First off, Lin-Manuel Miranda's "In The Heights" was the best hip-hop musical before this. He's not someone attempting to capitalize on an idea the world deems commercial. He's literally the only one who has ever made it work before. No one else has or can successfully do what he's doing when it comes to taking hip-hop and utilizing it within a Broadway storytelling structure. He's brilliant.

Second off, re: cultural misappropriation, the play pretty directly ties why hip-hop is an appropriate form of expression for these people. The characters were all young angry writers who were being oppressed and wanted to fight the power. He's trying to cut past the notion that the Founding Fathers were some untouchable deified figureheads. They were scrappy upstarts with a pen and a dream, willing to speak out against the power and fight for their causes. It wasn't just some dumbasses in a room pitching "what if it's history but FOR RAPPERS YO?!" It's thought through.

Third off, by having black and Latino actors play the Founding Fathers and their wives, he's breaking down the notion that historical figures have to be played by racially accurate actors, which is... just goddamn revolutionary, when you consider that it's never really been done before, in movies, TV, or stage. At least not in something that's meant to be taken seriously. It makes people look at these historical figures in a whole new light. Not to mention it teaches young actors of color that they too could play George Washington one day. (Not to mention it's an original Broadway show, a massive hit original Broadway show at that, led by male and female actors of color, which is also a welcome change.)

I'd listen to the whole show and give it a chance before lobbing "cultural misappropriation" at it. Try to understand what it's doing instead of blithely dismissing it.

And also, you're dead fucking wrong about kids mocking this show on field trips. First off, kids can't get into it on field trips right now cuz it's the hottest show in New York. Second off, I took kids to see In The Heights when it was on (for years), and kids fucking *love* it. They relate to a well-done hip-hop musical way more than they do to Cole Porter and shit.

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