History YMMV / TheGreatestShowman

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: The people in the circus are sidelined a lot with the focus falling on Barnum and Carlyle. Ironic considering how Barnum is praised in the film for celebrating them.

* BighLippedAlligatorMoment: P.T. rescuing Carlyle from the burning circus. Having P.T. perform an amazing act of heroism right in the middle of his "downfall" arc is incredibly bizarre, especially since there are a number of other characters who could have saved him from the fire for purposes of plot. No one ever brings up the event later or even gives him due credit for it, bringing this into full BLAM territory.

* OneSceneWonder: The bartender with the large 1880's baseball mustache while Barnum tries to convince Carlyle into joining the circus as they sing "The Other Side" doesn't say a single word -- and still manages to nearly steal the scene.

* {{Tearjerker}}: Jenny Lind's [[https://youtu.be/515CCwsds14 reprise]] of "Never Enough".

* OneSceneWonder: The bartender with the large 1880's baseball mustache while Barnum tries to convince Carlyle into joining the circus doesn't say a single word -- and still manages to nearly steal the scene.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: The bartender with the large 1880's baseball mustache while Barnum tries to convince Carlyle into joining the circus doesn't say a single word -- and still manages to nearly steal the scene.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical: Barnum called himself "only ever a showman" and knew from the get-go that he was peddling hoaxes and sideshow attractions, complete with mistreatment of animals, for entertainment's sake. This movie paints his creation of the world-famous circus as gathering a RagtagBunchOfMisfits to give them a place where they can be themselves while showing the public at large that they are just as worthy of respect as anyone "normal."

* ActorAllusion: This isn't the first time Jackman has played a [[Film/ThePrestige showman]] known for wowing people with things they'd never seen before, [[Theater/TheBoyFromOz and singing while he does it]].

* FollowTheLeader: The second musical extravaganza about P.T. Barnum's circus ambitions, following the Broadway hit ''Barnum''.
* InMemoriam: The film is an accidental epitaph in a meta-sense, since the real Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus was shuttered during production.
* RealLifeRelative: Jackman's wife and four daughters appear in the stands during the circus.

* EarWorm: "The Greatest Show"
-->It's everything you ever want\\

-->Look out 'cause here I come\\

** "This Is ME"

* RealLifeRelative: Jackman's wife and four girls appear in the stands during the circus.

* RealLifeRelatives: Jackman's wife and four girls appear in the stands during the circus.

* FairForItsDay: Barnum lived during the 19th century, when women were still expected to be silent and you were shit out of luck if you weren't a [[WhiteAngloSaxonProtestant WASP]], so to advertise and feature people of different skin colors, nationalities, and backgrounds was anathema to the general public of the time, even though today it's commonplace and even expected. (Averted, though, with Tom Thumb, who was already a celebrity when Barnum hired him -- and in RealLife Thumb saved the show from bankruptcy.)

* FairForItsDay: Barnum lived during the 19th century, when women were still expected to be silent and you were shit out of luck if you weren't a [[WhiteAngloSaxonProtestant WASP]], so to advertise and feature people of different skin colors, nationalities, and backgrounds was anathema to the general public of the time, even though today it's commonplace and even expected.

* ActorAllusion: This isn't the first time Jackman has played a [[Film/ThePrestige showman]] known for wowing people with things they'd never seen before.

-->It's everything you ever want//
It's everything you ever need//
And it's here right in front of you//
This is where you wanna be//

* FairForItsDay: Barnum lived during the 19th century, when women were still expected to be silent and you were shit out of luck if you weren't a [[WhiteAngloSaxonProtestant WASP]], so to advertise and feature people of different skin colors, nationalities, and backgrounds was anathema to the general public of the time, even though today it's commonplace and even expected.