Least Oppressed People on the Planet Boo Vice President
"Hamilton", Liberal Behavior, Mike Pence
Lois Lane, at Ricochet, found the behavior of the cast and audience of Hamilton toward the Vice-President-Elect disgraceful.
I was bothered when a friend sent me a text last night that said Pence was being booed by the audience in New York.
First, I know how much those seats cost. There is not a person in that group who is not part of an elite of some sort. They are the least oppressed people on the planet. Seriously. Least oppressed.
Second, I can’t imagine that even in New York, there are not Trump voters in that audience who paid their money, too, and just wanted to see the show without feeling as if their own political choices were being assaulted.
Third, it’s just rude to boo someone in a theatre. Seriously rude.
Anyway, after the show, during the curtain call, the cast decided to send out another message.
The man currently playing Hamilton read a note to Pence. It started out well enough.
He said the vice president was welcome at the show… (like, you know, anyone who can afford to spend as much on two hours of entertainment as most people pay for rent.)
However… (here’s where it goes wonky)… he hoped that Pence would understand the diverse group of actors were frightened by the Trump administration. (Frightened? Of what exactly?)
American values are for everyone, he said, and Pence should honor them.
The audience went as wild as people at a football game.
I’m sure this actor felt he was being courageous in some way, but this was not courage. He gave a lecture to a mild mannered guy from the Midwest who just won the support of more than 60 million other Americans… not Hitler. This was also in a room with an audience completely on his side.
Most tragic of all, this was an opportunity lost.
Though the real Alexander Hamilton could sometimes let his emotions push his actions, he was at heart a politician who understood power, and I think he would have placed his words with more care.
It would have been a million times better if the cast had rebuked the audience for their classless behavior… not Pence. It would have been amazing if they had said they were glad that he was there, and they understood our great country has a diversity of opinions… ideas. They knew from their own script that politics was a bruising endeavor, but they hoped for a united America moving forward.
Instead, they really did make it about complexion alone. And grandstanding. Which is a shame.