5 pieces of pop culture to help you endure the election

Hamilton

In a few months, I’m going to do a piece on my favorite non-movie pop culture of this year. Top of that list will be Lin-Manuel Miranda’s award-winning, ultra-popular Broadway musical. I’ll say more about its quality then; right now I’ll just say that while I’ve often encountered art that has blown my mind, it’s rare for it to continue doing so on repeat listens. “Hamilton” amazes me each time I listen to it — and I listen to it A LOT. Miranda’s hip-hop retelling of the founding of our nation is so packed with clever wordplay and weighty ideas that it’s pretty much all I listen to when I write these days. And that’s just listening to its soundtrack; like many, I’m not rich enough to see it in person yet.

I find myself returning to “Hamilton” a lot more in these days leading up to the election. Much of it is because Miranda’s play shows just how little has changed in American politics since the country’s founding. Alexander Hamilton’s story features bitter rivalries, political splintering and a sex scandal. It displays how ambition and pride can fuel success and lead to downfall, and, I guess, shows that no matter how bad our political rivalries get, at least duels aren’t a thing anymore.

But there’s more than that. In a year when treatment of minorities and women has been front and center, “Hamilton’s” diversity — for the few that don’t know, the musical’s cast is predominantly made up of people of color — is bold, refreshing and encouraging. More than that, it’s not a gimmick; a major theme of “Hamilton” is about the character’s identity as an immigrant and it’s a celebration of the diverse voices that made up our country. The play is a refutation of any claim that America is a nation belonging to any one race, culture, sex or creed.

Even more, “Hamilton” is a play bursting with ideas. It’s not a hip-hop play because that seems cute or novel; rap is the only form of music that allows Miranda to fill his characters’ mouths with this many bold ideas and philosophies while still clocking in under 10 hours. It’s the language of ingenuity, swagger and change. Miranda delivers the words that flowed from Hamilton’s pen through energetic, fun and insanely well-composed numbers, and turns cabinet meetings into rap battles. Miranda is insanely well-versed in musical knowledge, and the show also functions as love letter to Broadway, hip-hop, R&B and more. “Hamilton” hammers home the reminder that the American experiment was unique, and the forming of our nation a collaboration of people who argued and wrestled with competing ideas until something emerged that changed the world. That’s a refreshing thing to be reminded of in a year when scandal, corruption and ugliness have overshadowed every issue of concern.

You can get the “Hamilton” soundtrack wherever music is sold (including for free on Amazon Prime), or sell your firstborn for balcony seats in New York or Chicago.