Greatest Showman

I didn’t want to leave. The first time I saw this movie, in the theater, I wanted to stay and watch it a second time. I needed to soak it in a bit more. The story, the themes, the lessons, the music all spoke to me. Last night, I just watched this movie for the second time. This time was at home. The entire family watched it again too. It captured me just as it did the first time. Why?

The music is incredible. The songs tell the story and the actors convey the message so well. The choreography is excellent. My favorite scene is in the bar with Hugh Jackman and Zach Ephron. I love how every clink of the class or stomp of their feet tied in with the rhythm. Incredible. The story is captivating too. Rags to riches to rags to understanding what’s important. It’s about family – biological and the one you create with friends. It’s about acceptance. It’s about dreaming and teaching our kids to dream.

After the show, my son showed me a video called Honest Trailers. It’s a funny movie trailer for popular movies. The trailer makes it very clear this is a fictional story. PT Barnum wasn’t as cute as Hugh Jackman nor as nice as he was portrayed in the movie. I will read a biography on PT one of these days. For now, I like the fictionalized PT. It’s not a documentary so it’s OK they took liberty (a lot) to make him likeable.

If you haven’t seen this movie, of course I recommend it. While you are watching, find the themes that pull on your heart. After the movie, reflect on why. The scene where he allows both of his daughters to dream on their rooftop caught me this time. It was the fact that he let them have their own dreams. One daughter dreamed a big, seemingly unattainable dream. The other, a practical one – ballet slippers. He receives them both even though he has a momentary hesitation on the ballet slippers.  He wanted her to dream bigger. Oh, how I want my kids to dream bigger. Whatever their dreams, I want to support and encourage them. I don’t want to hesitate as PT did. Yet, I understand his hesitation. Dream bigger kids. Dream bigger friends.

Dream Big! Pray Big!