Hamilton: The End of An Era
By Francesca Morales
Most tales are told to children of the consequences of different scenarios. From wandering away from parents to letting a stranger into one's house. But when do these stories lose their relevance? When does Cinderella talk about happily ever after but then perpetuate a sexist narrative?
Hamilton rose to popularity in 2015, during the height of the Obama Administration where its liberal context depicted a progressive stance towards white American history. But as we lean into the context of that era's optics, as America led the way towards a more progressive and liberal future, Hamilton bore into this liberal high as a piece of black progressive art. It was simply viewed as a musical medium for modern interpretive dance and song that told the story of one of America's founding fathers.
This musical expressed itself through something called historical revisionism, which is the practice of revising canonical events in history to fit a storytelling narrative. Whether this is a good or bad thing I believe is up to the context of the changes. It becomes exceedingly harmful once we begin to negate certain aspects of history in favor of others.
Nobody can contest that Hamilton's artistry, musically, lyrically, and interpretively is genius. But the context in which the musical was made was done at a better time in life when liberal powers contested the racism, sexism, and other negative forms of isms in the world. But as we move into the world that we know now in 2023, it becomes jarringly real that plenty was negated from the script of what we know as the Hamilton Musical. But was this the intention of the writers? And how much of the historical negation can be forgiven for simple storytelling?
For this article, we will remove all influence of the art of Hamilton as a musical and focus solely on the storytelling aspects that drive the genius of the show. The musical presents itself in its progressive interpretation of the story of Alexander Hamilton, a known immigrant who developed the American financial system. But is this show simply the product of black people telling white people stories? Perhaps I may not be the best person to say, but based on the research done, Hamilton can be viewed as such. It masquerades the story of historical figures who were involved in slavery, or otherwise at least complicit as a black piece of art.
In this day and age, Hamilton may have many issues that perpetuate its problematic origins, but as said by Lin Manuel Miranda himself, many of the negations and literary adjustments were done in order to create what we know now as Hamilton the Musical. He as the writer is perfectly aware of these facts and intentionally recreated the story in the hope of bringing interest into musicals through pop culture and showing that history can also be intriguing.
This is where we bring back the artistic context into this analysis of Hamilton. As we now know Hamilton was created purely to spur the interest in art and history. But although it may not have been the intention of the writers, much of Hamilton the musical will surely still be up for debate especially now as the times move towards a more critically woke generation. Though art can be made for art's sake, it is still important to give due importance to socially relevant topics that involve for of art and perhaps find a deeper meaning of what that art may be.
