In a rare and wonderful collision of events, I escaped to the theater with Julia and Nate on Sunday to see The Greatest Showman. The next day, I attended a talk on Beauty by Leah Darrow, Catholic Speaker Extraordinaire and contestant on America’s Next Top Model.

After I saw The Greatest Showman, I knew I wanted to write about it. I had to. I wanted to stand and cheer and cry and dance. This movie unapologetically calls us out as hypocrites when we hide people who the world does not label as beautiful. As an audience, we rally and cheer when we find ourselves on the side of seeing true beauty in the dancers, singers, and performers who take our breath away, no matter what they look like on the outside. We find ourselves smiling and overcome with joy as they become a family of people who accept each other and are finally treated with dignity.

Do I think the director, Michael Gracey, was hoping to teach us all about true beauty in a hopes to knock social norms off it’s pedestal? I hope so. I’d love to think that his aim was truly virtuous.

The next day, I sat in a dark auditorium and listed to Leah Darrow speak about the formula for beauty given by St. Thomas Aquinas. We don’t know our true beauty. We don’t know the Father’s unfathomable love for us. And we don’t fully trust Him or His love for us. We don’t believe we are a reflection of Beauty Himself.

Yes! I thought to myself as I sat us straighter. That’s it!

His image.

We are made in His image and when we truly see others with dignity, we see Christ. No wonder we can look at people who society would say need to be changed in some way and see absolute, undeniable beauty.

This. To see beauty in the un-beautiful is exactly what the movie, perhaps unknowingly does. Is it a mistake when the words ‘We are Glorious?’ are sung? No. What does glorious mean? To be adored. And what, what is it that we so fervently adore except our God and King.

And then, after we see the movie. What are we to do with our definitions? Do we keep them in the little black notebook tucked in our pockets? Do we pull out the definition and hold it up next to people to see if they neatly fit within the boundaries?

As we scroll through Instagram or glance at the lady at the grocery store with the gray hair that she hasn’t had time to cover, do we put her into the column of un-beautiful?

No. After you see the movie, you are no longer allowed to grip the definition of beauty you’ve subscribed to. You are forced to write a new definition.

Thankfully, we have that definition. People, all people, regardless of creed, or color, or race, or religion are reflections of His image. We see our beautiful Savior in these faces. No longer can we only look at the magazines with the perfect outfits and hair, because the scales have fallen from our eyes and our hearts are learning the real definition of beauty.