By Erin Lynch ’18

I walked into the theater to see the Greatest Showman knowing nothing, other than the fact that it starred two of my childhood heroes, Zendaya and Zac Efron.

Thirty minutes had passed, and there was no sign of Zac Efron. I started to wonder if I was attending the wrong movie; it would have been a wonderful mistake.

The Greatest Showman stars Hugh Jackman who plays P.T. Barnum, founder of Barnum & Bailey Circus, and is essentially an account of how he achieved his success portrayed through what is essentially a musical.

If you’re nitpicky, there are flaws. It is predictable and yes, they are lip syncing, but that is far from the point. The movie has an underlying message that is extremely powerful. It takes on the daunting task of convincing people to be proud of being different.

There is a good deal of conflict in the movie. P.T. Barnum struggles to realize that material wealth is not everything. Zac Efron’s character (yes he did finally appear), Philip Bailey, has a hard time coming to terms with the fact that people’s perception of him does not actually matter, and family tensions that are sure to make you cry. There is an aspect of this movie that everyone can relate to and connect with, and that was one of the major selling points for me. It was emotional.

The other selling point had to be the music. The “anthem” of the movie, “This is Me,” is sung by a member of the oddities, Lettie, who is a bearded woman with an amazing voice. The song left me feeling empowered. With lyrics such as “I am brave, I am bruised/I am who I’m meant to be/ this is me,” it conveyed the idea that everyone is different and that is okay. And trust me, this song is far from the only hit.

I laughed and I cried (seven times to be exact), but the best part was I walked out in a much better mood than I arrived. I added four of the songs from the movie onto my playlist and went back to see the movie for not only a second, but a third time.

I could not recommend this movie more. The soundtrack is amazing, the cast is incredibly talented and the costumes and special effects are sure to nominated for Oscars. It truly is the greatest show.