What's with all the drinking?

Rating: 4/10 (17 January 2018)

I thought this was supposed to be a family movie. And I know that I am not the only one because the theater was packed with kids when we went to see this shallow spectacle. So why is drinking featured so prominently in this film that it could have easily been a platform for a Johnny Walker or a Budweiser commercial?
First, there is a scene, where Hugh Jackman's character (P.T. Barnum) finds Zac Efron's character (Phillip) at the bar. Barnum is trying to convince Phillip to join his show and a musical number ensues, which features Jackman and Efron singing, dancing and... pounding shots like there's no tomorrow.
Later in the movie, there is a scene, where Barnum is at the bar by himself sulking or reflecting and the circus performers find him there. Another musical number ensues, where Barnum realizes what's important to him and becomes inspired to be a good guy again. This leads to a celebration. Suddenly, beer is flowing from the tap like a river. Barnum runs out, but the performers proceed to get shitfaced and pass out.
Both scenes go for quite some time. As I watched them incredulously, I kept thinking to myself what was the message and why. Why was it necessary to portray careless consumption of alcohol as fun and gratifying? The answer I came up with is that it's just another example of how shallow and thoughtless this movie really is. It is a celebration of style over substance, of perception over reality, of deceit over integrity. It is a soulless festival of plastic morals, papier-mache values, one-dimensional characters, and a cliche story line, which at time crumbles the limits of suspended reality (e.g. Phillip has connections that get him and Barnum an audience with the Queen of England?). It's sugar water that is peddled as healthy and good. It confuses people into thinking that imagination is synonymous with graft.
Certainly, plenty of folks will love it and allow themselves to be willfully deluded into thinking that Barnum was an equal rights crusader and an all-around good guy, and not a huckster and profiteer, who succeeded at exploiting people's insecurities and ignorance. But this is not a movie I would ever want my children to see. I would never want them to think that fraud is ingenuity, as this movie portrays when Barnum puts up sunken vessels that don't belong to him as collateral for his first bank loan.
I would never want them to think that being greedy, cunning and unfair is good business, as this movie portrays when Barnum offers Phillip just 8% of the show, even though he badly needs Phillip to join the circus, to give it some badly needed critical acclaim and acceptance as more than just a sideshow.
It's easy to get caught up in all the glitz and glamour of this bright and loud film, and miss the simple fact that its message is often repugnant and it has the cinematic value of a Super Bowl half-time show.
I gave it four stars because it still has some good actors, who give good performances under the circumstances. Why they took these roles I am not sure.