Years ago, I saw Les Miserables for the first time. I’d
never been a Broadway/musical fan before, but Les Mis was such a triumph of
artistry and meaning that I thought maybe I was missing something. I wasn’t. I
gave Broadway a try. What I found was a series of over-hyped, vapid productions.
I’m still a Les Miserables fan, but not a Broadway guy. When the hype began to
build around Hamilton a few years ago, it didn’t get me very excited. It didn’t
even get me very interested. As the hype grew, my interest decreased. I figured
it was a lot of people spending money to wait around for a year to watch some
easy diversity points and cheap progressive wins against straw men, all wrapped
up in a couple of catchy songs.
I WAS WRONG.
Trust me on this. You need to see Hamilton. Here’s why.
The characters are authentically human.
One of the biggest problems with our media culture is that
heroes are always heroes, and villains are always villains. I know, of late there’s
been a “demythologizing” of heroes, but that just turns heroes into
villains. Entertainment on the popular level seldom offers us human beings as
they truly are. The correct response to this failure is to reject popular
entertainment (why I don’t really watch TV anymore). Sadly, most people accept
these fictional characters as “real,” and then attempt to fit real humans into
the fictional mold. Sidenote: that’s how you divide a culture.
Hamilton doesn’t succumb to this failure. Alexander
Hamilton, the protagonist (huge spoiler there), is a hero. He’s a good guy. You
root for him, love him, and want him to win; but he’s also broken, misguided,
and too often gives way to ruthless ambition in a way that's a little too much like you. He’s a human. Don’t get me wrong,
at the end you still like him. You just wish he’d have figured some things out
a little earlier.
Aaron Burr, the antagonist (if you know your history this
shouldn’t be spoiler), is not a great guy. He’s slippery, greasy,
untrustworthy. He’ll say whatever he needs to say to get what he wants. You don’t
like him, but sometimes you really want to. As the story progresses, you begin
to understand why he feels the way he does. You feel his frustration, grieve
for his failures. While at the end you still dislike him, you are left feeling
that a deep friendship between Hamilton and Burr was just one step too far for
both, and you mourn that loss.
King George
If for no other reason, watch Hamilton for King George. He
is the most entertaining, disturbing, laughable, and unsettling character I
have seen in many years. He is perfectly psychopathic. It is a masterclass of
acting, mostly accomplished through facial expressions alone, aided by the
judicious use of spittle. King George. You won’t be disappointed.
It is respectful
We’ve got a real problem with our founding fathers. We don’t
know what to do with them. They are “problematic.” If we really get down to it
though, the “problem” is us. We don’t know how to accept humans as humans (see
the discussion on popular culture above). We as a people do not know how to
simultaneously celebrate a person’s accomplishments and mourn their sins. We are
always forgetting one to highlight the other. Hamilton does not destroy the
legacy of our founding fathers. If you love the flag and lay flowers at the
graveyard on Memorial Day, you will not be offended by Hamilton. However, the
founding fathers do not get a pass. Jefferson, and others, but mostly
Jefferson, are called out for their complex and confusing attitudes towards freedom
and slavery, equality and gender, in ways that do not undermine the truly
amazing accomplishment of this nation. You can walk away from Hamilton proud of
what these men did, and troubled by what they failed to do. It is as it should
be.
It is a mastery of its form
I’m not a big painting person. I’ve tried, but there’s too
much history, and technicality, and, honestly, pretense. However, whenever I
get the chance I will sit and stare at a Van Gogh, Caravaggio, or any one of
the Dutch landscape masters, simply because, even too my philistine’s eyes,
they are masterpieces. There are levels of meaning in Hamilton, selections in
the style of hip-hop used by each character which make connections to masters
of that artform which inform the attitudes and outlooks of each individual
character on stage, connections which I will never fully understand, and which
I do not have the time or inclination to investigate. Still, even to my
philistine’s ears, this is a triumph.
A Teaser
There is one more reason to see Hamilton. It is a moment of
truth and heartbreak that made me hold each one of my sons more tightly for a
week, and made me yearn to father them better. But, to share would be to give
too much away. You will have to see it for yourself.
I’m not afraid to admit that I was wrong. I was wrong about
Hamilton. I owe a huge shout-out to my sister-in-law, who was on the bandwagon
long before me. She has seldom led me astray with recommendations. I should
have listened. My life is richer for having seen Hamilton. I pray yours will be
as well.
