A Celebration of Humanity: What a Movie and a Video Game Have to Say about It

Source: digitalspy.com

Hey gang! I know it's been way too long, but I'm back! And I've got more ideas than ever, so get ready for more future posts! But now let's talk about how sometimes the simplest messages can be the most poignant.

I was thinking about this recently when I re-watched The Greatest Showman. Yes, I loved this movie, and I totally jumped on the wagon with everyone, and I don't regret it for a second! But something that struck me as interesting was The Greatest Showman's theme. Which was something the critics had the most problems with.

Source: imdb.com

The problem many critics had with the theme was that it wasn't anything new. In their mind, this is a message that's been said before, and probably said better in previous movies. And it's true; the idea of celebrating people of different shapes and sizes is nothing new. And the whole trope of Phineas Barnum losing sight of what's really important until he loses it all is so familiar, we could see it coming a mile away.

And yet, this movie still resonated with a lot of people. It was one of the highest grossing films and we had people singing along with the songs for ages after. It's one of those cases where the critics thought the movie was very meh, while the audiences loved it (kind of similar to in the movie too).

So why did this movie speak to so many people? I think it's because of the simple message. The idea that we shouldn't judge others simply based on appearances or circumstances is not a new message, but one that's been popping up a lot in recent media.

Source: ign.com

Another example is the video game Detroit: Become Human, which shows androids starting a revolution as they fight to be recognized as a sentient race and wanting the same rights as humans. Many critics had issues with some of the thematic material, saying it was rather naive and simple. And they're not necessarily wrong. (Granted, this game had plenty of other problems, but we'll focus just on this criticism.)

Source: playstation.com

It's true that the message in The Greatest Showman and Detroit: Become Human, to a degree, is pretty simple. There isn't a lot of complexity, which is what many critics took issue with. And yes, the issues these two stories tackle are more complex than what they addressed. Thematically, the stories are fairly simple.

But I think that was the point.

Because this message, that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and as a human being, should be simple. There shouldn't be exceptions. Everyone deserves to be treated humanely regardless of their appearance, their background, or even their nature.

When it comes to the question of whether someone should have basic human rights (or in the case of Detroit: Become Human, whether someone should even deserve to live) simply based on who they are, the answer should be simple.

source: broadway.com

And yet, today we're still seeing the opposite. There's so much hatred in this world, and many people are still denied basic human rights for completely arbitrary reasons. So maybe we need to hear this simple message more often. Maybe we need to be reminded that everyone deserves to be treated humanely.

And that may be naive of me, but I don't really care at this point. I think it's still a message that needs to be heard.

What do you guys think?