Recently, I had the opportunity to watch The Greatest Showman which is a heavily fictionalized film based on the life of PT Barnum of Barnum and Bailey Circus. While I had not seen the film since it had been released in 2017, the soundtrack for the movie had been played in our house and car many times over the years. Aside from producing some Grade-A sing-a-long songs, The Greatest Showman shows the excellence and dangers of masculine accomplishments.
In the film, Barnum was a boy who came from nothing. He found himself as an orphan on the street, and identified himself with some of the misfits of society who showed him kindness. Barnum loved a girl named Charity from higher society, but was looked down upon by her father, thinking he would never amount to anything. This fuels Barnum to work hard to make a living for himself, even if it is meager. Charity falls in love with Barnum, marries him, and joins him in his lower class life. She assures him that she does not need the comforts of high society, she just needs him.
Then they have two girls, and even though the family is happy, Barnum hears his girls dreams, and is driven to work harder to provide enough money to make their dreams come true. This inspires him to take a risk with his gifts and talents and open up a show which is eventually renamed the circus. When the circus comes alive, it becomes a success, and Barnum has enough money to provide for his girl’s dreams and enter into high society.
In these two instances, we see the excellence of masculinity. Barnum is inspired by women (his girlfriend, then wife, then kids) to provide for them. He uses his talents and masculine genius to create something he loves that also is in support of his family. And he does it all with his family sharing the dream. His sacrificial love elevates his family to realizing their dreams while he accomplishes his own.
But then Barnum falls into the trap of masculinity which is to use your gifts and talents for personal gain at the expense of others. Enthralled with his accomplishments, but still put out because higher society looks down upon the way he makes his money, Barnum grasps after their approval. He leaves the circus behind and attempts to create an opera show that higher society would appreciate. He risks it all: his money, home, circus, and even marriage on the show’s success. And he makes this decision alone. His selfish ambition drives him to take selfish risks.
In the end, it all fails. The opera singer leaves the tour early, the circus burns down, his house is seized by the bank, and his family leaves him. Barnum hits his all time low. While he had great intentions to begin with, his selfish pursuit of higher society’s approval tainted all of the good works he did. All of his masculine creativity turned from service to others (the misfits of the circus, his wife, and his girls) to use of others for personal gain.
Here is where the truth of masculinity is revealed. The masculine genius is having the ability to dream, create, and build at the service of others and having the uncompromising stamina to accomplish even in the face of adversity. Yet, the service of others can become the use of others very quickly if a man shifts his motives for selfish gains. This causes his creative powers to be destructive not only to others, but to himself as well. This is the truth that Jesus taught us long ago in His words and His death on the cross. And this is why marital success is predicated on the man giving up himself for his wife and family (a wife is to be self sacrificial as well, but that is another article).
In the end, Barnum learns his lesson, gets his family back, and is able to rebuild the circus. He realizes that His ‘greatest show’ has always been right in front of him in His family and his circus. He puts his worth in providing for them, rather than chasing after the opinions of others. And that is where true masculinity is achieved, sacrificing for others, rather than building monuments to oneself.
