The Movie to watch with your child who feels different
I don’t go to the movies that often with my kids, but when I do, I try to pick a movie that will have some great moral values to impart for my kids. I find that after we walk out of the theater, the kids are all excited about the movie and we could just talk for hours about what we saw, why the characters did what they did and of course, what we could learn from them.
I like to make them guess. ‘So what’s the lesson?’ They come up with some pretty good lessons sometimes. For me going to the movies is a great opportunity for teaching values!
Here’s the 5 life lessons I taught my kids when we went to see The Greatest Showman.
1. Create the life of your dreams – (be industrious and think out of the box)
Barnum gets laid off and they’re living a low life that he doesn’t want for himself and his family. He becomes industrious, thinks out of the box to go out and create the life that he wants.
2. Believe in yourself, no matter how different you may seem.
Barnum brings a whole bunch of outcasts together and makes them believe that they can go out there in the spotlight. Each one of them is shy and unsure of himself and has been hiding their entire lives.
The amazing turning point is when Barnum himself shuts them out of the after party with the wealthy and the bearded lady starts to sing ‘This is me’.
Run away they say, no one will love you as you are,
but I won’t let them break me down to dust,
I know that there’s a place for us,
for we are glorious
When the Sharpest words wanna cut me down
I’m gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out
I am brave, I am bruised
I am who I’m meant to be, This Is ME!
Look out ‘cause here I come
And I’m marching on to the beat I drum
I’m not scared to be seen
I make no apologies, This is Me!
Stunning. If you have a kid who’s struggling, being bullied, feeling different than other kids, then this is the movie to bring him to. This is the song to sing with her.
When the Sharpest words wanna cut me down I’m gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out. I am brave, I am bruised I am who I’m meant to be, this is me.
Every person is exactly who they are meant to be, and we just need to be brave enough to stand up and be proud of ourselves and become who we need to become for the world.
3. Do what’s right for you, not what’s easy
Phillip has this test in two different ways in this movie. He has a popular play in the theatre and is well respected when Barnum offers for him to come join him in the circus.
“What - I should just run away and join the circus?” (Great line!) But he doesn’t love his life with the elite, in fact he hates it. He also falls in love with Anne Wheeler, one of the performers in the circus. Problem is she’s a mixed raced woman who is considered low class and that’s not acceptable in his circles.
He needs to decide what he wants, and that might cost him his easy lifestyle.
4. Allow those who love you to stand up for you
Anne Wheeler loves Phillip too, but she won’t allow him to do that to himself, to love a low-class woman. She rejects him on this basis. It takes Phillip running into a burning building to save her, for Anne to truly accept his love.
It shouldn’t take someone risking his life for you to accept the love of those who truly care, no matter what you or anyone else thinks.
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5. Remember what’s truly important in life
Charity Barnum, Barnum’s wife, knows what’s really important in life and she’s not taken in by the glitter of the world. She marries her husband even though that means losing the wealth of her family.
Eventually, later on in the story, when Barnum just about loses everything he holds near and dear, he realizes that she was right from the start and this is where we come to hear my favorite song.
My favorite song, I’m telling you I could play it over a hundred times, ‘From now on’.
For years and years
I chased their cheers
At the crazy speed of always needing more
But when I stop
And see you here
I remember who all this was for
From now on
These eyes will not be blinded by the light
From now on
What’s waited till tomorrow starts tonight
Let this promise in me start
Like an anthem in my heart
From now on, from now on.
And we will come back home….
If you are a parent who is struggling, feeling like you’re so busy with work, the house and all the other things going on in your life and you just need a boost of inspiration, to remember who all this was for, this is the movie you want to see.
I have to tell you, I cried from this song. Sooooo powerful.
Did you see this movie? What lessons did you learn?
What moral values for kids will you be imparting to your family?
