Aspects of Identity in Media
In the hiring scene from The Greatest Showman, we see identity shown through ability/disability, gender, and class. Barnum is creating and building a circus. He goes on a journey to find people who could be apart of the circus. These people are known to the world as “different”. Barnum finds a guy named Tom Thumb, who is very short, and the bearded lady. This fits into the category ability and disability because the people he is hiring are different and appear unusual to society. In society, people like them are often teased or ignored, but in the circus their differences are what make them special. This would fit gender as the bearded lady does not look like what people expect a women to look like. Barnum encourages her to love herself and to not be afraid. This fits into class as most of the people Barnum is hiring come from a poor background and are often not respected by the first class but the circus is giving them a chance to actually belong in society.
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