17761972

Dickinson: Mr. Jefferson, I have very little interest in your paper, as there's no doubt in my mind that we've all but heard the last of it. But I am curious about one thing. Why do you refer to King George as a tyrant? Jefferson: Because he is a tyrant. Dickinson: I remind you, Mr. Jefferson, that this tyrant is still your king. Jefferson: When a king becomes a tyrant, he thereby breaks the contract binding his subjects to him. Dickinson: How so? Jefferson: By taking away their rights. Dickinson: Rights that came from him in the first place? Jefferson: All except one. The right to be free comes from nature. Dickinson: And are we not free, Mr. Jefferson? Jefferson: Homes entered without warrant. Citizens arrested without charge. And in many places, free assembly itself denied. Dickinson: No one approves of such things, but these are dangerous times. Franklin: Be careful, Mr. Dickinson. Those who give up some of their liberty in order to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. Dickinson: Mr. Wilson. Do we in Pennsylvania consider King George a tyrant? Wilson: Well, I don't know. He... Oh. Uh... No. No, we don't. He's not a tyrant. In Pennsylvania. Dickinson: There you are, Mr. Jefferson. Your declaration does not speak for us all. I demand the word "tyrant" be removed. Thomson: Very well. Jefferson: Just a moment, Mr. Thomson. I do not consent. The king is a tyrant whether we say so or not. We might as well say so. Thomson: But I already scratched it out. Jefferson: Then scratch it back in. Hancock: Put it back, Mr. Thomson. The king will remain a tyrant. A near-three-hour musical on the days leading up to 𝑱𝒖𝒍𝒚 𝟒, 𝟏𝟕𝟕𝟔. I honestly feel this should be required viewing for every American citizen. There is definitely no need for it to be three hours and could and should be edited down. But what is good here is very good; it’s just a shame that most of what is not good is the music part of this musical. And despite being on Broadway first, the songs feel like an afterthought compared to how good the rest of the writing is. Witty in just the ways you would expect from something depicting this time period, and much of it genuinely funny. There are a couple of songs that work, but do we really need a whole number about how much Thomas Jefferson’s wife loves his violin playing?  I do think it is important to see how misguided and divided the Continental Congress really was.  Adams: Mark me, Franklin, if we give in on this issue, posterity will never forgive us. Franklin: That's probably true, but we won't hear a thing. We'll be long gone. Besides, what will posterity think we were? Demigods? We're men, no more, no less, trying to get a nation started against greater odds than a more generous God would have allowed. First things first, John. Independence. America. If we don't secure that, what difference will the rest make? Individually, they were flawed and perhaps terrible or normal men. But together, what they created was something so powerful and beautiful that it could not be ignored. Many people who wave the flag do not truly understand the cost of the liberty it represents, and these men too did not truly comprehend what they were creating.  If anything, this just shows that America has always been corrupt and always tolerated intolerance. But at least there wasn’t an evil, corrupt, tyrannical ruler in charge inciting people into further evil, disguising it as loyalty, and calling those who stood against his regime treasonous and traitors.  We are weak. We are living through the same times, and because of our situation and the world we live in, we are powerless and made further powerless. Those who should know better are united with fascism. They are genuine idiots. And there is no one to speak up for them in spite of them. Just corruption across the board and talking heads. This is how democracy dies, with thunderous applause.  Whatever.  This is a good movie and we wouldn’t have something like Hamilton without it. It fills me with as much joy and pride as it does despair and hopelessness. What a tragic day. The ominous ringing of the Liberty Bell at the end of this film, I think, tolls with a bitter irony for us all.