On July 3rd, ‘Hamilton’ was released on Disney+, almost 5 years after opening on Broadway in August 2015.
The wait is OVER Hamilton is now streaming exclusively on #DisneyPlus. #Hamilfilm pic.twitter.com/IXHyUnyIOd
— Disney+ (@disneyplus) July 3, 2020
‘Hamilton’ turned the world upside down with the story of Alexander Hamilton, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. It has won 11 Tony awards, with a record-breaking 16 nominations, as well as a Grammy for Best Musical Theatre Album. It has received overwhelmingly positive criticism, and actually broke the internet, generating over 1 million tweets in 2015.
Took the family to @HamiltonMusical (2nd time for me). It's brilliance of another level. Makes me yearn to be that good. Thanks @Lin_Manuel!
— Neil Patrick Harris (@ActuallyNPH) December 20, 2015
The sung-and-rapped-through musical has also become prominent in the musical theatre world for its diverse cast, with all of the principal roles (aside from King George III) deliberately written and cast as non-white actors in productions across the US and the West End. “It’s the story about America then, told by America now,” says director, Thomas Kail.
However, since its release on Disney+ and in light of the recent surge in the Black Lives Matter movement, the musical has faced criticism for glorifying historical figures while erasing their backgrounds as slave traders. The hashtag #CancelHamilton soon gained traction on Twitter.
Has anyone else been forced to watch #hamiltonmovie by someone they love?
Brutal— MichaelRapaport (@MichaelRapaport) July 4, 2020
The titular character, Alexander Hamilton, has also come under direct fire. Speaking to the Harvard Gazette, Anette Gordon-Reed, Professor of History and Law, said “He was not an abolitionist. He bought and sold slaves for his in-laws, and opposing slavery was never at the forefront of his agenda.”
im late w the hamilton criticism stuff & im clearly biased but.. i really like that this conversation is happening. 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
— tracy clayton aka CHUBBA BEEF (@brokeymcpoverty) July 5, 2020
Creator of ‘Hamilton’, Lin-Manuel Miranda, replied to Twitter user @brokeymcpoverty, saying that “All the criticisms are valid” and that he did his best to capture the complexities of the historical figures. “It’s all fair game”, he says.
Appreciate you so much, @brokeymcpoverty. 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. https://t.co/mjhU8sXS1U
— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) July 6, 2020
Many fans and celebrities alike have jumped to defend Miranda, who is a vocal supporter of the BLM movement, against the wave of ‘cancel culture’, understanding that a musical is a retelling of a story, and is not always entirely factual.
Huh? Hamilton traded enslaved Africans. Jefferson did. Washington did. Madison did. A Broadway musical ain’t a history book. I actually read those. So I understand the difference between a brilliantly rendered play and actual American history. Celebrating a slave trader? pic.twitter.com/g60thfWXp8
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) July 3, 2020
Regardless of the criticism it has come up against, the release of the ‘Hamilton’ has been a phenomenal success, resulting in over 750,000 additional downloads of the Disney+ app. What comes next for ‘Hamilton’? Guess we’ll have to wait for it.
What do you think of ‘Hamilton’?
Let us know in the comments below!