Movie review
December 20, 2017 · 105 min · PG
Woke Score
Lower is better
Review
The Greatest Showman is a 2017 musical loosely based on P.T. Barnum's rise from poverty to founding his famous circus, centering on his ambition, family struggles, and creation of a spectacle featuring human "oddities" and outcasts. It prioritizes themes of chasing dreams while ultimately valuing family and loyalty. The film features prominent identity-driven elements through its core troupe of racially and physically diverse performers who deliver rousing self-acceptance anthems, a visible interracial romance subplot highlighting societal prejudice, and repeated framing of differences as sources of pride and community belonging in a period setting.
Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for The Greatest Showman.
Woke representation / casting
Casting places Zendaya's African-American trapeze artist in a central interracial romance and assembles a visibly diverse racial and physical "freak" ensemble as the emotional core; premise involves outcasts so it fits the world, yet the prominent empowerment framing and casting choices create clear audience-visible identity signaling.
Woke political dialogue
Songs and key scenes deliver direct, recurring messaging about self-acceptance, defying societal norms, and celebrating uniqueness over elite judgment, with "This Is Me" and "Rewrite the Stars" functioning as ideological anthems.
Identity-driven story themes
The entire plot engine and character arcs revolve around marginalized performers gaining pride, belonging, and community through the circus; embracing physical, racial, and social differences is the central thematic driver and resolution point.
Western institutional / cultural critique
Mild pushback against high-society snobbery and critics dismissing the show as lowbrow; resolution affirms family, individual ambition, and entrepreneurial success without modern systemic, anti-capitalist, patriarchal, or whiteness critiques.
Woke character or canon changes
Heavily fictionalized historical Barnum is reframed as an empowering champion of the marginalized rather than documented exploiter and con-man; changes directly support the inclusive narrative.
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Critics and some viewers noted anachronistic modern identity-politics projection and preachy diversity anthems; limited online labeling as woke rewriting exists but remains fringe and overshadowed by historical-accuracy complaints with no major backlash wave.
Creator track record context
Co-writer Bill Condon's history with queer-themed and identity-inclusive projects (Gods and Monsters, Beauty and the Beast gay element) provides supporting context for the inclusion emphasis; director has none.
Production
