Hollywood Reporter: Is Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda at risk for being sued by only casting African-Americans in the role of George Washington in his award-winning musical? According to a new petition before the Supreme Court, he very well might be. Charter Communications, one of the biggest cable operators in the nation, is now telling the Supreme Court that if a recent Ninth Circuit ruling is left in place, white actors could attack Miranda's magnum opus with viable discrimination suits.
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This is a slippery slope, and certainly an interesting conversation to read and think about, because I can see both sides. On the one hand, theater has been casting based on race and gender for hundreds of years, and no one has been sued about it. I find it hard to believe that there is any other reason for that other than white people being angry that for once in their lives the most popular show is all POC, I guess if a strong enough argument was provided I might see it. Theater by definition casts people based on specific visual traits, on top of their acting skills, and it's always been that way. Casting entirely POC is no different than a production casting entirely white people, but in that all white production, no one batts an eye, and no one gets a bug up their butt about not getting cast. White actors have consistently more opportunities than POC actors, and it's about time these blockbuster productions start representing the whole country, rather than just one group. I think when it comes to this particular law, the people sueing need to take a step back and realize that they have so many more opportunities, and Hamilton deserves to belong to the culture whom it was created for.
The more and more I read this article, the more invested I found myself. I quickly found myself very intrigued in all the nuances of this court case. The first thing that came to mind when I read this article is exactly what Lenora said early in her comment. All I could think is how people in theater have been casting based on gender and color forever, yet this is the first major court case I have heard about that addresses this issue. While I do not think the fact that we have been doing it for a long time justifies it, it is something to think about. Another interesting thing to point out is how none of this would sit in court at all if Lin Manuel hadn't explicitly stated that he would never cast a white actor in the role of George Washington. If hadn't said this, it would have been easy to just write it off as casting who was best suited for the role.
When I first saw this title, I could not help but roll my eyes. I do not know if the way Lin Manuel Miranda handled his casting calls was really the best way to go about it, but honestly, who cares? I think the idea of any white person calling out for racial discrimination is just a huge joke. I mean come on. Can you not even let them have Hamilton? Why do people feel so determined to take away as much as possible from minorities? It is bad enough when they are prevented from being in shows because of prejudiced casting, but then when a show strives to do the exact opposite, people can not handle it and blow up on the whole thing. I do not think it is appropriate for anyone of such high privilege to call out other people of less privileged for doing the things that they have gotten away with for so long in history.
I read this article and I started laughing my ass off. Really, the idea and mindset that goes behind filing a lawsuit like this is simply ridiculous. It may be historically inaccurate that the actors playing the founding fathers are white, but really does it matter? Casting has always been an issue when it comes to being racially disproportionate, people don't cast people of color in roles because there is an immediate connotation that a Latinx, Indian, Black, etc., that connotation is that they're foreign, not American. So in a lot of ways this lawsuit is a demonstration of racism. If you see a movie like "Us", in which Jordan Peele casts a black family that is no different than any of their white counterparts, and simply makes a movie about their story, not about them being black. Hamilton isn't about them being of color, its about people of color portraying these stories.
This case sadly highlights the racial divide in our country. I also want to point out that Manuel has cast white actors in the role of George Washington. In fact, the original George Washington was played by Jonathan Groff and the actor on tour was also played by a white male. Anyway, I understand both sides of this argument. As a person of color, I love that Manuel is putting representation into the theater world, as it has always been difficult for POCs to be cast in major roles that aren’t completely type casted and stereotyped. But I also know that by not casting white actors, this is also racial discrimination. Manuel has always said that he casted the original Hamilton the way he did to represent what the US ethnically looks like today, but there are just as many white people who also need to be represented. I find this whole case very confusing and difficult to find a proper solution to.
Oof. Why do we still need to explain the horrifying behavior of reverse racism? This case has a lot of small pieces and details that I hadn’t heard about. The way in which Lin Manuel Miranda and the casting team have presented the casting criteria and process for this role is probably not the best, but there is a point that serves this story, which I know doesn’t hold up in court, but it is the truth. Also, I recall having seen several other companies and productions of other shows specifically casting only specific races, and I haven’t heard of one becoming a case such as this. This is likely because none of these shows were a spectacle quite like Hamilton. Also, there is just the giant piece of awareness. How many shows singularly cast white people? The people suing need to consider their own opportunities and see that it is not their turn.
This article makes me so mad!!! Not only is this a ridiculous case of “reverse racism” but even if these white actors technically have the claims to sue, why would they? Literally almost every mainstream musical is catered to white people with very few options for people of color. Hamilton overall is not discriminating against white people, there are white roles in the show. These white actors can still be in Hamilton, just maybe not in one role. Hamilton was written to tell the story of the founding of America from POC’s point of view. If you did colorblind casting, the message would be lost. The Color Purple doesn’t cast white people as slaves, and they don’t seem to be complaining about discrimination based on race. This is literally like if a 42-year-old woman sued Matilda for not casting her as Matilda based on age discrimination. THAT WOULD NOT MAKE SENSE.
I’ve been wondering if this was going to happen for a while, and I’m only somewhat surprised to see that it has. It’s a pretty common complaint from certain groups of people that affirmative action movements are discriminatory against white people, with cries of ‘reverse racism’ and ‘discrimination’. It’s always struck me as privileged people looking for things to be oppressed by because they’re angry that something, finally, isn’t meant to cater to them. I am somewhat surprised that this is the first major court issue I’ve heard about regarding casting- the industry has been wrestling with the ethics of color casting for forever. Unfortunately, I think the reason this one has taken prominence is because a minority suing because they didn’t get a “white” part would be seen as ridiculous. Hamilton has always been controversial in certain circles because of its casting policies, but this case might have far-reaching consequences through all theatrical casting.
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