In 2015 Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical, "Hamilton", was released and put on broadway. On the Fourth of July weekend, "Hamilton" was put on Disney+ allowing everyone to watch and critique at home. With today's issues on race and politics, the musical shines a new light on these problems. Although it brings awareness, there has been debates on whether or not it is a good representation of actual history. To expand, a New York Times article revealed that Lin-Manuel made Alexander Hamilton, along with his fellow Founding Fathers, “abolitionists”, which was found to be untrue. Hamilton was seen to be anti-slavery, however he did not do a lot to act against slavery, and if anything, fed into it. Additionally, Lin-Manuel Miranda created the line, “immigrants, we get the job done” suggesting immigrants helped shape America. Is this a realistic showing of immigrants in America today? Did Lin-Manuel glorify history, and make the Founding Fathers look like better people than they were? Should this musical be talked about more now that a lot of people have access to it?
The fact that so many people are watching and listening to “Hamilton” connects to AoTD in the sense that it’s a part of the entertainment industry, and is teaching people about history in music and acting rather than through history books in class. Do you think that this is a good way to spread awareness on history? Or that it should stay in history books? Is the fact that some students only know facts about the American Revolution through a musical included in the downfall of our nation and intelligence?
This is a terrifying concept because it is true; the way entertainment is becoming so popular is foreshadowing a dark future for education and typography. The use of technology for education is blurring the boundary of what is entertainment and what is education. This is difficult because that line is extremely flexible. Although, I believe that films such as Hamilton can be successful in teaching, they can depict history inaccurately which is unacceptable. I'd rather leave the teaching to the books for the safety of our new generations.
ReplyDeleteI believe Disney+ decided to release "Hamilton" during the 4th of July weekend because the musical portrays Hamilton's story during the American Revolution, and they wanted to showcase that to their subscribers. I believe Lin-Manuel Miranda had positive intentions into what he was putting in his musical, and I truly believe Disney wanted to help recognize the diversity in the actors and actresses that portrayed those characters. With this uprising racism that's been happening over these past few months, many people have wanted monuments, memorials, and statues taken down because of the way America is divided on how unfair life is living in this country. However, I feel like we need to see these historical figures as an important reminder of how America came to be and to recognize their contributions to this country. Even if some information is inaccurate in the musical, I still believe it is a good way to portray American history towards any type of audience because it shows how America came to be, and we should respect them for that.
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