (entirely fictional) love story and no time at all on empowering and personalizing the “oddities.” ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2018, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-showman-spoilers/805712/9 "2018-01-04T19:47:18Z")
Yeah, if you wanted to look at this movie like, what did they get _wrong_ about Barnum’s life and times, I think it’d be a pretty long freaking list. LOL. He had four daughters, not two… and I do think maybe one of the younger ones was some sort of low-level ballet dancer, professionally? And one of the other younger ones had some sort of illness and died young. But man, I really liked the movie. The music was great, and Jackman was fantastic in the role. Like he was born to play it. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-showman-spoilers/805712/10 "2018-01-05T04:23:24Z")
Saw it again tonight. Getting bigger crowds, and the box office is now over $100M. Still awesome. At all three showings we went to, the audience applauded at the end. No one applauded at Star Wars TLJ. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2018, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-showman-spoilers/805712/11 "2018-03-18T17:24:35Z")
Saw it yesterday and immediately bought the soundtrack. My thoughts: Wow. I loved this movie. It blew me away and while there was no standing ovation, it deserved one. Fantastic. Home run. I’m getting this on Blu-ray. They did a great job. I see that “This is Me” was the nominated Oscar song. Wrong song. There were a couple other better songs in the musical. Still, whatevs. This whole movie should have received a Best Picture nomination, maybe even a win. It was better than the 9 nominated movies, at least the few I’ve seen. Great, great movie. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2018, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-showman-spoilers/805712/12 "2018-03-20T00:37:57Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I see that “This is Me” was the nominated Oscar song. Wrong song. I gotta disagree. I had \*goosebumps \*during that entire song. The movie in general was okay, not great, not bad, but that song…wow. What a perfect anthem for everybody who feels they don’t belong, don’t deserve to take up space in the world for whatever reason. I was sorry it didn’t win the Oscar (though to be fair, the one from “Coco” was excellent as well). ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2018, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-showman-spoilers/805712/13 "2018-03-20T00:42:33Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > I gotta disagree. I had \*goosebumps \*during that entire song. The movie in general was okay, not great, not bad, but that song…wow. What a perfect anthem for everybody who feels they don’t belong, don’t deserve to take up space in the world for whatever reason. I was sorry it didn’t win the Oscar (though to be fair, the one from “Coco” was excellent as well). Well, I do think it should have won because it is pretty good, but I would have nominated: [A Million Dreams](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSQk-4fddDI) or [The Greatest Show](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyVYXRD1Ans) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2018, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-showman-spoilers/805712/14 "2018-03-20T01:39:27Z")
I liked the movie a lot. Much of that was because I love musicals, and they did a great job here.\* It was designed as pure entertainment and complaining that it’s not historically accurate misses the point.\*\* It’s a fairy tale with larger-than-life characters, like many musicals. Definitely old fashioned, but there’s nothing wrong with that, and certainly a crowd pleaser. \*I’d like to catch _Barnum_ some time, too. \*\*They’re the type of people who would complain about the casting of Hamilton. And if they’re willing to accept that, there’s no reason to accept this. ---
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2018, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-showman-spoilers/805712/15 "2018-03-20T01:46:24Z")
I loved the film for what it was. Not a biopic, but a fabulous melodrama that Barnum would have totally produced about himself. The music was… Disney-like to my ear. Perfect for the show and genuinely good. But it sounded a lot like Disney. So when we’re driving home, I’m humming what I think is maybe “This is Me”, but after a while, I realize I’m locked on to the main song in Moana. :smack: I’ve seen it a few times recently with the grandduck. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2018, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-showman-spoilers/805712/16 "2018-03-20T03:05:05Z")
I just want to add that I have seen it a second time and I \*\*really \*\*enjoyed it much more than the first time! ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2018, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-showman-spoilers/805712/17 "2018-03-20T04:12:16Z")
I mentioned this in another thread, but it’s very exciting for me so I’ll mention it here, too: the girl who sings “Never Enough” in the movie (that the actress playing that character lip-synced over) also sang a song I wrote. It’s called “Returning the Favor”, and you can hear it on iTunes [here](https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/so-much-more-the-songs-of-brandon-sturiale/1158635242). If you’re so inclined, consider downloading it; that $0.99 will go toward my dog’s recent [emergency surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=851209). :smack:⭕( ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-showman-spoilers/805712/18 "2018-04-02T19:31:29Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > I just want to add that I have seen it a second time and I \*\*really \*\*enjoyed it much more than the first time! Me too and my opinion shifted. It’s not just amazing, it’s one of the greatest movie musicals of all time and is probably the best 2017 movie I’ve seen. This was clearly the real Best Picture for the Oscars in my opinion. How did this not win Best Picture? It’s beyond amazing. My kids love it, too. > [@RealityChuck](#): > > \*I’d like to catch _Barnum_ some time, too. Is that another movie or do you mean the circus? I thought the circus shut down last year. ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-showman-spoilers/805712/19 "2018-04-02T19:58:11Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Is that another movie or do you mean the circus? I thought the circus shut down last year. I believe he’s talking about the stage musical _[Barnum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnum_(musical))_. Not sure if there’s a movie of it, though. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2018, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-showman-spoilers/805712/20 "2018-04-02T20:22:44Z")
> [@DooWahDiddy](#): > > I believe he’s talking about the stage musical _[Barnum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnum_(musical))_. Not sure if there’s a movie of it, though. Cool, didn’t know about the musical. This would be _very_ hard to beat, though. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-showman-spoilers/805712.md?page=2)