History Film / TheGreatestShowman

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** James Bailey. Given how wildly the timeline varies from RealLife, it’s hard to say when Bailey should have appeared (the real Barnum was in his early 70s when partnering with Bailey), but as of the end of the film, the circus has [[spoiler:Jumbo the Elephant, who was acquired by Bailey]]. However, Bailey was married to Ruth [=McCaddon=], so a romance with Anne would have been problematic.

* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: Zig-Zagged. The film leaves out many problematic aspects of the real P.T. Barnum's life, such as his support of minstrel shows and the fact that he began his career as a showman by exploiting a partially paralyzed, blind, elderly slave woman by trying to pass her off as George Washington's former nurse. (To be fair, the film doesn't cover his abolitionism or supporting universal suffrage either.) The movie also downplays nineteenth century racism, with Philip and Anne receiving far less backlash for their interracial relationship than they realistically should have. Conversely, the film actually exaggerates the general population's hostility toward "freaks." For example, some accounts say that people of the time viewed Annie Jones, the real-life bearded lady, merely as a curiosity rather than an appellation, and even said that it didn't compromise her femininity. Charles Stratton was world-famous and well-respected as General Tom Thumb, and his marriage to another little person was front page news.

* TrailersAlwaysLie:
** [[spoiler:Barnum]] is set up as the defender of the "Other" in the trailers, that together they will show the world they are just as worthy of respect as anyone, but they are left to keep the shows going with little to no thanks about halfway through the movie [[spoiler: while Barnum and the more socially acceptable Lind go on a countrywide tour.]]
** Probably the best example is in the extended second trailer, Tom Thumb says "They'll laugh at us", and Barnum says "They'll laugh at us anyway." In the movie proper, he says "They'll laugh at you anyway."
** In the same trailer, Barnum's wife asks him when it'll be enough for him. Barnum says it isn't about him. In the trailer, that line makes it sound like he's talking about standing up for the freaks in his show. In the movie proper, he's talking about his daughters, and [[spoiler:it's clear that he is in denial because it really is about him seeking fame and fortune.]]
** In the first trailer, a quick shot of Barnum alone at a pub after the shot of him being fired implies he will drown his sorrows before starting the job hunt again. In the movie proper, that pub shot is in the last twenty minutes of the movie during Barnum's DarkestHour.

** Jenny Lind is this to P.T. Barnum as well. She's rather cynical and frosty when he first meets her at Queen Victoria's function, but softens as she finds they are NotSoDifferent. [[spoiler:''That'' relationship ends badly.]]

* FirstGirlWins: Charity and Phineas are of the ChildhoodFriendRomance variety. [[spoiler: Jenny Lind thinks because Phineas and herself are NotSoDifferent that she can be a better lover than Charity. Phineas finds himself falling for her, resulting in a NearKiss. He recovers his senses in time to avoid making an irreversible mistake.]]

** Speaking of Tom, in RealLife, he was the one to give Barnum the money to re-build the circus as opposed to Carlyle. Considering this movie is supposed to have a self-acceptance message about accepting people, even those who look different, it's weird that the movie gave something a physically disabled man did and give his part to someone who is definitely not physically disabled, therefore taking their story away from them. In other words, for a movie about how people who look different should be accepted, it literally wouldn't accept that a physically disabled man was able to save the day and gave something he did to help the main character to an able bodied man.

* TradingYourPassionForGlory: This is more-or-less the plot of the second half of the film. After noticing that his daughter is being bullied by her peers in ballet class, he becomes obsessed with being taken seriously by high society, when before he was openly mocking them. [[spoiler: He ends up driving away almost everyone close to him until the last second.]]

* ShipperOnDeck: Lettie can be seen stopping WD with a tap and a "don't even think about it" glare when Carlyle heads out on his make-or-break date with Anne.

* TimeSkip: Occurs throughout the movie. Barnum and Charity are shown as pre-teens and then skip to HappilyMarried grown-ups. Minors ones continuously crop up after this. Barnum even mentions how big his daughters got while he was away on business.

** The first few notes of "This Is Me" bears at least a passing resemblance to the line "There's a place where we don't have to feel unknown," from the song "You Will Be Found" of ''Theatre/DearEvanHansen''.

* CanonForeigner: Most of the cast are made-up for the movie. Barnum, his wife and children, Jenny Lind, Tom Thumb, the bearded-lady ([[AdaptationNameChange albeit with her name altered]]), Jumbo the Elephant, and Queen Victoria are the only {{Historical Domain Character}}s in the film.

* PoliticallyCorrectHistory: Zig-Zagged. The film leaves out many problematic aspects of the real P.T. Barnum's life, such as his support of minstrel shows and the fact that he began his career as a showman by exploiting a partially paralyzed, blind, elderly slave woman by trying to pass her off as George Washington's former nurse. (To be fair, the film doesn't cover his abolitionism or supporting universal suffrage either.) The movie also downplays nineteenth century racism, with Philip and Anne receiving far less backlash for their interracial relationship than they realistically should have. Conversely, the film actually exaggerates the general population's hostility toward "freaks." For example, some accounts say that people of the time viewed Annie Jones, the real life bearded-lady, merely as a curiosity rather than an appellation, and even said that it didn't compromise her femininity. Charles Stratton was world-famous and well-respected as General Tom Thumb, and his marriage to another little person was front page news.

** Phillip claims has has no act, while Anne replies ''everyone'' has an act. [[spoiler:Phillip's act at the end of the film is ringmaster.]]
* TheFreakshow: The performers in Barnum’s showinclude a bearded woman, a 22 year-old dwarf, a VERY tall man, a dancer with tattoos all over his body, the ''original'' Siamese twins, a three-legged man, a dog-faced boy, a 500+ pound man, a strongman, and two African-American acrobats, among others.

* GirlsWithMoustaches: Keala Settle plays Lettie Lutz, the Bearded Woman, and despite the full beard, she's still manages to be a BigBeautifulWoman (with a fantastic singing voice).

* InsultBackfire: When Bennett prints a review of Barnum's show, calling it a "Circus of Humbug", Barnum decides to rename his show the P. T. Barnum Circus, offers half-price tickets for anyone who shows a copy of the review and wears a gilt-paper crown over his top hat reading "King of Humbug".

** A somewhat subtle one is during the scene where Barnum is trying to hire Tom Thumb for his show. When Tom says that people will just laugh at him, Barnum says "Well, they'll laugh at you anyway so why not get paid?" before changing tactics when Tom shuts the door on him, saying that they'll come to respect him. It shows that Barnum is quick on his feet to tell people what they want to hear to get them on board, but it also shows [[spoiler:that he is doing it mostly for the money and attention, not for the sake of the people he's hiring.]]

** Charles Stratton is only given a few brief scenes and is only shown as a warm-up act. In real life, he was genuine star and critically acclaimed for his talents on stage as well as for his quick wit. In fact, Stratton's abilities were instrumental in helping the general public come to regard Barnum's circus as legitimate performance art rather than a mere sideshow.

** Among those briefly seen include Cheng and Eng, the famed Siamese Twins. It requires a FreezeFrameBonus to spot Frank Lentini (the three-legged man) and James O'Connell (the Tattooed Irishman) in the circus scenes. Jo-Jo the Dog-Faced Boy and Edouard Beaupré are only briefly introduced.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: 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. Played with, however -- in real life the "freaks" were actually respected. For example, Charles Stratton was a beloved celebrity, as were Cheng and Eng (the Siamese Twins) and Frank Lentini (the Three-Legged Man.) Annie Jones (whom Lettie Lutz is based on) was respected, and considered a feminine, dignified woman, despite her facial hair. In the film, most of the bile and discrimination are aimed at them being "freaks", which is more of a modern perspective.

* CharacterDevelopment: Phillip Carlyle. Initially introduced as a RichBastard who doubts Barnum due to him being lower class and knows that he’ll be one if he accepts Barnum’s offer. Though from further convincing from Barnum, he accepts the offer. The development kicks in when he meets Anne Wheeler, an African-American trapeze artist, and becomes smitten (though he hides this). When Barnum begins neglecting his talents in favor of touring with Jenny Lind, Phillip tries to spend more time with her and eventually throws away his upper-class status in favor of being part of Barnum’s circus when his parent mock her. By the end of the film, he’s embraced his part of the circus, becomes an OfficialCouple with Anne, and eventually becomes the ringmaster.

** There is an entire scene where Tom Thumb mopes about people laughing about him for his height and it's clear the audience is supposed to sympathize with him. Later on, when The Queen and the rest of the court laugh at him, it's clear we're supposed to feel sorry for him there too but the movie itself makes him the butt of short jokes a few times during the movie (i.e. when Barnum picks him up and puts him on the horse, when he walks on the bar and sits on Barnum's hat, and when he rides the baby elephant at the end, all of which are played for laughs).

The ambitious Phineas Taylor Barnum (Jackman) marries his childhood sweetheart Charity (Williams). Together, they have two daughters and live a humble life. After Barnum is laid off from his job, he eventually founds Barnum's Circus, an grandiose exhibition of various "freaks" and outcasts. The show is a hit, but Barnum struggles to balance the family that built the circus with him and his desire to further his own reputation.

* TheFashionista: Anne. In addition to the pink wig and purple leotard she performs in, her formal dresses and day-to-day clothes are quite colorful as well.

* StarCrossedLovers: Anne and Phillip. As spelled out to the audience in their song, "Rewrite the Stars", as an interracial couple from different social classes, they are kept apart by social norms. And law, though that isn't addressed.