A “Model” American Musical

Abstract

Abstract This chapter submits three properties that define Hamilton as a model American musical. First, it is a model cultural commodity on multiple political fronts: rendering race ambiguous, it appeals to the typical Broadway audience; promoting utopian fantasies, it enchants the underprivileged. Second, it puts forth a model history education tool that lauds white Founding Fathers, applauds American exceptionalism, and downplays atrocities suffered by its disenfranchised people. Last but not least, Hamilton facilitates the rise of model minorities—the elitist people-of-color who thrive in a neoliberal society where individuals do not necessarily operate on a level playing field. This essay proposes the term “model minorities”—both a critique of and reparation to “model minority,” a problematic term coined to refer to Asian Americans in the 1960s, to elucidate the key relationship between Hamilton and the minority population in the times of neoliberalism.