Blogocentric Formulations

This Is Me

DAY 2

"This Is Me"
from The Greatest Showman Soundtrack

It's been a busy week and I have a whole lot of Soundtrackers entries to catch up on, so let's get right into it!

The Greatest Showman came out over a year ago at this point, and I still listen to this song pretty frequently when I need inspiration. I think we've all been where the song puts us at one time or another, feeling out of place, ostracized, and not fitting in with the rest of the crowd. Feeling ashamed of who we are or that we somehow need to be different, that we need to change who we are for acceptance. I know I still feel like that a lot of the time, even as someone closer to the middle of their life than the beginning.

As a writer, I struggle with creating work that I want to write versus the things I think other people think I should write. As a working professional, I struggle to be my authentic self in an industry that prizes flashy shows of wealthy and fame and power. This is the kind of song I listen to when I need a little pick-me-up, a reminder that who I am is okay and that I don't need to pretend to be anyone else.

I'm convinced that songwriters Pasek & Paul, the geniuses behind this soundtrack as well as the phenomenal Dear Evan Hansen Broadway theater production, are going to have legendary careers. I mean, they kind of already have considering they're only 33 and 34, respectively, and have Oscars for their original songs on La La Land and Tonys for Dear Evan Hansen. They just have a way of tapping into those insidious feelings of inadequacy we all have and presenting a really inspiring, uplifting message about them.

On a side note, the thing I've always found funny about this movie is that almost all of the performers are treated like "freaks" because of various physical conditions... tons of tattoos, a bearded lady, gigantism, albinism, etc. And then you have Zendaya who sufferers from, what... pink hair? Is that the disadvantage she's trying to overcome? Is that what makes her an outcast in society? Hollywood casting beautiful people to play characters that are deeply physically flawed... the struggle is real.

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Written for "The Soundtrack of Your Life"