'The Greatest Showman' Had Parental Death Secondary Losses

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After the death of a parent, people nearby assume that the death is the only loss the child and family are dealing with. This couldn't be further from the truth. With parental death comes what are known as secondary losses—losses that stem from the death of a parent.

Secondary losses are all the losses that follow after the parent dies. For example, perhaps the late parent was the breadwinner, and now the surviving parent can't make ends meet on just their one income. This is a loss of financial stability. Suddenly, the family has to shop at different stores, there's no extra money for eating out, and the bills can start piling up fast due to the loss of income.

Let's say the late parent was the only surviving parent present in the child's life. Now, with the parent gone, the child has to live with a different family member. That means the child is not only experiencing grief from the death of their parent, but now they are experiencing the loss of their home, possibly their school and friends if the new family member they have to live with lives in another state, loss of routines, and even loss of their extracurricular activities. Secondary losses can be a heavy load for grieving children to deal with on top of dealing with the loss of their parent.

Psychologist Margaret Stroebe and Clinical Psychology Coordinator Henk Schut share from their research, "There has been a lack of recognition of the range of stressors, the multiplicity of losses, integral to the bereavement experience. Not only is there the loss of the person, but adjustments have to be made with respect to many aspects of life."

'The Greatest Showman,' Parental Death, and Secondary Losses

Since movies and cinema therapy can greatly help children and teens cope with the death of their parents, we will examine the movie, The Greatest Showman. This movie can relate to children experiencing the death of a parent who might be facing similar secondary losses. In the movie, a young P.T. Barnum (played by actor Ellis Rubin) is shown at the beginning of the movie tagging along with his father, who is a tailor. It's inferred that he and his father are poor, and there is no mention of the whereabouts of the mother. So, as the beginning of the movie moves the audience forward, young P.T.'s father, his primary caregiver, gets sick and sadly passes away.

After we see the funeral, we watch young P.T. Barnum try to survive on the streets, as suddenly he isn't just mourning the death of his father, but now he's dealing with homelessness, poverty, and hunger, and we don't see any new caregivers taking care of him. That's three secondary losses that stemmed from the death of his father. Secondary losses are losses that are in direct correlation to the death of a parent. In other words, young P.T. Barnum would not be experiencing the loss of his home, the loss of access to food, and the loss of access to money to take care of his basic needs had his father not passed away.

Sadly, when children lose a parent, the losses usually don't just stop there. They have to deal with a few other losses and big life changes that can come with parental death. This is why having support is key for children before a death, so if, sadly, a parental death occurs, children won't have to face multiple secondary losses if it can be helped.