In writer Sarah Lee’s July 3rd “Marble Halls & Silver Screen” entry, she recommended RedState readers catch Hamilton on Disney Plus:
I encourage everyone to watch because in the Cancellation Age we must find ways to unite and celebrate our shared history before the destroyers can be convinced all vestiges of it need to be erased. And if we can keep Hamilton, it makes it harder to argue that we can’t keep Gone With The Wind. And we’re better off if we keep it all.
So…can we keep it?
Some woke critics are now saying No.
On Monday, the Daily Mail announced, “#CancelHamilton sweeps the internet with calls for the musical to be AXED after its debut on Disney Plus over criticism of the Founding Father for his role in slave trade.”
If you’re unfamiliar with the particulars of the show’s success, according to Broadyway.com, it’s grossed a mind-blowing $650,000,000 in ticket sales since opening in 2015.
And from the Chicago Tribune in January:
Hamilton ends its run of over three years here on Sunday as the most financially and, arguably, artistically successful theatrical attraction in the history of Chicago. By the time Miguel Cervantes, its star from the beginning, takes his final bow as Alexander Hamilton around 5 p.m. at the sold-out CIBC Theatre, the Chicago company of Hamilton will have rung up more than $400 million in gross sales at the box office.
No other show in the Loop ever has come close to that kind of money. Or to such popular appeal and critical acclaim.
But now the acclaim is downright critical.
Though the show portrays featured character Alexander as — per one of its songs — a “young, scrappy, and hungry” immigrant who’s passionately determined to end slavery, not everyone’s in agreement with that characterization.
From the Mail:
[I]n light of recent Black Lives Matter protests, the story has now come under greater scrutiny – with some pointing out that Hamilton was a slave trader.
The Founding Father married into a prominent New York slaveholding family, and managed the sale of slaves for his in-laws. He also did accounting for a Caribbean trading company that engaged in the slave trade.
Though he likely never himself owned slaves, Twitter’s aflutter with flames and flogging for the fella:
can we cancel hamilton for glorifying our racist founding fathers and painting america as a good country? #CancelHamilton #Hamilton
— kody white (@kodywhite_) July 3, 2020
Hamilton cancelled himself when he decided to buy and sell human beings, but I guess that’s okay with you and the other white supremacists. #CancelHamilton
— Michael (@Imprecariat) July 6, 2020
Hamilton was a slave trader who trafficked in the selling of Africans in the United States. Shameful that Disney would support and uplift this “founding father” #cancelhamilton #BlackLivesMatter
— Rosa A. Clemente (@rosaclemente) July 1, 2020
Actor Michael Rappaport’s definitely onboard the trample train:
Has anyone else been forced to watch #hamiltonmovie by someone they love?
Brutal— MichaelRapaport (@MichaelRapaport) July 4, 2020
Is it time to discuss canceling #hamiltonmusical ?
Celebrating a singing George Washington?#CancelHamilton pic.twitter.com/0mcBwfpxDZ— MichaelRapaport (@MichaelRapaport) July 4, 2020
As it turns out, the theatrical extravaganza not only culturally appropriates, but it’s that absolute worst of all contemporary things — problematic:
Are y’all ready to talk about how problematic Hamilton is?
Lin Manuel Miranda created a piece of work that used hip hop (a genre created by black people) to tell the story of colonizers and slave owners.
— BLM- izi (@izzy_bella_26) June 30, 2020
There was even this:
i’m sorry, but those roles should have gone to white actors. how can a latino or black person play the part of a white person if they haven’t lived the white experience? #CancelHamilton #BrownPrivilege
— Rad Smibblesworth (@radsmib) July 5, 2020
Some say the Left eat their own, and there’s good evidence a bit of cannibalism is afoot.
This was Lin back in May:
We stand on the side of justice. Black Lives Matter. Take action now in the links below. #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/Y6T1tDNABF
— Hamilton (@HamiltonMusical) May 31, 2020
Even still:
I tried to watch this show earlier it was so ahistorical and odd turned it off. They was rapping and making up facts. WTH did I watch? 🤷🏿♂️😆🇺🇸👀 #CancelHamilton appears on Twitter days after musical's Disney+ debut
https://t.co/JZzKoiBQdl— Antonio Moore (@tonetalks) July 6, 2020
And it isn’t just your average everyday run-of-the-mill naysayers. Here’s self-identified “international human rights activist” Ajamu Baraka:
The play & now movie Hamilton is racist buffoonery & revisionist history meant to make liberal white folks feel good about their collaboration with the colonial project know as the U.S. & its racist imperialist project abroad. Miranda should concentrate on feeing Puerto Rico
— Ajamu Baraka (@ajamubaraka) July 4, 2020
Furthermore, historian Annette Gordon-Reed told The Harvard Gazette:
“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.”
So will the musical make it through? I’d say Yes — money talks, and The Offended mostly just type.
Apropos, they can put this in their pipe and smoke it:
- 11 Tonys
- $1 billion gross worldwide
Back to Sarah Lee’s piece, I’d say Hamilton won’t be Gone With the Wind any time soon.
Then again, I thought George Washington would never be deleted from history.
#YaNeverKnow
-ALEX
See a few more pieces from me:
History, You’re History: Prominent Prep School Jilts George Washington for Not Being ‘Relevant’
The Masters Golf Tournament Gets a Woke Work-Over: Sportswriter Demands the Racist Name Be Changed
Find all my RedState work here.
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