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Most people have never heard of Newsies. It bombed at the box office in 1992 and while it was revived as a pretty successful musical on Broadway in 2012 and the West End in 2024, it has remained relatively obscure throughout its entire existence. Its fan base is small but dedicated. No one has ever claimed it’s a cinematic masterpiece and likely no one ever will. At its core, Newsies is a largely fictionalized retelling of the Newsboy Strike of 1899. Most things, especially the characters, are not historically accurate, but the gist of it is there. It’s a story of rebellion, of fighting back against a system that is oppressive and unfair. It’s a tale of kids stepping up and seizing the opportunity to make the world a better place. And it’s a reminder that each moment is fleeting, so we should make an impact while we can. 

Before Christian Bale was Batman, he was Jack Kelly, the young and idealistic protagonist in Newsies. He dreams of a life far from the streets of New York City and he even sings a song about it (yes, Christian Bale can sing). But the main conflict of the movie arises when Joseph Pulitzer, who owns the newspaper The World, raises the price of newspapers for the newsies who sell them. Said newsies are, understandably, upset. They strike. When they start to become discouraged, David (the co-leader of the strike alongside Bale’s Jack Kelly) sings a song to rally them. The title? “Seize the Day.”

The idea of seizing the moment is not a new one. The Roman poet Horace first coined the term in 23 BCE: “carpe diem quam minimum credula postero,” which means “pluck the day, trusting as little as possible in the next one.” Live in the moment and enjoy life while you can. It’s been quoted in and inspired so many things it’s impossible to list all of them, but arguably one of the most famous ones is Robin Williams’ iconic line in Dead Poets Society ("Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary"). And many people have made this a motto to live by. After all, we can’t live forever, no matter how much we try. So why not enjoy the present, take every day in stride, and jump at every opportunity while we’re still alive?

But on the other side of the saying is the idea that we should take every opportunity to make the world a better place. Not only should we live each day to its fullest, but we should have an impact on each day as well. This is a core message of Newsies—after all, it’s a story about people, specifically young people, fighting for better conditions for themselves and the people who will follow. And they don’t do this passively; they choose to sacrifice their pay and even their safety to make the change they need. “Seize the Day” is a turning point in the narrative. No longer is change a pipe dream, it’s something real and tangible and possible. Historically, the Newsboy Strike of 1899 that Newsies is based on did actually have an impact. As part of the larger labor movements in the late 1800s and early 1900s, it improved working conditions, raised pay, led to the abolition of child labor, and more. With one spark, change can be brought about. A law is passed, a regime falls, and a story is told for years to come.

Though musicals about revolution have always been popular—take Les Miserables (the June Rebellion), Hamilton (the American Revolution), and Wicked (fictional rebellion in Oz) as examples—Newsies stands out in that it’s set on a fairly small scale. It’s not a fight for independence that forces a country into war; it’s not an overtly political message that involves presidents and international diplomacy. It’s a group of kids who start something larger than themselves almost by accident: they just don’t want to pay an extra 10¢ per newspaper (which, given that it’s equivalent to almost $4 now, is fair). But ultimately, they realize that they’ve been given the power to affect more than just the newsies. Their later strategy targets every working kid in New York City, and, as previously mentioned, the actual strike did help lead to reforms in more than just the newspaper industry.

This can be considered an example of the curb-cut effect. Essentially, the idea is that laws and programs designed to benefit certain groups—such as people with disabilities, or in this case, the newsboys—actually end up benefiting more people outside of it. The phenomenon was coined because of the cutouts in sidewalks that allow people who use wheelchairs or mobility aids get off sidewalks without falling off the curb. Initially, it was thought that those curb-cuts would only help those in wheelchairs, which made them less likely to be implemented. But they actually ended up serving people of all kinds: parents with strollers, kids on bikes, people with rolling luggage. In Newsies, the curb-cut is the agreement they come to with the newspaper tycoons. It may not apply to every group directly, but it laid the foundation for future reforms in all sectors of industry.