A couple years ago I got to go to Broadway with none other than your fellow writer Scoop and watch Hamilton. It was not the original cast but honestly it didn't matter; these guys were still super talented. I'm not a Broadway connoisseur and I haven't seen many plays but I agree with the rest of the world when I say it was an amazing play. And a few days ago it was made available to anyone in the world as it was premiered on Disney Plus. So even though I saw the play a few years ago I did decide to watch it again and of course I was super impressed by the original cast. Its honestly crazy how talented these people are that they are able to go out there every night and and perform live with three hours without making a single mistake. Compare this to actors in movies who spends a whole day on one scene in which they need to do hundreds of takes to get it right.
So was a Aaron Burr a bad guy? If you've watched the play and haven't done any much of your own research then you would probably say yes. But keep in mind the title of the play is Hamilton. Its like trying to learn all about South Koreans by just looking at North Korean media. Aaron Burr was a founding father of the United States and whether he deserved it or not he was the Vice President. He was also a senator and player an instrumental role in changing the ways Vice Presidents are elected. The fact that people now don't like him because he shot Hamilton is honestly just ridiculous. Its not like Burr just snuck into Hamilton's house and shot him in the face. No, they agreed to a duel in which they were both willing to die. I'm not trying to justify dueling because honestly its one of the stupidest things I've ever heard of but an agreement is an agreement.
And the final dueling scene of Hamilton is most likely not historically accurate. There were only a few witnesses of the duel and they disagree as to who shot first and if Hamilton even aimed his gun at the sky. I also don't understand the concept of shooting towards the sky. Like if you're not trying to kill the man whats the point of shooting.
I can only wonder if Hamilton would have been alienated in the same way as Burr if Hamilton was the one to shoot and kill Burr. And keep in mind Hamilton is kind of the asshole of the story. He started by choosing his work over his family which is never a good start to a story (just ask Walter White) and then he cheated on his wife and let the world know. Then he basically just let his son go die in a duel instead of stopping him (I think i must be missing something about dueling because it just doesn't make sense to me). And he also endorsed Jefferson in 1800 just to spite Burr which is kind of an asshole move.
So before you are quick to assume that Hamilton was the good guy and Burr was the bad guy, keep in mind the title of the play is Hamilton so you already know which one of the two is going to be glorified in the play.
Also as a side note, I can only wonder how many people think Aaron Burr was black? Obviously if you know anything about history you would know that it was nearly impossible for a black man in the 18th century to become Vice President but Leslie Odom Jr does such a great job at portraying Burr that your average idiot might think that Odom looks like Burr which can't be further from the truth. Honestly when I think of the name Aaron Burr I don't think of the actual Aaron Burr, I think of Leslie Odom Jr. For some reason this isn't the same for James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington who were also portrayed by black actors in the play. This just shows how amazing of a performance Odom had in the play. In case you were wondering what Burr actually looks like, see below. Thank you for your time.
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