Hamilton explores need for racial diversity
A reminder that America is meant to be a country of equal opportunity
‘Hamilton’ has created some of the most sophisticated and yet popular social critique in America today.
On “Hamilton” (…not this Hamilton).
“Hamilton” is having a moment, complete with millions of devoted followers and profits of nearly a billion dollars …. Sadly, it has nothing to do with Hamilton.
For more than a year now, the hottest theatre ticket in the world has been “Hamilton”, the Broadway musical. Tickets can only be found on scalper sites like StubHub, costing between $400 and $2,500. At the 2016 Tony Awards, it was nominated a record 16 times, and it won 11. For comparison’s sake: “Les Misérables” won eight. “The Phantom of the Opera” won seven and it grossed $5.6 billion worldwide.
Why should we care? Well first, there’s a slight chance that you might someday introduce yourself as being from Hamilton and get the response, “Like the musical?” You don’t want to be caught off-guard with something like this. If I met someone from Laymiz and they’d never heard of “Les Misérables”, I’d be a bit suspicious about their general awareness of … well, things.
“Hamilton” was written by American musical theatre wunderkind Lin-Manuel Miranda; it uses hip hop to tell the story of the first Secretary of the Treasury of the United States Alexander Hamilton. The major roles — including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, etc. — are played by black, Latino or multiracial actors. The show nets over $600,000 US per week.
I think it’s safe to say that no one saw this coming.
And it really is as good as everyone says it is. The lyrics are smart, the melodies are catchy and the beats are “phat.” My kids watched the cast’s performance on the Tonys and were hooked: we bought the recording and now they bounce around the house singing lyrics like: “We are: meant to be. “A colony that runs independently. “Meanwhile Britain keeps shittin’ on us endlessly. “Essentially, they tax us relentlessly. “Then King George turns around, runs a spending spree.
“He ain’t ever gonna set his descendents free.
“So there will be a revolution in this century. “Enter me!” I wouldn’t have thought that a Broadway star and Pulitzer Prize winner droppin’ beats about taxation without representation in 18th century America would motivate me while I was pumping iron at the gym, but there you go.
As important as my workout playlist is, it’s probably more significant that “Hamilton” has created some of the most sophisticated and yet popular social critique in America today. At a time when the country is ripping itself apart over race issues, “Hamilton” manages to use the founding fathers — exemplars of the white patriarchal establishment 250 years ago — to express the power and necessity of U.S. racial diversity today.
Moreover, when the drama of building the country — revolting against Britain and forming the first government — is framed by the life of “a bastard, orphan, son of a whore,” who also happens to be a destitute immigrant, it’s a reminder to contemporary Americans that this is meant to be a country where everyone has a chance to rise up and fulfil their potential, no matter how disadvantaged their beginnings. In a time when those who are born privileged often dominate public discourse (hello, Donald Trump), this is a crucial message.
Miranda ups the ante when he puts that message in the mouths of young black and Latino men and women. There’s a long, wrenching history in the U.S. of the dominant group appropriating from the oppressed — appropriating black lives with slavery; appropriating black culture to make juggernauts like rock ’n roll; appropriating cheap labour from millions of dispossessed Mexican “illegals.” Miranda’s family is from Puerto Rico, which was invaded and colonized by the US in 1898, and is currently treated like a second-class state. With “Hamilton”, the shoe is on the other foot: oppressed, racialized identities take the country’s founding story and use it to showcase their art form, their creativity, their dynamic presence.
Ultimately, “Hamilton” is a forceful reinvigoration of the founding story that encourages audiences to recognize that everyone has a stake in defining what the country means, especially those who are typically left out of the discussion because they are poor, or uneducated, or black, or Latino, or “illegal,” or LGBTQ, or most recently, Muslim. And due to its sheer popularity and brilliance, “Hamilton” is proof of what we gain from this kind of diversity.
One quibble, however, and it’s a biggie: while there are some women in the chorus, the only female feature role is restricted to that of Hamilton’s wife, with her wifely concerns of romance and motherhood. [Insert rankled sigh here.] If a black man can play George Washington, why not a woman? We should celebrate “Hamilton”, absolutely, but not blindly.
There are some kinds of revolutions that still need to be fought.