Friday News: “Hamilton” & race, new BiblioTech branch, fighting fat stereotypes, and RBG coloring book
Publishing NewsBiblioTech Library / coloring books / digital lending / fat shaming / Hamilton / Race / SCOTUS / subverting stereotypes / US history5 Comments
Race-Conscious Casting and the Erasure of the Black Past in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton – A friend sent this article to me a while ago, and now that I’ve had a chance to read it, I’m really curious to hear from people who have seen the musical “Hamilton” about Lyra Monteiro’s argument that despite all of the critical praise the play has received for its casting choices, the casting choices reinforce rather than subvert the historical narrative of racial erasure. Monteiro, a historian in American Studies at Rutgers, argues that the play “eras[es] the presence of black bodies . . . as the role of people of color in the Revolution itself is silenced.” It’s a very interesting analysis, that suggests the impossibility of subverting history without actually challenging the historical narrative, which she does not believe the casting succeeds in doing.
The idea that this musical ‘‘looks like America looks now’’ in contrast to ‘‘then,’’ however, is misleading and actively erases the presence and role of black and brown people in Revolutionary America, as well as before and since. America ‘‘then’’ did look like the people in this play, if you looked outside of the halls of government. This has never been a white nation. The idea that the actors who are performing on stage represent newcomers to this country in any way is insulting. Miranda is Puerto Rican, meaning his parents and even his grandparents were born American citizens; the African American actors in the play may have ancestors that fought in the same Revolutionary War depicted on stage—and may also be the descendants of enslaved people on whose backs the founders built their fortunes and sustained their lifestyles. More pointedly, it is problematic to have black and brown actors stand in for the great white men of the early United States in a play that does not acknowledge that the ancestors of these same actors were excluded from the freedoms for which the founders fought.
This realization brings attention to a truly damning omission in the show: despite the proliferation of black and brown bodies onstage, not a single enslaved or free person of color exists as a character in this play. For the space of only a couple of bars, a chorus member assumes the role of Sally Hemings, but is recognizable as such only by those who catch Jefferson’s reference to the enslaved woman with whom he had an ongoing sexual relationship. Unless one listens carefully to the lyrics—which do mention slavery a handful of times—one could easily assume that slavery did not exist in this world, and certainly that it was not an important part of the lives and livelihoods of the men who created the nation. – The Public Historian/Academia.edu
The all-digital branches may have lower physical operating costs, but they also have much higher digital costs. Library ebooks costs four to six times as much as print books, are sold under expiring licenses, and require annual maintenance fees. Libraries also have to invest in additional hardware so the ebooks can be read, so it is far from clear whether the new idea is a net positive or a negative.In any case, the third branch is expected to open early next year. Patrons will be able to access BiblioTech’s ebook catalog through Cloud Library, as well as other digital services like Hoopla and Zinio. That ebook catalog will be augmented by an additional 4,000 titles purchased with a generous $100,000 grant from the Kronkosky Foundation. – The Digital Reader
‘You Cannot Shame Me’: 2 New Books Tear Down ‘Fat Girl’ Stereotypes – After yesterday’s piece on fat shaming in YA, this piece in NPR on two books that challenge those stereotypes seemed a relevant counterpoint (even though the two books featured – Dietland by Sarai Walker and 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl by Mona Awad – are not YA). Walker’s book has been optioned for television, and she makes the point that there need to be more portrayals of women who accept themselves no matter what their body size. Speaking of which, I recently discovered “Drop Dead Diva” on Netflix and appreciate its direct take on precisely that process.
In our culture, says writer Sarai Walker, we have this idea that inside every fat person there is a thin person waiting to be “freed.” Walker is the author of the novel Dietland. Her 29-year-old heroine Plum is desperate for the chance to undergo weight reduction surgery.
“In Dietland I just wanted to kind of start off with this miserable fat woman who was desperate to lose weight, kind of that familiar territory,” Walker says. “And then I wanted to blow up that story into a million pieces.” – NPR
SCOTUS justice gets her own coloring book – And the coloring book market continues to expand, this time with a volume dedicated to the Notorious RBG, who was only the second woman appointed to the US Supreme Court, nearly two hundred years after its founding. It’s unclear whether this book is geared toward kids or adults, although I can see its educational value for both audiences. On Ginsburg’s popularity, author Tom F. O’Leary says,
“Although publicly Ginsburg absolutely embodies the sober and respectable attitudes and behaviors we expect from a Supreme Court Justice, her fancy lace jabots, tongue-in-cheek admission of public intoxication, and revelation of potentially embarrassing personal details have all humanized her, and in my opinion are exactly the reason we find her so accessible as a pop culture icon.” – WTOP
I don’t know if I disagree with that Hamilton article, but I don’t agree with it either (I realize that makes no sense!). Maybe somewhere in between? I have seen the musical in person, so here are my personal thoughts:
1) I agree slavery isn’t the focus of the musical, but it does show up strongly in a few places. E.g. the song Cabinet Battle #1 explores the complete hypocrisy of Virginia being debt-free because they rely on slave labor. John Laurens mentions his abolitionist viewpoint (My Shot and Yorktown). Is slavery the main focus? Certainly not. But I’m also not sure how the musical could’ve incorporated slavery more without completely shifting the narrative from Hamilton’s political conflicts (which I interpreted was the main theme). Maybe it could’ve been done, but it wasn’t.
2) In the song What’d I Miss, Jefferson is wheeled out on this staircase thingy by his slaves. It’s fucked up, and the audience knows that it’s fucked up. It’s a critique without being voiced, but it was weirdly empowering to see Jefferson to be portrayed by a biracial man. I can’t really describe WHY, but it certainly felt that way in the audience. Maybe it was a giant Fuck You to Jefferson? I don’t know. Also, I lived in Charlottesville, Virginia (TJ’s hometown) for thirteen years and nearly went to U.Va so it was a bit of a relief to see something that didn’t pretend that Jefferson was this flawless moral paragon.
3) Maybe it’s hard to picture the actors while listening to the songs, but you certainly can’t ignore the actors on stage. The whole time, I kept on thinking how most of these founders would’ve hated the people who were portraying them. It didn’t stop me from enjoying the show, but it did give me pause. After some thought, I not only was okay with it but endorsed it. Who gives a fuck if the founders would’ve approved of their portrayals? And if people get excited about the idea of PoC portraying white guys, it’s a thousand times better to see it in person. I realize I’m not being very explicit in my description, but it’s *hard* to vocalize my euphoria. I was pretty much on cloud nine the entire time.
4) Anyone who walks out of Hamilton and thinks that Jefferson or Madison or any of these other founding fathers are moral paragons are out of their minds. Even GW, who is portrayed as an admirable man (TJ and JM are villains), was a slave-owner all his life. So I do feel that though Jefferson and Madison are criticized on their slavery stance, Washington isn’t. This is a glaring omission but Washington is supposed to be “one of the good guys” and you can’t convince the audience of that if someone mentions his slaves.
5) I disagree with the author when she says “The idea that the actors who are performing on stage represent newcomers to this country in any way is insulting.” I don’t think anyone actually thinks that these actors are newcomers to the US. IMO the whole “America then vs America now” is more about positions in power rather than claiming that only white people existed in the 1700s. In “America then” people of color pretty much had no position of power in society whereas we (I’m an Indian-American) do now. So the author interpreted the “America then” thing one way, and I did so another way. Not saying she’s wrong, but that it’s open to many different interpretations.
6) The author is absolutely right about many African Americans not have a role (besides Sally Hemmings). Hercules Mulligan was a tailor and spy for the Revolution, but perhaps more famous was his slave Cato. According to Cato’s wiki page, “Cato was an African-American slave who served as an American Black Patriot spy and courier gathering Intelligence with his owner, Hercules Mulligan, who was a “sub-agent of the Culper Ring” in New York City.” Cato was absolutely an important contribution to the Revolution and maybe could have been introduced/mentioned since Mulligan was one of Hamilton’s three friends in the first actor.
7) So did the musical erase the existence of African Americans in the revolutionary era? Yes. No. I don’t know. I walked into the show with a good background of the American Revolution and have read books about the contributions of AA men and women in the war. Most people probably haven’t. I think “erase” is a strong and mistaken word. Maybe ignored (e.g. Cato)? But ultimately the show is about Hamilton, a white founding father. He was a “kind of” an abolitionist and the major conflicts of his life dealt with other white men. I could be wrong about this, but I doubt Hamilton spent much of his time interacting with African Americans. So if you want to make a two hour show on his life, slavery and the contributions of black Americans are probably going to be put in the sidelines.
8) Just in case it wasn’t clear, I fucking loved it. I would’ve bought another ticket but the prices made my wallet wince with pain. Once was enough until prices get more reasonable. But I think that I can love it and still somewhat agree with the author. I don’t agree with all of her argument, but the lack of actual AA characters is a valid point. Maybe Miranda wrote it that way simply because of narrative/structural issues (did Cato actually interact with Hamilton? I don’t know), but the criticism still holds. I would love to see a musical about African Americans (“Black Patriots”) in the Revolution. But like I said earlier, you’re not going to get a story with African American characters when the title is about a white founding father.
Sooo… feel free to disagree with me. I love talking/debating about Hamilton.
How do you put people who have been erased back into history in a story? Sure, you can have slaves doing menial labor in stage, but how do you make them meaningful characters? We actually know a lot about Sally Hemmings, thanks to the reasearch of Gordon-Reed, but we don’t know anything about her character or her relationship with Jefferson. Was she pretty and their relationship was largely physical? Did she have a deep thirst for learning and was attracted to Jefferson because he gave her access to knowledge? In short, was she a bimbo or a nerd?
How did slaves deal with their owners? I believe one common way was to pretend ignorance. If a slave finished chore 1 promptly, he’d be assigned chore 2, so why work hard? I always thought Prissy in Gone with the Wind was the epitome of this model. When reluctant to do something, she played stupid. Or she didn’t do it and played stupid when caught. Most modern readers are frustrated with the way she’s portrayed — they want her to be admirable, but I think it’s unrealistic to be admirable in slavery. How many humans will work hard for zero reward?
So you risk creating the unrealistic smart, perfect Jeeves-like characters or making some slaves into pseudo-companion peers of their owners, or having them be, perhaps more realistically, like Prissy, sly and stupid when she chooses and have no one like her.
I agree with Divya, the article seems both right and wrong?
The critique is fair, no, the play does not include a prominent character of color. But yes, the musical is based on a biography of a white founding father whose primary interactions were with other white founding fathers. I think the musical discussed slavery/race as much a possible given the limitation of primarily being a story about the life of Alexander Hamilton.
The idea that the actors who are performing on stage represent newcomers to this country in any way is insulting.
For me, this was the complete opposite of why I thought casting PoC was powerful. The musical highlights that this founding father was himself a newcomer. Hamilton (and kickass Lafayette) are immigrants who were not of this country but who adopt it and shape a part of its history. And to have PoC play all the major roles emphasized that narrative. Whether or not you are a literal newcomer (immigrant) or you are treated as an newcomer (person of color) it doesn’t matter because you belong in this story of American and you have the power to shape where this story goes. That’s the message I walked away with.
And to see it live is another layer. While watching, I got sucked in to the story and kind of forgot it was all played by people of color. It was actually a little startling to me when King George walks on stage. He’s the only prominent white character in the play. He’s hilarious but he’s also from the literal old world and sings in a completely different musical tradition. It felt like this subtext that trying to cling to a different era is to miss the vibrancy and excitement of the here and now.
Divya and rlynn, I loved your comments! That’s all.
What Janine said.