By now you've already heard about an incident over the weekend that has since been blown far out of proportion. Vice President-elect Mike Pence attended a performance of the musical Hamilton , where he was booed by audience members. After the show, Brandon Victor Dixon, the actor currently portraying Aaron Burr, stepped out with the cast to address Pence with a message from the show, written jointly by its creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, director Thomas Kail, and lead producer Jeffrey Seller.
"Thank you so much for joining us tonight. You know, we had a guest in the audience this evening. And Vice President-elect Pence, I see you're walking out, but I hope you will hear us just a few more moments. There's nothing to boo here, ladies and gentlemen. There's nothing to boo here, we're all here sharing a story of love," Dixon said.
The statement went on to address the feelings a large portion of Americans have right now, particularly the community that Hamilton represents. "We, sir, we are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us — our planet, our children, our parents — or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights, sir. But we truly hope that this show has inspired you to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us. All of us."
By now, you have probably also seen President-elect Trump's fiery response on Twitter, calling for apologies from the Hamilton cast, inciting incidents like a Trump supporter who angrily interrupted the Chicago show by drunkenly screaming, and inspiring a #BoycottHamilton Twitter trend among his followers. (Side note: Like you could get tickets for the next five years without selling a kidney, dude. The only way you could get a ticket in the next year is if... well. You were Mike Pence.)
As a lifelong theater kid and, y'know, a human being with basic common sense, I can sum up my response to all three of these tweets in a word befitting of Donald Trump: WRONG. The cast's statement was one of inclusivity and love, which is honestly a lot more than Pence or Trump deserve, seeing as they are actively pushing legislation that puts these very cast members and their families at risk. The show's statement was open-minded, patient, and undeniably honoring the "safe" space of the theater. (Also, the day Hamilton becomes "overrated" is the day I eat my own foot.)
But nothing quite sums up the problems with Trump's comments, or the dangerous rhetoric they are spreading around the internet, quite like this infographic going viral on Facebook, posted by Kat Findley.
"I was really impressed with the Hamilton cast’s message and was pretty dumbfounded after seeing the negative responses," Findley wrote to Bustle. "I thought it would be funny to see some of Trump’s obviously controversial quotes side by side with what I considered to be very respectful quotes from the cast. I’m a graphic designer, and think infographics are a bigly (haha) successful way to convey information and just started working on it on a whim!"
The post has now racked up thousands of shares and comments, and it is not lost on the people who are spreading the word that Trump has, ironically, become the reason Hamilton is no longer a "safe" space. According to CNN, producers are now worried in light of the drunken Trump supporter interruption in Chicago that the next encounter may be violent. And seeing the way that Trump followers escalate issues — turning peace talk into hate talk, and casting a blind eye on things that are actually, by the very definition of morality, wrong — they can hardly be scrutinized for their caution.
"I think theatre is a thing that can unite us," the show's creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, said in an interview with GQ on Nov. 21. "Which is why we took the opportunity to, I think very respectfully say 'We hope you work on behalf of all of us, on behalf of all Americans'. That’s the goal: get in the room and find your common set of beliefs and start from there."
Shows like Hamilton are what get all Americans closer to having a part in "The Room Where It Happens. Here's hoping that at least some of Trump's supporters watching this unfold took that message to heart.
Note: A previous version of this article misidentified the creator of the infographic.
