The Greatest Showman: Why Anne Was One Of The Freaks

The Greatest Showman tells the story of P.T. Barnum and his museum and circus, made famous thanks to the performances of his group of “freaks”, but there’s one character that, at first sight, doesn’t really fit with the rest of the freaks: Anne Wheeler, and here’s why she was part of the group. Musical movies have always been popular, and while many have been adaptations of Broadway musicals, there have also been various original stories either entirely fictional or based on true stories. Such is the case of The Greatest Showman, which was inspired by a true story but made a lot of changes to it to make it more family-friendly.

The Greatest Showman introduced the audience to P.T. Barnum (Hugh Jackman), creator of Barnum’s American Museum and Barnum’s Circus, which became widely popular thanks to the performances of its group of “freaks”, which were people with disabilities, unique physical traits, and more. However, Barnum’s ambition led to many problems in his personal and professional life, and while he struggled to keep his projects afloat, his business partner Phillip Carlyle (Zac Efron) was having a romance with one of the “freaks”, Anne Wheeler (Zendaya). This wasn’t an easy relationship due to the social context back then, and it’s that same context that made Anne (and her brother W.D, played by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) part of the “freaks”.

Many viewers have wondered why Anne was part of the “freaks” in The Greatest Showman if she didn’t have any physical disabilities nor any physical traits that made her stand out, unlike Lettie Lutz (Keala Settle), the bearded lady, for example. Anne and W.D. were acrobats and she was a trapeze artist, and while they were great at it, that isn’t exactly what made them part of Barnum’s select group. What made Anne one of Barnum’s “freaks” was that she, as well as W.D., was a person of color, and as seen throughout the whole movie, racism was a big issue at the time (though not much has changed).

This was also the reason why her relationship with Phillip came across so many obstacles, as it was unacceptable for a woman of color and a white man to be together, and this was made worse by Phillip coming from a wealthy family, while Anne and W.D. had to work hard to survive. Racism in The Greatest Showman was more evident when Phillip and Anne went to the theater together and came across Phillip’s parents, who chastised him for “parading around with the help”. Even though the main theme of this subplot was racism, The Greatest Showman has been criticized for how it addressed it and how it never explicitly mentioned race, instead just using a “safer” or “less controversial” language that ultimately made it worse.

Anne being a “freak” is rooted in the social context of the setting of The Greatest Showman and isn’t about her physical appearance, but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t an important part of the group and their performances. The topic of racism might wasn’t addressed properly in The Greatest Showman, leaving questions like that of why Anne was part of the “freaks”, which could have been handled a lot better.

About The Author

Adrienne Tyler
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Adrienne Tyler is a features writer for Screen Rant. She is an Audiovisual Communication graduate who wanted to be a filmmaker, but life had other plans (and it turned out great). Prior to Screen Rant, she wrote for Pop Wrapped, 4 Your Excitement (4YE), and D20Crit, where she was also a regular guest at Netfreaks podcast. She was also a contributor for FanSided’s BamSmackPow and 1428 Elm. Adrienne is very into films and she enjoys a bit of everything: from superhero films to heartbreaking dramas, to low-budget horror films. Every time she manages to commit to a TV show without getting bored, an angel gets its wings.

When she’s not writing, you can find her trying to learn a new language, watching hockey (go Avs!), or wondering what life would have been like had Pushing Daisies, Firefly, and Limitless not been cancelled. Breakfast food is life and coffee is what makes the world go round.

Guillermo del Toro said “hi” to her once. It was great.

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