This past weekend, on my flight back from California, I finally got the chance to watch The Greatest Showman. I was expecting a movie that celebrated differences and glorified the circus as one of man’s great endeavors of acceptance. (Which, historically, the circus wasn’t)
Oddly enough, the movie didn’t effectually sell the idea that P.T. Barnum viewed his circus as a celebration of humanity. After his museum full of lifeless, wax figures fails, Phineas Barnum showcases and exaggerates the abnormal to make a pretty penny. It would seem the circus theme only serves as his sensational business venture, not some philanthropic service to the outcasts of society.
In fact, half-way through the movie, I began to wonder why I was even rooting for the flakey and self-serving circus master. At first, he was a poor boy who was rising above his circumstances through his imagination and innovation. Soon, it was apparent that it was all about him. This man had a major chip on his shoulder and an obsession with earning respect and acceptance. Ironic, considering he makes his fortune off of misfits.
The circus stage was not where this flashy musical told any memorable tales.
The movie starts with its greatest show —following the first sequence in the big tent. Phineas is a dreamer. His first dream is Charity. One can’t help but smile as the two grow up writing each other and dreaming of a life together. He awakens her to adventure and wonder; she is the Beatrice to his Dante.
This movie captures the adventure and partnership of marriage. Summing-up the vows of marriage in one line.
“However big however small let me be part of it all share your dreams with me…you may be right you may be wrong but bring me along to the world you see.”
Charity is trustful, supportive and positive. As his museum is failing she is there to buy three tickets — she believes in him. Charity is a rare modern example of a virtuous wife. Although often one of the most contested commands in the Bible, woman are called to be subordinate to their husbands. This is not using the word subordinate in the sense of secondary. In marriage, both spouses are called to live completely for the other. Men are called to lay down their lives in service to their bride, as Christ laid down his life for the church. In turn, wives must treat their husbands with respect and trustful obedience. This respect means that the woman “respects” the man enough to see the greatness in him and call that out by allowing him to lead.
In a world of rebellious “nasty” women, Charity is a stellar example of the beauty of a wife supporting her husband in a self-sacrificial way. She puts herself aside while constantly elevating his gaze to what really matters. There is something magical about the way she plays with her children and seems always at peace even when they are on the brink of disaster. After he loses yet another job, Phineas returns home to lament:
“This isn’t the life I promised you”
“But I have everything I want” She replies with a smile.
“What about the magic?” He asks.
“What do you call those two girls?”
Her answer reveals a mother’s heart. The special heart that relishes in the beauty and wonder of life – sharing that gift with her husband.
Throughout the movie, she gently reflects truth to her husband. When they dance by the couple eating at a fine restaurant she redirects his lingering gaze, when he is struggling with acceptance by high society she asks him why he cares, when he gains acceptance she wisely asks him, “Are you happy now?” Long before he realizes he was “blinded by the lights…and chased their cheers,” she sees that all his endeavors are about proving something to himself. She sees him with his failings and still loves him unconditionally, allowing him the space (the respect) for him to discover this truth in his own time.
As she walks the tightrope of marriage Charity exemplifies the woman described in Proverbs 31:
She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.” Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Women thrive in relationship and true intimacy. They want to be a partner in the great adventure of their husband’s life. On the other hand, men have a need to know they have what it takes. So often, men look outside the home for this approval. The clear message of this story is that a man’s worth, the respect he seeks does not come from “out there” whether that be the circus or the finery, it will never be enough. P.T. Barnum always waits for the applause. After his big circus show, he pauses…then the applause. After Jenny Lind’s performance, he waits…then the applause breaks. He always waits for the applause, because he needs that affirmation after so much rejection. That’s why that critic’s opinion mattered so much.
In the end, in that bar, Phineas realizes from his circus performers that rejection doesn’t matter if you love and are loved. Charity always gave everything for his happiness. She poured herself out for him and he realizes he wants to do the same.
By that same beach where they once met as kids he proves himself a man and she a strong, inspiring woman:
“I brought hardship on you and on our family. You warned me and I wouldn’t listen. I wanted to be more than I was.”
“I never wanted anything more than the man I fell in love with.”
The movie opened with the circus. Amidst the dazzling costumes and fire rings, Phineas sings, “It’s everything you ever want, it’s everything you ever need, and it’s right in front of you…” The next time we hear those words, he is sitting in the audience at his daughters’ ballet recital. It was all right in front of him. In the closing scene, he is the one giving the applause.
Before the credits roll, a quote from the actual P.T. Barnum reads,
“The noblest art is that of making others happy”
Phineas finds his fulfillment in loving his family — making others happy. His worth and everything he ever wanted results from prioritizing his call to be a husband and father.
Maybe after all this movie is a celebration of humanity, a celebration of the most basic cell of humanity — the family.
unqualifiedthoughts.wordpress.com 