Hi! Could you pls elaborate about how Hamilton influenced actual politics?
aside from all of this, look at the optics. hamilton is a neoliberal wet dream and a postcolonial nightmare. there’s the fact that jefferson is portrayed as a goofy caricature, washington is a stern and noble father figure, hamilton is a scrappy immigrant despite him literally being a colonizer in the caribbean. sally hemings is a throwaway line and hamiltion’s abolitionist efforts are hysterically exaggerated because lin is in love with this dead white creep
there’s the fact that the whole musical thrives on the politics of american values and american freedom while using counter-culture music and aesthetics from the mouths of colonizers and slaveowners, effectively stripping the original art form of its political significance
it’s the fact that mike pence was in attendance BECAUSE of the musical’s role in us civil religion. hamilton is no functionally separate from reciting the pledge or cosplaying as the washingtons for the fourth of july. it’s the fact that people quote hamilton lyrics at pence and trump despite the fact the characters in question were no better than them because they owned human fucking cargo
liberals, centrists, and conservatives all love hamilton because despite whatever intentions is Originally had, it is essentially a tool to numb potential radicals through art. it affirms something that they already assumed, america the beautiful, america the great, american greatness is in its mythos and the lie of the american dream. america works and has potential for exceptionalism! the foundations work! that’s why we can’t make fundamental changes to said foundations! because they work! and if you work hard enough to weave yourself into the narrative of the united states then that should be enough! who tells your american story? you do. this is your america! america is yours!
this is fair and I agree with this. However, I think people should be able to like Hamilton for its music still. It’s okay to like Hamilton for its music. It’s good fucking music. I just hope you are also aware of the post above me.
while you can like what you want or whatever, please re-read the second paragraph of my response re: the music/use of rap and hip-hop and black aesthetics. the music is part of the political problem
okay but “doesn’t portray history accurately” and “actively participates in racist historical revisionism while using an art form invented by the people the musical’s very narrative ignores even if the physical makeup of the play’s cast is black and brown” are two different things and hamilton does the latter
Also like if you like the music and don’t want to support historical rewrites, it’s probably one of the easiest musicals to find music just like it. He took from so many old school rap and hip hop artists that admittedly white people like myself didn’t grow up familiar with. If you like the music of Hamilton, I promise you listening to the Black musicians that inspired it will be a) worth your time and b) a good way to acknowledge something you like about media you are otherwise uncomfortable with while simultaneously not giving more to the problematic source.
