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1) The intended audience for this musical/film are theater enthusiasts who appreciate musicals. In the film, “The Greatest Showman”, instead of having a story with general scenes showcasing the characters, we are introduced to storytelling through dance and song. One of my favorite scenes of “The Greatest Showman” was when P.T and his wife Charity are adults and dancing on the rooftop of a building under the moonlight while white cover sheets were blowing right next to them. Scenes like those can only be fully appreciated if people have an understanding for musicals. Perhaps some people may think that’s funny or repetitive, but a person who appreciates musicals can conclude that the repetitiveness can symbolize something beyond P.T and charity relationships. Likewise, the repetitiveness of white cover sheets can be foreshadowing or symbolizing something in the film/musical. That is why I strongly believe the intended audience are theater/ musical enthusiasts who also love romance.
2) The genre of this musical would be drama/romance. Besides having a great cast and eye-catching scenes, the majority of the film had romantic scenes such as Philip and Anne or P.T and Charity. Some of the most memorable moments are the character’s i just named because of their connection with other characters. The dialogue in the musical was also amazing. There were moments during the film I would get up in my chair and listen to the dialogue carefully so I could feel fully engaged with the story. one specific moment of the story I really enjoyed was when P.T was confronting Charity’s parents at the show. P.T was eager to rub it in charity’s fathers face but ended up feeling rage because Charity’s father hasn’t changed. In addition to having amazing dialogue there was also action to keep the audience engaged. However, most of the action scenes were a minor part of the film.
3) Most of the actors, if not all the actors that were featured in the greatest showman, have outstanding and long acting careers in other films. However, one specific actor that caught my attention was, “Keala Settle ” who besides being an amazing and committed actor she is also a singer who also originated from broadway. Keala had undoubtedly the experience and the perfect idea for her role. Another actor that also comes to mind is Zendeya Maree Stoermer Coleman who also is a singer giving her the authority to take her role in the movie. When looking at the director Micheal Gracey besides having other experience with films, Micheal Gracey’s main strong points are visual effects in his movies. In my opinion he did an amazing job when it came to the visual effects. Not only did Micheal Gracey do a wonderful job using the art of visual effects into this film but he also made it harmonize very well with musicals.
4) The purpose of this musical is to entertain the audience and make them reflect on any past experience one may have. The whole organization of the musical allows the viewer the idea of what are our priorities in our lives. From the moment the protagonist P.T grows up he decides to take the initiative to prioritize his wife and later his kids happiness and well being. throughout the musical P.T grows economically and socially and starts losing his main priorities he had in the first place. As a result things start to get out of hand and he loses everything in a fire, that’s when he truly remembers what he was aiming for in the first place which was his family. The way everything falls apart and resolves back indicates to the viewer what their priorities should be. Besides this musical existing to educate the viewer it also serves as a self reflection.
5) The setting for this musical takes place around the mid 19th century in New York City. Most of the characters from the film resemble the fashion and language from the 19th century. For example, when P.T is having dialogue with Philip in the bar scene, their accents and personalities truly come out for each character, thus proving the appropriate time period for this movie. The context when this story was also written was around the 19th century when the fame of P.T Barnum finally reached his own biography and story. Considering this story was written around the 19th century the specific audience for this story were circus lovers and businessmen enthusiasts. Considering P.T was a politician, businessman and showman, people who read P.Ts story would want to know about his success and how he achieved greatness with his ideas.
6) some of the themes that i saw visible in the musical were love, sacrifice and perseverance. I believe love was a major theme for this film because P.T had to ultimately choose what his main priority was, his family or his fame and wealth. He loved and appreciated his family but at the same time he was chasing after fame and wealth, a bigger love for his own family. I believe sacrifice is also a theme because the protagonist had to make sacrifices from the beginning when we were introduced to him. Since he was a little kid he had to make sacrifices such as stealing food from people so he could survive or sacrificing his money for a major investment at a museum. little details such as those give us an understanding where P.T is coming from. Finally perseverance is also another major theme represented in this musical. P.T was at first persevering his family’s well being and happiness, when he opened up the museum he started to lose his focus and started persevering with other things such as his shows.
7) I definitely enjoyed this musical and this musical is one of my top 3 favorite films of all time because of the harmonization of visual effects within the story. The musical made me reflect on what are my priorities in life and what’s worth sacrificing for the people you love in your life. My opinions and reflections did not change or get altered when viewing this film, as a matter of fact this film has strengthened my views over the themes that i brought in the beginning. The musical did a great job communicating with me through each character in the film. For example, Charity was one of the characters who I learned from because she was one of the characters showing true interest and who never changed personality wise and wanted a happy family instead of wealth.
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1)The intended audience for this text are theater enthusiasts who are also interested in American history and American culture. Throughout the article the author references a set of time periods related to the musical and makes connections with American culture. For example, around 1975, there was going to be a black version of the film the Wizard of oz. The author then makes connections to the featured film and explains the lack of diversity of african americans in films. I really enjoyed how the author made connections to the history behind American musicals and the culture of America itself. The author discusses on the topic of lgbt and how the wonderworld of Oz paved the way of LGBT human rights through its hidden double meaning.
2)The genre of this source is an article. It’s not book because it doesn’t have chapters in it and it’s not a magazine because it doesn’t showcase various photography shots captured into a page
3)The author has credibility over all of this information including on the history references he mentions because he is writer and a community advocate who also has published many articles and books throughout the years. Additionally he has collaborated with many other secular establishments and universities to publish his articles.
4)The purpose of this text is to educate the reader about American culture and the correlation that it has with the wonderful Wizard of Oz franchize. The organization of the text allows the reader to view and easily read from top to bottom the chronological order of each reference in history. We start off from 1900 and end in the current era of the franchize.
5)I enjoyed this text because it brought up so many ideas in regards to one musical and I didn’t realize how much information can originate from one franchize targeted towards a younger audience. Not only has this article made me realize how many topics can be discussed over one musical, but also I have learned I must give all my attention towards the musical I am watching. If I exercise this skill I can view a topic like this and I can be more engaged in further discussions. Did you guys feel like watching more musicals has increased your awarnaess and your rhetorical thinking?
6)This article was published around 2015. Coincidentally, a film titled “Oz the great and the powerful” was released 2 years ago prior to that article. The author Ryan Brunch perhaps felt it was necessary to do a recap of all the wizard of oz films, movies and musicals. Hence that is why he enjoys discussing and communicating historical knowledge to the audience.
