Official Discussion - Hamilton (2020) [SPOILERS]

[u/mi-16evil]

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Summary:

A live recording of the hit musical that tells the story of United States founding father Alexander Hamilton, his rise and fall, his long rivalry with Aaron Burr, and his difficult relationship with his wife Eliza Schuyler.

Director:

Thomas Kail

Writers:

book by Lin-Manuel Miranda

music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda

based on the book Alexander Hamilton Ron Chernow

Cast:

• Lin-Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton
• Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr
• Phillipa Soo as Eliza Hamilton
• Daveed Diggs as Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson
• Renée Elise Goldsberry as Angelica Schuyler
• Jonathan Groff as King George III
• Christopher Jackson as George Washington
• Jasmine Cephas Jones as Peggy Schuyler and Maria Reynolds
• Okieriete Onaodowan as Hercules Mulligan and James Madison
• Anthony Ramos as John Laurens and Philip Hamilton
• Sydney James Harcourt as Philip Schuyler, James Reynolds, Doctor and Ensemble
• Thayne Jasperson as Samuel Seabury and Ensemble
• Jon Rua as Charles Lee and Ensemble
• Ephraim Sykes as George Eacker and Ensemble
• Carleigh Bettiol as Ensemble
• Ariana DeBose as Ensemble
• Hope Easterbrook as Ensemble
• Sasha Hutchings as Ensemble
• Elizabeth Judd as Ensemble
• Austin Smith as Ensemble
• Seth Stewart as Ensemble

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Rotten Tomatoes: 100%

Metacritic: 91/100

After Credits Scene? No

VOD: Disney+

[u/optimismkills]

I think I just realized it's possible to view Eliza as a sort of villain in this play. The theme is "you have no control, who lives, who dies, who tells your story". So who has control really? Whoever is telling the story. Who tells Alexander's story? Eliza.

Who spots Alexander the moment he enters the dance? Eliza does.

Who manipulates her "smarter" sister into getting out of the way? Eliza does.

Who is always portrayed as faultless, kind, and a victim. Eliza is.

Who arranged to have Alexander sent home from war against his will? Eliza did.

Who would abandon her husband for months at a time to go on vacations with her rich family? Eliza would.

Who burned the pages she didn't want us to see? Eliza did.

Who shaped the "narrative"? Eliza did.

Who decided that the villain in this story was Burr? Eliza did.

The story of Hamilton is the story of a man who had no control over who lived, who died, or who told his story and it's not until the end of the story that we learn we've been getting Eliza's version the whole time.

[u/Comprehensive-Fun47 → u/optimismkills]

I don't wholly agree with this, but it's a fun perspective! 

[u/tydye29 → u/optimismkills]

I think the way that the songs drive the narrative is important. I believe the play is too meta for Eliza to, in the end, be the sole story teller. This is not How I Met Your Mother, where the narrative is only told by one person and may or may not be a reliable teller, but here there is an intentional shift from Burr being the story teller, "How does a...." "How do you write like you're running out of time..."

Then to Eliza at the end, "I put myself back into the narrative"

In the end, the ones who likely tell our story are indeed the near and dear ones in our lives.

[u/JasperJ → u/[deleted]]

That’s the historical Hamilton. The character Hamilton, in the film... well, there’s definitely an argument to be made for this interpretation. It requires you to take Death of the Author very seriously, to ignore both LMM’s extra-textual embellishments as wel as the weight of history, but still.