Is the Musical Hamilton Problematic or is it Just... a Musical?

Spoiler Alert!

I remember when Hamilton first came out. I never knew what it was about, and for some reason I got it confused with hamlet. I never thought about seeing it. Then one day in class, my professor said, "You guys have to see Hamilton. It's great!" So I became interested, I looked it up and I saw it was about Alexander Hamilton, "founding fathers," and other people during that time. After knowing that, I definitely didn't want to see the play. Why would I want to see a musical about some racist white men arguing/fighting over who owns the land?

Around May/June I came across Hamilton's Tony Awards performance and I saw the actors and actresses and they were... Black. George Washington was black. The whole cast was diverse. I listened to their performance and they were... rapping. I remember laughing and saying "Wow I gotta see this."

Due to the Coronavirus, all of the plays were canceled. I tried watching it on Youtube recently...(yes, the bootleg way) but the audio wasn't that great. So I gave up. I thought I was never going to see the play. Until I logged onto Disney+ and saw, "Hamilton premieres July 3rd."

July 3rd comes and I finally watched the play. After the first rap, I was like "OK, that's cool." Then there was a second rap and a third and then I realized the WHOLE play is just one big rap music video, and I actually really enjoyed it. I thought that was so cool and different, but because the rapping was so fast, you had to pay really close attention. I remember watching a video on someone reviewing the play and they called the actors lines, "very fast words." Yep, it's called rapping. I even had to have the closed caption on, and this is from someone who listens to rap music daily. I also just want to note that it is similar but also different from rap music, because of all the information put into the musical's songs. So you have to keep up in order to understand.

There were a lot of funny moments and a lot of information in the play that I didn't know. A lot of the time I had to use google just to read more about it. Honestly, the majority of the things in the play were never really taught to me in the classroom.

While the play was funny and entertaining, here is where the "problemactic" things come into play:

1. As I stated above, the musical is about most likely, racist white men, who owned slaves and sold slaves, and from what I've heard other people say, took slaves teeth and made them as their own and used their skin as fabric. Although Hamilton opposed slavery, he wasn't an abolitionist. Hamilton's father-in-law owned slaves. Hamilton also worked in the business of buying and selling them. So it's kind of disturbing when you're watching the play and laughing at the jokes when there were a lot of wrong things happening during that time. Just imagine them singing the line, "Raise a glass to freedom" while the slaves are in the back like

2. Like I stated before, the rapping was something new and cool, but I would often get so caught up into the play I would really be thinking, "Wow. Did Alexander Hamilton really have that rap battle and did Thomas Jefferson really dance like that when he came back from France. Was the king this funny in real life?

The Outcome

Yes, the play has its flaws. How can you like these group of men that were all most likely misogynistic and narcissists? They made these characters likable with all the jokes, songs, and dance. I went from calling Thomas Jefferson,Tom, and Alexander Hamilton, Big Al as if we were friends. But I also realized that they didn't make the characters out to be perfect either.

Alexander was a selfish cheater who really only wanted people to know his name. Seriously, how does a lady run to you for help, tell you she's been beaten and cheated on and the only thing you get out of that is she wants to have sex and "how can I say no to this." And guess what? He doesn't say no. What's funny to me about that is, I didn't think he was going to get caught. There are no phones or social media in the 1700s. Alexander Hamilton got blackmailed and caught through a LETTER! That is so hilarious to me. I guess they really knew his name after that.

But anyways all of the characters had their flaws. Angelica loved her sister, but also wanted her man, Eliza was only painted as a housewife for years, and Aaron Burr was a bitter and jealous man. I remember hoping for someone, anyone to put Burr in the room where it happens, so he could finally shut up and stop whining.

Overall, I look at it as an easy way to understand history. It's a musical about history in the 1700s, so can you include everything in a 2-hour play. There were a lot of facts and fiction in the play. So I think it's important to know how to cut off the propaganda from this play and turn it into reality, especially since we all know that history wasn't too kind to black people, which wasn't really discussed in the play. I think if any kids are watching, it would be important to inform them that not everything in this play is true, they didn't have rap battles and dance-offs, they weren't this black and diverse as the casts, and that there were definitely other people in the picture, slaves.

Besides all of that, I really enjoyed the musical. I know I'm going to watch it again. I find myself singing throughout the day, "I am not throwing away my shot." What is my shot exactly? I don't know yet, but just know I sing it so passionately, that whatever it is, it's definitely not getting thrown away.

Where ever you are, i hope you have a good morning, good evening, good afternoon and a good night. I'll be back to talk "S" word with you later.

-S