Video by NYTimes
On November 18th, less than two weeks after Donald Trump and Mike Pence won the general election, Pence visited the cast of Hamilton at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. The show, a retelling of history through a modern lens of hip hop music, features a diverse cast of all creeds: whether this is sexual orientation, gender identity, or ethnicity. The show tries to shed light on marginalized people, and give them a chance to reclaim a history that they may have believed did not belong to them. The ideologies of the Trump and Pence administration do not align with the ideals of the show; and therefore, the cast felt as if they needed to address Pence when he visited. The use of logos and pathos in the speech creates a divide between the cast and Pence, which then makes the message more urgent.
Now before actor Brandon Victor Dixon can begin to speak and try to address Pence in a compelling manner, the tension and high-stakes of the situation already imply the underlying urgent message. The Hamilton cast is taking their bows, and they only have around two minutes before they know Mike Pence will be escorted out by his security. They therefore knew they needed to be articulate, direct, and fast in their delivery of this message. Literal time constraints existed over how they were able to deliver their message, so therefore, it cannot be argued that urgency did not exist.
Regardless of the time constraint, Dixon and the company of Hamilton rely on logos as a huge way of communicating their message, and establishing urgency, because it seems more logical to have people who are actually oppressed communicate a message of injustice. If you look at the entire cast as they hold hands on the edge of the stage, there are people of all different ethnicities. Black, latinx, caucasian, and more, yet the company deliberately chose to use Mr. Dixon as the spokesman of their message. Not that in any way I am trying to downgrade anyone’s oppression, but maybe a white man in the company is not the ideal deliverer of the message. Having a black man, a person that has been in the news of recent for being marginalized and unlawfully killed, seems more logical than someone who does not have to face oppression everyday just by the way they look. By logically choosing the person to deliver the speech, the audience is then more likely to give into Dixon’s use of pathos.
Throughout the speech, Dixon uses pronouns such as we, them, and our to express a commonality between the cast and the audience, and to then unite them over their fear of the current administration. By doing this, he reminds the audience that all people are sharing in their fears, instead of isolating himself and the cast as the only people being affected by the actions of our then-upcoming government. Reminding everyone that their fears are valid and shared by many only motivates them to take action in addressing them. If the speech lacked this emotional appeal, it would only upset the audience even more and make them feel as if their should-be-allies are not acknowledging that they too are scared.
Disregarding my political beliefs and agreement with the cast of Hamilton, I am motivated by the speech, and their ability to unite the audience in expressing their fear. Even though I can only empathize with race issues, because I have never been directly affected, I felt included in Dixon’s speech, and felt like I was brought into discussion as someone who fears what the Trump administration has done and will continue to do.
This was such an awesome analysis of his speech at the end of the Hamilton performance. I remember this story being all over the news and how controversial it was. As a black woman, myself, I think it is important for our injustices to be acknowledged and not ignored. By him doing this, there was no way Pence ignored him because he was forced to listen. I’m not sure that the speech changed anything or Pence’s opinions, but it at least made him think, and for that I am appreciative.
As a Hamiliton fan who has listened to the soundtrack more times than I can count and who has sat in the same theater and watched the same production as Mike Pence, I do not know how he could not be moved by the celebration of diversity in just the show alone. Adding this powerful speech to the final bows truly took it a step further, and I agree with your analysis of the impact of “we”. WE are united as the cast of Hamilton, and WE are united as Americans against agendas fueled by hate.