The Hamilton fandom and the problem of “Queer-ification”
Hamilton is one the most successful and popular Broadway musicals of the past decade. From professional critics to teenagers online, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s 2015 hit has impressed many and swept through the cultural landscape like a hurricane. One of its longest-lasting legacies is its obsessive fandom, whose controversies are considered outrageous, even for the generally divisive fandom culture. Yet, although outlandish at first glance, the Hamilton fandom’s deeds are not an altogether unfamiliar crime; in fact, they represent general fandom problems that have persisted and even gotten worse over the years. In particular, they symbolise issues within fandoms for real people such as celebrities, issues that have only increased in relevancy due to the increase in parasocial relationships to various internet influencers.
Among the most infamous of the Hamilton fandom’s creative endeavours is the iconic “Miku Binder Thomas Jefferson” (henceforth MBTJ), a stylised drawing of Hamilton’s Thomas Jefferson as a college student. In this rendition, Thomas Jefferson is seen wearing a chest binder adorned with the face of Japanese virtual idol Hatsune Miku. Some of the information listed about him is that he is transgender and bisexual, which is presented alongside a litany of other quirky traits such as being a furry and being “obsessed with anime.” MBTJ represents the intersection of many problematic aspects of fandom culture, with the main issue being that of the appropriation and stereotyping of queer identities.
Reimagining a fictional character as queer can often be helpful to queer fans, as it remedies the lack of representation and relatability in the source material. However, MBTJ makes this problematic for two reasons. First, it stereotypes queer identities by portraying the “trans and bi” Jefferson as quirky, nerdy, and flamboyant, a far cry from the original figure. By associating queerness with such drastic changes in character, the creator implies that that is the only way queerness can manifest. Second is the issue of forcing queer identities upon real, non-queer or potentially closeted people. Though the person in question is dead in this case and therefore cannot react, in other such cases, it has brought much harm to the people the fans claim to idolise. For example, YouTubers Dan Howell and Phil Lester were “shipped” together (i.e. imagined to be in a romantic relationship) by their collective fandom for a long time, which negatively impacted their actual friendship. They have later stated that it also made them hesitant to actually come out, as that may have exacerbated the problem. On a general note, many other influencers and celebrities have also explicitly stated that speculation on their sexualities makes them uncomfortable, especially when it is for shipping purposes, statements which many fans still tend to ignore.
Despite there being more awareness of the problematic handling of queer identities by fandoms nowadays, these issues persist as newer and younger fandoms keep rising. MBTJ, though seemingly unparalleled in its wildness, is a symbol of a fairly common ignorance regarding basic boundaries and respect for both queer identities and real people in many fandoms. Fandoms will never stop being created; as such, we must take extra care to educate the uneducated, and learn from the apparent absurdities of past fandoms.
