If you have not seen The Greatest Showman yet, it is a fun movie. It may not be “everything you ever want” and “everything you ever need” (in the lyrics of the title song), but it has plenty of elements that make a movie entertaining. The story is compelling, the characters and performances are solid, the moral messages (diversity, humility, social mobility, and belonging) are welcome, and the film is a sensuous treat of sight, sound, and entertainment.
Here is a movie trailer:
Yet this movie leaves out some of the darker elements of the life of P.T. Barnum, upon whose story it was loosely based. A “feel good” movie cannot go too deep. The moviemakers kept it positive while also probing some very difficult issues. One can’t really fault them too much. But if this is how P.T. Barnum is remembered, there should be an *asterisk that it is very loosely based upon his life.
Here are some other things about the real life character that you might not know.
1.
Despite becoming vocal in his opposition to slavery, P.T. Barnum kept a slave. She was an elderly African American woman named Joice Heth. She was blind and nearly paralyzed when Barnum began to exhibit her in 1835 as one of his earliest ‘curiosities.’ She claimed to be 161 years old and the former nurse of America’s first president, George Washington. On tour, she told the audiences her stories about taking care of Little George.
Slavery was illegal in New York by then, but there was a loophole. Barnum was able to rent Joice Heth from her master in another state for $1,000 per year.
When she died the next year, Barnum hosted a live autopsy of Joice Heth and sold tickets to the public for 50 cents apiece. The doctors who autopsied her concluded she probably was 79-80 years old. So of course, she could not have been the wet nurse of an infant George Washington (who was born in 1732).
To be fair, Barnum’s opposition to slavery became more vehement later in his life, so he may not have been contradictory in his views during the time he kept Joice Heth. He may have learned from his mistakes later on. Nevertheless, there is no doubt he exploited her. While the Greatest Showman movie does a great job showing the cast of unusual characters that Barnum promoted, it never mentions that Joice Heth, a slave, was his first such ‘curiosity.’
2.
For most of Barnum’s career as a showman, he had a variety troupe and museum. The Greatest Showman movie suggests that he applied the name “circus” early on. However, he was 60 years old before he officially had a circus. It was called everything from a traveling world’s fair to the greatest show on earth.
Courtesy of Ringling Bros, Barnum & Bailey.
He is best remembered for the Barnum & Bailey Circus, and certainly there were major elements of it present in his earlier shows. But it was only late in his life that he officially owned and promoted this circus. At that point, the circus show included the emblematic acrobats and exotic animals like elephants. The Philip Carlyle character in the movie is fictional, since Barnum only entered into the circus partnership late in his life.
3.
Barnum became mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut and was politically active. As mayor, he helped improve the water system, brought in gas lighting, and did other things to improve the city. Amongst other pursuits, he designed the cemetery where he later was buried.
The Greatest Showman movie has him based in New York City, where most of the film takes place. However, he was born in Connecticut and returned there. He had several mansions in Bridgeport. In addition to serving as mayor of the city, he served in the state legislature. Barnum once ran for a seat in Congress and was defeated by his cousin (also a Barnum).
4.
Barnum promoted his own hoaxes (see # 1 above), but debunked other peoples’ hoaxes. One of his first curious characters was the “FeeJee Mermaid” who had the head of a monkey and the tail of a mermaid. He gave his customers entertainment value, but at some point, he also explained the hoaxes publicly.
He had a problem with other hoaxers who did not give the public a good show. For example, there was a photographer named William Mumler who made spirit photographs. In one of them, the ghost of Abraham Lincoln could be seen. In others, there were similar ghostly white characters in the background.
A Mumler spirit photo (fake).
When Mumler was tried for fraud, P.T. Barnum testified against him at trial. Barnum had hired someone to re-create a Mumler-style photograph; they used no actual ghosts and achieved something similar. Mumler prevailed in the trial, but his career was over. People had realized that the images he made were fakes.
5.
Barnum’s tour with opera singer Jenny Lind was a commercial success and helped popularize opera in the United States. In the Greatest Showman movie, we were told that the early end to Lind’s tour was the proximate cause of Barnum’s financial ruin (before he made a comeback later on). In fact, when he brought singer Jenny Lind from Europe to the U.S., booking her tour in dozens of American cities, Barnum made plenty of money. By some estimates, he earned half a million dollars in profit from her tour, which would be equivalent to millions of dollars in today’s terms.
The movie also brought into question whether P.T. Barnum and Jenny Lind had some relationship during the tour, even though he was married. The movie did not take this very far, but its suggestion is there. In real life, according to a story in Vanity Fair, there was no relationship between the two. Lind was not as glamorous as portrayed in the movie. The real Jenny Lind wore white, did not wear a tight corset, and tied up her “mousy brown hair” in a simple hairstyle. She was known to be quite plain-looking (though looks certainly are not everything).
Jenny Lind in the movie and in real life.
That’s not to say that P.T. Barnum or anyone else would not have been attracted to her. Beauty is skin deep and her voice was described as angelic. Both Hans Christian Andersen and Frederic Chopin tried to woo Jenny Lind and she broke some hearts. But Barnum was rude and coarse to her in real life and seemed to care only about the money and fame. Vanity Fair concluded that “where Lind would have found a relationship untoward, Barnum would simply have considered it a distraction…from his entrepreneurial ventures.”
In conclusion, enjoy the movie, but remember that the real life P.T. Barnum deserved some asterisks.
Sources:
http://www.history.com/news/10-things-you-may-not-know-about-p-t-barnum
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P._T._Barnum
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_H._Mumler
http://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/greatest-showman/
https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/12/greatest-showman-hugh-jackman-p-t-barnum-jenny-lind
All images are public domain except for those from the Greatest Showman movie, which are courtesy of 20th Century Fox.
I have to admit when i went into this movie i had no idea who Barnum was when he was alive. I decided to watch it exclusively because of the cast and assumed it would at least be a decent movie with the cast members they had and it was, it was an entertaining movie but as you said, from the beginning it was clear that it was really aimed and directed towards the goal of making the audience feel good instead of telling a full story and this is not the first nor the last time "based on a true story" will be used to lure audiences and then proceed to flat out lie to them through the movie.
After reading through the points you brought up i can't help but be dissapointed that they changed or failed to mention really important things juts to probably cater to the audience or to be as politically correct as possible... with history, especially slavery era, you can't really afford that sometimes. It is still an enjoyable movie i guess.
For me this movie is The Greatest... I like this so much because it's a movie you can take your family to and not to worry about covering their ears or eyes.. The music was so amazing that it felts like im in the play or Broadway musical. This movie has Great music. it also has good actors like Hugh Jackman A.K.A Wolverine. I never know that wolverine can act Good hahaha. Heart felt i fell inlove with the movie. My family will love to watch this one again. WE NEED TO MAKE MORE GREAT MOVIES LIKE THIS ONE FULL OF LEARNINGS!!! This movie will pull on your heart strings make sure to bring tissue..
Thank you for your perspective. Glad you enjoyed the movie (as did I) and also are thinking of the fuller story.
interesting stories can be inspired
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yes
It's also a known fact that PT Barnum did in fact have Wolverine claws and told everyone to F***-off. Oh, wait a minute, I'm getting all my movies confused.
wow the greatest show man its was the best movie i ever seen .. it's really amazing to see so the life of circus people's .. whenever we see any circus and the people on there with big smile never felt how hard they to go to make you smaile and entertain you, This movie is inspired to story that's really amazed me .. really great content @donkeypong
Not much people care about it though. I would love to see how life in circus really is.
This is one of the reasons I don't like movies based on a true story. It's usually so far from the truth that you lose site of what really happened. They are misleading and they sugar coat everything. History is being lost for entertainment. The pursuit of knowledge is no longer a thing. People get hung up on what they want to see or what makes them laugh or feel good they no longer care about what actually happened to people and the awful things they went through
That's always at the back of my head nagging me when I see films "based on a true story". I know many of the viewers are going to leave the theatre believing all the events and characters on the big screen are truthfully re-enacted, and during the exciting scenes I find myself distracted wondering if the events really happened, or if they were invented for the film.
I've seen three of these films so far this year.
The Greatest Showman is a musical, so obviously the events in the film were completely different in real life. For one I sincerely doubt the real P. T. Barnum broke into song ever half hour of his waking life. We also realise that his show must have been nothing at all like the song we see all his employees perform together in the film. There were still a lot of scenes presented in the way they could have happened, but I assumed a large amount of artistic freedom even in those.
I, Tonya is the polar opposite, in that it's filmed like a documentary, including interviews with the characters represented as what they might be like today. Many times during the film I found myself thinking along the lines of "they can't possible have been that stupid". During the end credits though they show some real video clips of the people the characters are based on, and it lent more credibility to the events I had seen. When I got home from the theatre I read an article from Vulture that actually presents the film as surprisingly credible.
Den 12. Mann was the one that seemed the most believable. No particular scene seemed especially exaggerated (except maybe how tough the conditions the protagonist survived were). I've read some newspaper articles though that explain that the hunt for the protagonist never actually happened, because the Germans all the while believed him dead.
I enjoyed all three films greatly, and can recommend all of them, but as with with all films "based on a true story" it's best to assume most of it is fiction.
Great additions to the discussion. You're right; any basis in real life is "loose" at best.
I guess not all movies based on true story is really "based on true story". Movie industry is very playful when it comes to that.
Wouldn't the word "Based" be used subjectively in this case. It doesn't necessarily mean everything in these type movies are true.
Nothing subjective about it.. "based on a true story" means just that - based on the story.
It does not mean, "The faithful re-telling of a true story".
One could argue we lose history because of it, but on the other hand many of our beloved fairy and folk tales (even before they've been Disneyified) are 'based on a true story'.
Dracula and Vlad the Impaler come to mind.
That's what I just said... and it IS totally subjective (based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions), that part being NOT exactly truthful.
this is where i think the description of what the movie is should be better stated. they shouldn't say based on a true story if not all facts are true to their knowledge. they should put inspired by ect. when people see based on a true story they are automatically start thinking ok this is what happened it just says "based" so that the film industry doesn't get sued for making a mistake
Words are definitely misleading or misunderstood. Inspired would be more accurate in this case, huh?
Exactly, you can hardly on to real life event or history, they just edit and twist the real story and misleading us to another path and turn it into fictions. Great stories are are meant to be told exactly the way the stories are and that should be the respect we owe them.
Interesting, I never heard about it before. :D
Thanks for sharing this @donkeypong, I actually watched this movie for the first time yesterday and I have to say, I thought it was great, I went to see it primarily because of the cast behind it (especially Hugh Jackman as he's one of my favourit actors).
It was clear that it was just a "Feel Good" movie, and after reading through your post, I am quite disappointed that so much of the truth was left out. I can't say that I am surprised though; it generally happens in movies.
By the way, @uwelang told me that I should contact you, as you are all or supporting community intiatives to improve Steemit as a whole. I am working on a project on Steemit at the moment called the "Steemit Success Initiative", which has an aim of increasing the growth of Steemit, helping new users grow, increasing the amount of daily active users on Steemit and more.
I do not want to spam your post with an unrelated comment, but if you are interested in helping, can you let me know and we can talk more about the project? I have three posts up so far in relation to it, and I have a presentation ready for anyone who wants to get involved. I met with the blockchain association of Ireland yesterday to enquire about offic space, so I am currently primarily looking for support.
Thanks again for the great post!
I'll take a look at your posts. Voting power is spread thin right now, but I love working with people who have good ideas and energy. Try contacting me on Steemit.chat.
Thank you @donkeypong! And that's great, I will do today - thanks for getting back to me!
@donkeypong I got on to you on Sternly chat just now!
Good luck Luke and sorry @donkeypong - no pressure - thought to point him into your direction as one of the real helpful community guys out there :-).
Thank you again for all of your support @uwelang, it means a lot!
Well, it is not a surprise that the real life activity of an actor may be unknown or different from what he acts. That's why it is an act.
That's true. And a generation will know the movie part of his life, but yes...it was all an act anyway. :)
"Every minute a loch is born" - this rather crude phrase is attributed to Barnum. "The greatest showman" cleverly used the human ignorance, naivety and curiosity, he easily went to forgery and supported the dirtiest interests of the public. To some extent, "Lohs" can now be considered all of us. We bought into colorful posters and a vigorous trailer, but the film was not at all the one that should have been removed about Phineas Barnum. And 140 years after his death, this rascal continues to devastate the pockets of the hunters to the lush show of spectators. Statistics of fees for January are $ 84 million - budget. The fees are $ 291,095,745
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Have you read Robert Greene's The 48 Laws of Power? There's a chapter that talks about Barnum, telling some of the stories of how he attracted attention that led to his success. I was hoping they would include more of these in the movie, because some of them are pretty interesting!
"Barnum would put a band of musicians on a balcony overlooking the street, beneath a huge banner proclaiming FREE MUSIC FOR THE MILLIONS. What generosity, New Yorkers thought, and they flocked to hear the free concerts. But Barnum took pains to hire the worst musicians he could find, and soon after the band struck up, people would hurry to buy tickets into the museum, where they would be out of earshot of the band's noise, and of the booing of the crowd." -- The 48 Laws of Power
He's such an interesting figure in many ways. Yes, a lot of people in business have studied his stories and strategies!
Is this movie still available? Based on your post, Its really compelling and alluring. I got interested on watching this. Anyway though, thanks so much for posting like this. Appreciate it so much!
It's still in some theaters in the US. Probably headed to video soon.
Ahan @donkeypong
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YES, @donkeypong,I have seen the movie,The greatest showman.thank you
This is my first comment on your post @donkeypong, and I was so fortunate, because I love movies somuch, especially movies that have something to do with African heritage and history. What caught my curiosity was the part where you said that P.T. Barnum kept a slave despite the fact that he publicly vocally opposed slavery. As an African, and as a writer, I have done a lot of intense study on the slavery topic, and this is the reason why my appetite wets for this movie.
I have not seen it in the cinemas in my country, but I'll do my best to see if I can get to pay for a copy online. Very lovely story, and I love hugh jackman (wolverine). Thanks for sharing @donkeypong
The slavery aspect does not appear in this movie at all, but aside from some omissions, it's an enjoyable film.
Oh, that's great. I would have to see the movie then. Thanks for sharing.
Actually the greatest showman movie has very beautiful story. I've read your whole post completely @donkeypong. I watched movie trailer and has plenty of elements that make a movie entertainment things. Yeah..It has fun reaction some scenes. But guessing very cool but using high techno systems. It seems movie trailer. Sound would be powerful also. Probably made me lough via movie. You well said totally about the greatest showman title. Thank you for polish my movie knowledge.
This is one reason I don't care for films in light of a genuine story. It's typically so distant from reality that you lose site of what truly happened. They are deluding and they sugar coat everything. History is being lost for excitement. The quest for information is not any more a thing. Individuals get hung up on what they need to see or what influences them to chuckle or feel great they never again think about what really happened to individuals and the terrible things they experienced
This is somewhat typical with movies. In showing one facet, they only get part of it right. I don't think that's a reason to avoid them, but it's important to remember the context and bigger picture also.
Good topic in move and very interesting.It is really good the way you are giving a good message to the world. I love this your Showman moves history.you are doing very perfectly and great. This will help us to make it easier for us to understand move story. Thank you for sharing
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Thanks for the comment. Hopefully I was able to provide a bit more context for the movie.
yah! @donkeypong absolutely i agree with your comment and This movie is inspired to story that's really amazed me..keep it up !! ....thanks
You should take the time to read “The Art of Money Getting” by PT Barnum. Most of his ideas are as relevant as ever today.
It must be an extremely intriguing motion picture. I wish all the genuine characters of P. T Barnum were appeared in the film. I think his character was an affectation. How might he remain against bondage and still have a slave? . Lol. I'll watch it soon.
This reminds me of the difference between the harrypotter book and the movie. Not everything was well represented in the movie, as it was represented in the book. I know. Majority of movie directors do this probably to give more flow to the movie, but in my own opinion, I think movies that have things to do with the history or biography of a person should be illustrated with as much precision as possible, because the generation we live in don't read much, but rather love to watch the movie instead, and would take whatever is said in the movies to be absolute truth.
True. I think the Harry Potter movies did about as well as anyone could have done with that material and came out with largely enjoyable films that made most people feel like the books had been brought to screen effectively. But a good book is never all there on the screen; there's no way.
Fascinating information about Barnum. Never heard about him before. Maybe I should see the movie in the cinema. CU
This movie has been everywhere and i have seen the trailer an all but I haven’t been to a cinema to watch it. I didn’t knew this was based on a true story which makes it more amazing and interesting to watch. Thanks for sharing this post. I’ve got to watch it.waiting for the dvd release.
This is really great history about movies of Real P.T Barnum @donkeypong. Absolutely The Dark side of PT Barnum more shocking than any of his' freak show' attractions. Truths The Greatest Showman conveniently ignores. Barnum was not just a legendary entertainer, he was also a master of promotion and spin. Many of his human and animal stars had lives that were far from wonderful. Your blog is very informative and interesting for steemians. You are a great steemain on this beautiful platform that always impressed the people by their unique and best post. Thanks for the details about history of P.T Barnum movies.
Thanks for a thoughtful comment.
Firstly, I want to state the fact that I am really surprised to know that autopsy was already in existence as at 1835. Also, I believe the story of Joyce heh being a nurse to George Washington was a deception Barnum agreed with her to do. Firstly it gave them financial benefits and endorsement to the crowd, wetting their curiosity as to what this nurse to the great Washington had to offer. Also, Barnum made financial rewards from the autopsy of the lady, knowing fully well that the people would like to confirm if what this lady had said was true. It sure was a profitable adventure for him.
Great post..Loved the information and i have watched the trailer of The greatest showman and i didnot know that it carry story of history thats great..By seeing trailer and reading the story P T Barmun was great man who saved his cicrus by bringing new things in cicrus and making it more popular all over the world..He was a great,talented and person who never gives up...Thanks for sharing this history and i will watch this movie as it comes in download..@donkeypong
The Greatest Showman received mixed reviews,music and production value but criticism for the
artistic license taken eally amazing to see so the life of circus people's .whenever we see any circus and the people on there with big fun never felt how hard they to go to make you fun and entertain you.great sharing .
Barnum is surel not a man with small thinking. He was politically active, built structures, and still was a shipman. It shows me a man with big vision. He might not have achieved them in the best of ways, but he sure was a big thinker.
This is a character I would love to know more about, especially the fact that he disliked when others did things that even he himself was doing. That makes me curious to know more about him. Thank you for sharing this information @donkeypong
I've not seen this movie, @donkeypong, but would like to. Barnum seems like a person who invented himself, persona, and so it is fitting that there would be many versions of this master showman and self-promoter.
Biographies and biographical movies are always interesting for what they include and what they omit. Also, intriguing is when the public decides, or demands, to know more about a cultural figure, and a public hero is toppled because of private shadows.
Of course, we are witnessing much of this revaluation, nowadays, with the #MeToo movement. No longer is the private life of a public figure viewed as separate from their work or art, for example.
It is difficult, for example, to laugh light-heartedly at the jokes of Bill Cosby or Louis C.K. without acknowledging how their sexual misconduct infects their art and smears their legacies.
Furthermore, we are beginning to recognize that the depravity of our cultural heroes affects our core values, too; which is to say, what we're willing to overlook or pardon says a lot about our own priorities, who we are and who we wish to become.
Great reflections. Thank you.
Thanks, for your post which occasioned them :)
Stories have it that, there was no initimate relationship between these two. P.T Barnum rejected her advances. I need to see this movie though.
I love this scene
"don't listen to them, they will never understand you" and he replied "they will"
which means
Wow.. Love this sir @donkeypong 😍
It's a common problem that writers change the story according to their taste. In my opinion it's not a writer fault only to change the story. writer do it by considering audience demand. Audience wants glamour in movies so writer only follow audiences, but true story should be showed be near to reality. Thanks for sharing and keenly reviewed The greatest showman.
Yes, they really cannot put it all in a 90 minute movie and still expect people to watch, so their choices are understandable. We just need to remember their context.
yes it's not possible to put all the stuff in a 90 minutes movie, but some time even writer and director of our territory make unnecessary twist which are even far from reality
It was a very bright movie, I enjoyed it. Even though they took some facts from the film (So there wouldn't be too much drama).
I think it was the right choice, the crypto market was a bit angry these days so we needed something great to watch.
To be honest i don't know who P.T Barnum is, is it that Hugh Jackman play the characters P.T Barnum or what?
Yes, it's Hugh Jackman playing him in the movie. Good performance.
Okay great, i like Hugh Jackman so it's a must watch.
True. Great actor.
It must be a very interesting movie. I wish all the real characters of P. T Barnum were showed in the movie. I think his character was a pretense. How can he stand against slavery and still have a slave? . Lol. I'll watch it soon. Thanks for the info
It is a little disingenuous, but a movie like this will only get part of the story right (even if it's fun to watch).
Yeah.
Did you know that he started a rumor about himself and Joice Heth, saying that he was a fraud and she was a robot, rather than a really old person? It brought more spectators because the people were more curious about a robot automaton than someone claiming to be so old.
For a man who opposed slavery yet kept a slave very ironical, Barnum well life out of the movies is something out of the blues with these you stated abour him, however this trailer is amazing, how do I get to see the movie,?
This has been lots of digging deep. I have never known that Barnum was politically active. Though he wasn't popularly known over here but I have heard a few talks about him. I hope the movie will come out in video soon.
I bet that I would enjoy this movie as it shows what PT Barnum's inner workings as an entertainer who wants to deliver what the people wants just to satiate their curiosities. @donkeypong
i would like to watch the movie
whenever we see any circus and the people on there with big smile never felt how hard they to go to make you smaile and entertain you, This movie is inspired to story that's really amazed me .
Such a good read. I love looking at those old photos. They remind me of how simple and beautiful life is before year 2000 :)
real topic share
We will be taking in this movie when we return to Guam in two weeks. I'm sure it will be worth the price of admission, based upon this post I'll assume.
I haven’t watched this movie till yet but love to watch it after i read your post its look interesting movie....I didn’t know about barnum history but I know much about it..love the trailer,can’t wait to watch “the greatest showman”.
it's an amazing movie i was really touched by this movie specialty of this movie is its based on true story that really amazed me .. this movie show us how the life go on in circus how hard they go throw to make you entertain ,
I'm glad to see post on it @donkeypong great one.
Great post with great information about the Greatest showman.It tell us that he was a great man and c very intelligent too..Loved the pictures of real character
Awesome post..Loved the data and I have viewed the trailer of The best actor and I didnot realize that it convey story of history that is great..By seeing trailer and perusing the story P T Barmun was incredible man who spared his cicrus by acquiring new things cicrus and making it more prevalent everywhere throughout the world..He was a great,talented and individual who never gives up...Thanks for sharing this history and I will watch this film as it comes in download..@donkeypong
Wow nice movie..good history dear and thanks for sharing this history and i will watch this movie as it comes in download.thanks so much for posting i like this. @donkeypong
WoW look great movie I haven’t watch it..but trailer look so amazing.i should watch this movie...after knowing the history of barnum I’m curious to see how hugh jackman play in this movie.
wow the greatest show man its was the best movie i ever seen .. it's really amazing to see so the life of circus people's . Thanks for reminding the great movie @donkeypong
@donkeypong, Absolutely brilliant interesting historical movie introduction indeed. Appreciate your effort to showing greatest showman movie. If this movie on internet pls let me know, then I can gonna watch very earlier. You also every time posted article give up more valuable and satisfaction. Well explained to easier understand us. Thank you for the sharing community.
This is an amazing im just amazed to see real life character and the movie character so amazing collection of pictures and this movie really a epic one which very interesting and amazing every one should watch if haven't been watch ☺ great one @donkeypong
Brilliant post..Loved the movie trailer i didnot knew that it have this great history..It was great seeing those information i have to watch this movie it seems great..The actor who is playing this character is Hugh jackman then the movie must be great he is one of actor who most nice actor that hollywood have ..The character in movie looks great by seeing trailer,it must be funny to watch this movie as it have good history..He has make cicrus in to new level as he showed many thing that world hasn't seen..Thanks for sharing information..@donkeypong
I haven’t watched this movie till yet but love to watch it after i read your post its look interesting movie thanks for sharing us about this great movie sir @donkeypong