Because we’re friends, I’m going to get real with you for a minute. If you asked me one year ago who Alexander Hamilton was, I would have stared blankly at you for a solid 30 seconds before spewing out this intelligent response:
“Oh! He’s on the guy on the 10-dollar bill who played some sort of role in American government in the 1700s.”
And again, because we’re friends, I hope you won’t hold that against me, or the millions of others out there who I’m sure as hell were once just as oblivious as I was. But thanks to modern entertainment and the brilliant mind of Lin-Manuel Miranda, Alexander Hamilton’s story became front and center this year, and our country received an unexpected refresher course on the barely known founding father.
History books are full of pages that detail the people, places and events that impacted our country and world. For me, the million other things I was simultaneously learning in school stifled the significance of these historical figures and moments, and I have to believe that others feel the same way. But thanks to Lin and others in the entertainment industry who saw an opportunity to use their craft to enlighten us about things we may not have been privy to, history is now at the forefront of the current pop culture narrative.
There’s been a real resurgence of interest in history, and it’s pretty much become the entertainment industry’s civic duty to tell the stories we likely just skimmed over in history class. Here are a few to take note of.
Hamilton: An American Musical
Lin-Manuel Miranda had no idea what he was getting himself into when he picked up a copy of Alexander Hamilton’s biography at the airport before leaving for vacation. What started out as nothing more than plane ride entertainment turned into Broadway phenomenon with unprecedented advance box office sales. Lin’s musical tells the story of Alexander Hamilton, an immigrant whose ambition drove him from the position of Caribbean outsider and bastard child to American war hero and George Washington’s right-hand man. I think it’s fair to say that Lin is singlehandedly responsible for bringing to light the story of a man who powerfully shaped America as we have come to know it. He’s actually kind of a big deal… the guy founded our nation’s financial system! Who knew?! It’s about time he gets the recognition he deserves.
Jackie
We all know Jackie Kennedy as the wife of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and First Lady of the United States from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. During her time as First Lady, she was often the bell of the ball at social events and became known as a fashion icon. But in the 2016 film Jackie, directed by Pablo Larraín and written by Noah Oppenheim with Natalie Portman in the leading role, we see another side of the former Mrs. Kennedy, as she fights through grief and trauma to regain her faith, console her children and define her husband’s historic legacy. Jackie Kennedy was a prominent public figure who drew in a lot of attention, but the film gives audiences a peek into the less buzzed about parts of her post First Lady life, like her relationship with Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson.
Dunkirk
As unfamiliar as I was with Alexander Hamilton, I have to admit that I was even less familiar with the Battle of Dunkirk. But thanks to the release of the trailer for Dunkirk, which will premier in 2017, I now know that the Battle of Dunkirk took place in Dunkirk, France during WWII between the Allies and Nazi Germany. Director and writer extraordinaire Christopher Nolan is breathing new life into this historic event in a film that centers on British forces evacuation mission of Allied troops from Dunkirk in 1940. To be honest, if I didn’t stumble upon this move trailer, there’s a good possibility that Dunkirk would have remained outside my realm of WWII knowledge, and I would have never known that British forces helped rescue more than 300,000 Allied troops after a series of failed attacks on the German.
And there you have it. Three historical stories retold through the arts, and millions of people made aware of their significance. Here’s to you, history, and the comeback of a subject that was once upon a time dreaded by students around the world. Can’t wait to see what movies and plays come from the history we are living in this very moment.
