I found watching 1776 and Hamilton to be a very different experience compared to just watching a movie. I believe these live action plays give the viewer more insight than would live stream media. While they are both very different, they follow similar stories about the founding fathers and what led to the creation of the Declaration of Independence.
Personally, I found Hamilton to be more compelling because of the way Lin-Manuel Miranda created it and portrayed all of these originally white men in history as men of color. This changed my whole perspective on the story. I think that by doing this, the viewer is forced to confront the harsh reality that in the times of the Declaration these people, people of color, would have had no rights. Especially, under the laws laid out but the Declaration of Independence, which only protected white men who owned property. This theme of inequality underlies all of Hamilton, however I don’t think it is specifically brought about in the actual play. I believe 1776 failed on this aspect as well, especially due to the lack of diversity within the actors. Each playwright fails to show the side of the “others”. As we have talked about in class before, history is written by the victors, not the downtrodden “regular people”. I think adding more of this perspective to each, or at least mentioning it more often could help to bridge the gap between the shiny history we are taught growing up and the more authentic, relatable history that shows the realties of living during these times.
I agree with your suggestion about adding more perspective to both Hamilton and 1776. Although they both attempted to shed a new light on a “new history”, they both failed in complete execution. I did like how 1776 normalized our founding fathers. The directors were able to highlight the fact that they are in fact human and not godly figures. Our history tends to valorize these individuals and ignore the common people. Adding new perspectives allows us to alter these perceptions.
I agree that these two plays give more insight, it forces us to see the harsh realities that people faced, specifically people of color, during the times of the Declaration of Independence. I also agree that there could have been more perspectives used in both 1776 and Hamilton, like the perspective of the regular people because it will help bring the different versions of history together.
I agree I feel as though both the plays also left out the significant perspective from the “others.” I wonder how the popularity would change if the plays incorporated the perspective of different people.
I found the characters to almost come more alive in these productions than a normal movie setting.
I agree with your notion that Hamilton was more compelling because of its actors, storyline, and overall energy. I was actually able to see it live on Broadway, and to say I was blown away would be an understatement. While watching, you are transported into their world, and the fact that you got that by just watching the video of the musical, really shows how powerful its influence is.
I completely agree that Hamilton was much more exciting to watch compared to 1776 due to the amazing soundtrack and more extravagant actors, such as Lin-Manuel Miranda. I agree that your point that Hamilton and 1776 both don’t capture the perspective of the “other” groups involved. However, I believe Hamilton provided a more diverse and well-rounded depiction of this era in our country’s history in comparison to 1776 due to Hamilton’s more realistic lyrics and storyline.
I definitely agree with your statement about telling the history from a regular person’s perspective and not just the elites’ point of view because even though Hamilton is filled with people of color and lyrics about immigration, it still paints Hamilton to be a much better person than he truly was. It kind of skims over the bad parts of Alexander Hamilton because he is played by Lin Manuel- Miranda, and more criticism of him probably should have been implemented in the play.