The Rabbit Room

“Be kind to yourself.” -Andrew Peterson

Welp, i am off to purchase this book.

@mrs-hittle can’t wait to hear what you think.

@rdregge amen!!

Thank you Jenna. I needed to hear this today. I’ve been wanting to watch this documentary too. I grew up with Mr. Rogers, and adored him!

What a beautiful, heartfelt, and honest piece.

Amen! So well said.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and reflections on the movie. I resonated in those places as well…. Just reading those lines and thinking about the film again makes me wonder who in our current age could embody such a grace-filled and truth-inspired role as he did…

Wild Harbors!! So excited to see what this next year holds for you!

Ha… there’s a part of me that wants to see it (because the songs I’ve heard, at least separated from their film context, sound epic) but with low expectations. But I’m really intrigued by your comments about how the plot beats being breezily dealt with, and the comparisons to La La Land. The beauty of La La Land, for me, is in the controversial ending. Things don’t work out in Hollywood fashion, reality doesn’t match the fantasy, but in the end, it is still good. Bittersweet, hard, but good. And the film uses a larger than life format (the flashy Hollywood musical) to tell a very small and ordinary story (two people fall in love and chase their dreams, and some of it works out and some of it doesn’t).

I appreciate this thoughtful review! I think the hardest thing to write about is something that’s kind of meh. Most commentary I’ve seen on The Greatest Showman has been either “It’s amazing!” or “It’s terrible!” Maybe I’ll go catch a cheap morning show or something. 🙂

I really appreciated this post because it helped me pinpoint why the movie left feeling slightly unsatisfied. The movie was great, the music is catchy, the choreography was fun to watch, and the heroic aspect of it was very satisfying, but overall there wasn’t enough substance to really allow the viewer to relate to and sympathize with the characters.

Jason, you make a good point about drawing comparisons between other films that could be considered family-friendly. And I totally agree with you about the emotion conveyed through the songs by the actors. If I think about other family-friendly musicals, I think of films like Moana, and musicals like Seussical, where the characters struggles’ are allowed to marinate for a bit before the resolutions come. Both are works that have moved me greatly. I’m so glad The Greatest Showman was a hit with you (and possibly your family)! Long live musical theatre!

Thanks for the thoughtful response, Hannah. I enjoyed reading your interpretation and reaction to the movie!

And Laura, wow – great point about the ending song and Barnum leaving.

@eliatyson, I love that the movie impacted you so powerfully. Thanks for sharing your take on it!

Okay, just read this… All I have to say is, That’s exactly me! reading this felt like me talking. I’m a film maker, and it’s really interesting what you point out about darkness before hope. It’s so true that we need true darkness, silence, or grief before we experience the utter joy of true hope! Great observation.