Perhaps looming largest is the fact that, as the Washington Postexplains, while Hamilton was indeed an abolitionist who didn't technically own any enslaved people, his close relationships with fellow founding fathers indicate that he somewhat partook in the system himself. The discussion is not just about ' Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story ,' but whose story has gotten told. The conversation about whether Hamilton is problematic began long before its debut on Disney Plus, even if it's taken on new weight amid the current debate over taking down Confederate monuments and the general whitewashing of American history. 'I took 6 years and fit as much as I could in a 2.5 hour musical. Or wrestled with but cut,' he continued, referring to the darker sides of the founding fathers' history, including the exploitative practice of chattel slave labor. 'The sheer tonnage of complexities & failings of these people I couldn’t get. In a July 6 tweet quoting thoughts from writer Tracy Clayton, Miranda acknowledged: 'All the criticisms are valid.' While that move earned still more criticism from people who evidently wanted Miranda to immediately address the extremely complicated issues at hand on a night that was meant to celebrate Hamilton, he took a beat to formulate a response instead. Other Twitter users also took issue with Miranda using the n-word in two audiobooks, once while reading directly from a work by author Junot Diaz, and again while quoting his castmate Daveed Diggs in the pages his own book about Hamilton.įollowing a July 3 viewing party on Twitter-during which Miranda watched along and shared reactions alongside fellow Twitter users-the writer and performer temporarily set his Twitter to private.

The movie version, unveiled by Disney Plus over a year ahead of schedule on July 3, earned new fans and delighted those who'd only gotten to hear the original cast perform on the original cast recording (aka the soundtrack).īut reaching a wider audience also brought a deluge of criticism amid the praise-including concerns about how the work lionized the United States' slave-owning founding fathers and didn't accurately portray history. Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton musical has become an international sensation over the past five years, sweeping the 2016 Tony Awards and drawing top dollar for tickets.

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