When Hamilton debuted on Broadway in 2015, it was an instant sensation and amassed legions
of fans obsessed with the hip-hop musical about the trials and achievements of Alexander
Hamilton.
Now that the show is on Disney+ and more people are considering the tale, Lin-Manuel Miranda
is facing criticism about the portrayal of slavery in the production.
In July of 2020, Disney+ released a filmed version of the staged musical, bringing the
show to millions of new fans.
But a lot has changed in the world since Hamilton was first released, and some people are seeing
certain aspects of the show in a different light, especially considering the heightened
conversations around the Black Lives Matter movement.
Miranda seems to be taking the heat in stride and has acknowledged the attention.
In fact, he seems to consider some of the criticisms to be valid.
When the show debuted in 2015, Ben Brantley of The New York Times lauded the play for
its diversity and re-positioning of American history, and in a July 2020 piece in The New
Yorker, critic Lauren Michele Jackson praised Hamilton's "multicultural patriotism."
For a while, it seemed as though everyone loved it.
"It was simply, as I tell everybody, the best piece of art in any form that I have ever
seen in my life."
Hamilton went on to win a Pulitzer Prize for drama and 11 Tony Awards, and has garnered
more than $1 billion in profits from ticket sales, recordings, and merchandise.
Broadcasting the production on Disney+ during the COVID-19 pandemic seemed like a no-brainer.
While Broadway and other live theater venues were shut down, Disney would bring one of
the most popular shows of all time to fans everywhere.
However, the cultural climate of 2020 has some people wondering if maybe Hamilton wasn't
all that radical after all, and perhaps doesn't measure up to the hype.
The criticism of Hamilton comes at a time when many communities are rethinking their
monuments and heroes.
Miranda's musical positions Alexander Hamilton as an immigrant who did what he had to do,
but the show tends to gloss over the actual matter of slavery.
Although Hamilton opposed slavery, his feelings on equality were lukewarm at best, writing,
"[Black people's] natural faculties are probably as good as [white people's]."
That didn't stop him from marrying into a family of slave owners, or compromising his
beliefs in the name of property rights.
Some critics of the musical believe that the ambivalence toward slavery portrayed in the
musical is enough to dismiss the show altogether, leading to the hashtag #CancelHamilton.
Others feel that the musical shouldn't necessarily be canceled, but that a conversation about
it needs to take place.
Tracy Clayton, a writer and the host of the Strong Black Leads podcast, tweeted, in part:
"Hamilton the play and the movie were given to us in two different worlds & our willingness
to interrogate things in this way feels like a clear sign of change.
I totally get the frustration about it being a play about slaveholders that is not about
slavery.
I've felt that in lots of things I watch, but I flex the same muscle I use when I listen
to hip hop as a black woman.
We enjoy problematic things all the time."
Clayton went on to reference the removal of statues of slave owners and white supremacists
across the country, tweeting, in part:
"After reading the critiques i would have appreciated more context about Hamilton & slavery.
But to lump it in with statues of Columbus and Robert E. Lee denies this conversation
the nuance it deserves & we're capable of giving it that."
Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda seems ready to listen to those conversations, too.
He responded to Clayton's thread of tweets about his show with an open mind, writing,
"Appreciate you so much [...] All the criticisms are valid.
The sheer tonnage of complexities & failings of these people I couldn't get.
Or wrestled with but cut.
I took 6 years and fit as much as I could in a 2.5 hour musical.
Did my best.
It's all fair game."
With the musical now widely available to watch, it's up to viewers to decide for themselves.
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