If you have consumed any media that has been released recently, you will have come across some aspect of Lin Manuel Miranda’s work. Whether that be Tick Tick Boom or Encanto, Lin Manuel Miranda is impacting your entertainment. Because of this, many on the internet are beginning to have feelings of disdain towards the man — some are even trying to cancel him. They say “all his work sounds the same” and “he’s in EVERYTHING,” and they have a point, but they’re missing key aspects of the bigger picture.
The complaint that all of Lin Manuel Miranda’s work sounds the same is valid purely on the surface level. This complaint could also apply to Bach or Drake or Justin Bieber. They all have a specific style that they have created for themselves in their industry. Lin’s style is combining musical theater elements with a hip-hop influence and an emphasis on lyricism or rap. This is evident in his Broadway production Alexander Hamilton as well as the movies Moana and Encanto. An understandable opinion would be that you simply aren’t partial to his work or his music, however to say that he is bad because of his style is a poor argument.
The second main complaint from those who say they hate Lin Manuel Miranda is that he is in everything. He is everywhere. “Why can’t I watch a movie without Lin Manuel Miranda creeping into it???”
This is also not entirely Lin’s fault. The reason that he is in everything has multiple facets. Firstly, studios and producers know that large audiences enjoy Miranda’s work at present time, and because studios want movies to do well, they will hire whoever is popular currently (think Timothee Chalamet). Secondly, and most importantly, is that Lin Manuel Miranda values and focuses on bringing the voices of people of color to the big screen and to larger audiences, which again is what people currently want. Audiences have been begging for representation in media since the creation of media, and Lin Manuel Miranda is supplying this demand by casting POC actors and working on projects that focus on diverse stories. And these stories are becoming hits after hits. So studios such as Disney (who has been known to be lacking in the diversity department) picked up Miranda to help with supply for this demand. The growing problem, however, is that it feels as though Disney is cranking through diverse stories, utilizing Miranda’s talents along the way, at an almost alarming rate. And while we appreciate this increase in diverse stories, many worry that this turnout rate will end up causing Miranda to burn out, causing an end to this influx of diverse stories with their key player out of the running.
This is why you shouldn’t hate Lin Manuel Miranda, because he is ultimately not to blame for any annoyances you might feel when you see his face on every promotional material for recent releases. The man is simply working on projects that he has a passion for, for as long as he has that passion. Cancel culture is a dangerous and stupid invention of the new age, and Lin Manuel Miranda has done nothing to deserve falling victim to it.