On a Saturday night, after 

being encouraged by my SI 110 
professor as well as — ironically 
enough — nearly all of my social 
media feeds, a couple friends and 
I decided to watch The Social 
Dilemma, Netflix’s acclaimed 
documentary centered around 
the meticulously manipulative 
aspects of social media. The 
documentary claims that the 
principal intention of all social 
media is to exploit the vulner-
abilities of human behavior for 
profit through engaging tech-
niques such as constant notifi-
cations, precise algorithms that 
create personalized feeds, and 
exploiting different demograph-
ics of users in order to propagate 
agendas. The Social Dilemma 
incorporates interviews from 
high-up tech executives, shroud-
ed in despairing instrumentals 
and 
horrifying 
infographics. 

Though the notion that social 
media can lead to addictive ten-
dencies — especially in an atten-
tion economy — is no revelation, 
the documentary reveals exactly 
how companies achieve this: 
by capitalizing on our brains’ 
evolutionary demand for inter-
personal connection. Upon fin-
ishing the film, my friends and 
I were, to say the least, terri-
fied. The fact that our data and 
online personas were being auc-
tioned off to advertisers felt like 
betrayal, and that isn’t even the 
worst part: We’re allowing it to 
happen.

Very quickly, we all posed 

the same question: why would 
Netflix, a company that thrives 
off of manipulative techniques, 
highlight all of this information 
and make it readily available to 
its audience? The techniques 
described in the documentary, 
such as perfecting algorithms in 
order to keep audiences engaged 
and stay glued to their screens 
for hours, are precisely what 
makes Netflix such a successful 
platform. To produce and release 
The Social Dilemma almost feels 
like a magician revealing how 
they do their tricks. Why would 
you ever want your audience to 
know?

Almost instantaneously, the 

answer to my question struck 
me, and I realized why Netf-
lix, along with platforms like 
Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, 
YouTube, TikTok, Twitter and 
Snapchat were okay with being 
bashed in front of a global audi-
ence: They wanted to evaluate 
how successful their manipula-
tive efforts really were. Millions 
of people across the globe were 
being presented with only nega-
tive information about our daily 
habits, yet we accept the loss 
of our privacy and the contin-
ued influence of our cognitive 
processes as a price for a little 
more 
convenience 
and 
eas-

ily accessible entertainment. In 
short, they’ve won. They have 
successfully gotten an entire 
worldwide population so addict-

ed and dependent on interper-
sonal connection and validation 
through social networking that 
all we can do is helplessly watch 
and accept the fact that this is 
something we need in our lives. 
The implications of our reliance 
on social media have led to an 
influx of surveillance capital-
ism, a form of our economy that 
mines human experience in the 
form of data in order to produce 
marketable inferences about the 
next thing that we will do, pur-
chase or believe. Now, if you’re 
anything like me, you’re prob-
ably shaking your head right 
now and thinking “I’m not even 
addicted!” After all, as members 
of Gen Z, tech is kinda our thing. 
There’s no way it could be doing 
something to us that we don’t 
understand — right? The harsh 
reality is that computers don’t 
discriminate, and regardless of 
age or experience with technol-
ogy, you’re just another prod-
uct that they’re trying to make 
money off of.

Despite being told by social 

media developers themselves 
that their platforms have got-
ten out of hand and that they 
wouldn’t even let their own kid 
use their creations, nothing in 
my life has changed. Why, after 
learning about how I’ve been 
manipulated, fed content that 
has trapped me in a filter bubble, 
and sold to millions of adver-
tisers as a product was I still 
willingly supporting my own 
downfall? 
This 
documentary 

was the cherry on top of all of the 
other information I had learned 
in SI 110, and the detrimental 
effects of my social media usage 
greatly outweighed any surface 
level benefits. 

The documentary leaves its 

audience with an almost dys-
topian 
message 
of 
urgency: 

continue the conversation, and 
regain control of your life. The 
most dire question posed by 
The Social Dilemma is whether 
or not democracy can survive 
social media’s ability to blur the 
line between reality and fiction. 
Tristan Harris, president of the 
Center for Humane Technol-
ogy and a key speaker in the 
documentary, poses “imagine 
a world where no one believes 
what’s true.” How do we rum-
mage through conspiracy theo-
ries, propaganda and infamous 
“fake news” in order to discern 
facts from lies? More impor-
tantly, is this our responsibility 
as the consumer, or is it on the 
tech industry to actively make 
efforts against the spread of 
disinformation? While I person-
ally don’t believe that everybody 
needs to delete all of their online 
accounts, we can collectively 
make efforts to limit our screen 
time and set aside blocks of 
our day for activities that don’t 
involve our devices. I under-
stand, however, that this sounds 
extremely cliché, and it’s noth-
ing that’s never been suggested 
before. I suppose that I, along 
with tech professionals, still 
don’t have a concrete answer to 
this social dilemma.

Wednesday, October 21, 2020 — 7
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan In Color

Are you still 
watching?

‘Hamilton’ and the erasure 

of white supremacy

YOUR WEEKLY

ARIES

If you can keep calm in the face of 
provocation, Aries, his can be an 
exceptional week for your career. 
Teamwork shows you in a good 
light, so don’t neglect your 

colleagues. It’s not 
always about going it 
alone or being top dog.

AQUARIUS

GEMINI

Allow yourself to listen to your 
inner instincts. Your intuition is 
strong, and your mind is able to 
recognize things that your 
conscious may actively choose to 

ignore. In doing so, you 
will be able to choose 
the path that is best for 
you. 

SAGITTARIUS

CAPRICORN

SCORPIO

CANCER

In this romantic week, communi-
cation between you and your 
sweetheart is almost telepathic. 
You can make an unbeatable 
team now, Cancer, as your shared 

goals and dreams are 
coming to fruition. If 
you’re single, look out 
for someone who 
shocks you.

TAURUS

Dip your toe into exciting waters 
by being prepared to try 
something new. From exotic travel 
to adrenaline sports or intriguing 
affairs, you’re willing to take a risk 

now if something stirs 
your soul. Beyond your 
comfort zone, Taurus, 
life takes off.

VIRGO

PICES

LIBRA
LEO

An easing of financial pressures 
does a lot of good for your anxiety 
and mental health, Leo. However, 
it’s important now that you take 
control of your own emotions. 

Don’t leave yourself 
vulnerable, mentally, to 
fluctuating external 
circumstances.

Read your weekly horoscopes from astrology.tv

Your superpower this week is your 
creativity, Virgo. You have a 
strong feel for lateral thinking and 
innovative ideas, or creations will 
get you noticed. Don’t feel that 

you have to do things the 

way they’ve always 
been done. Dare to be 
different.

Loving support from your family 
means a great deal to you this 
week and you’ll feel blessed by 
those closest to you. If someone 
confides in you, Libra, it’s vital that 

you keep their confidence. 

Don’t turn this into an 
issue of trust.

Your words have a lot of power and 
presence this week, and once the 
Sun arrives in your own sign, 
Scorpio, your magnetism and 
charisma are off the scale. All of 

this means that people are 

taking notice of you – so 

you’d better have 
something meaningful 
to say.

Recognition at work is long 
overdue but welcome, nonethe-
less. This week, Sagittarius, 
stretch your ambitions by looking 
for new challenges. Not 

necessarily a new job, 

but new responsibili-

ties within your 
existing role. You’re 
more than capable.

You have the gift of the gab this 
week, Capricorn, so you’re able to 
put your opinions quite forcefully 
without coming across as 
insensitive or dogmatic. Turn this 

to your advantage if you 

want to get someone to 

agree to a new idea.

Messages from your dreams 
become easier to recall and 
interpret this week. Spend some 
time with a dream journal if you 
can – there is a lot if insight here 

which could change your 

life, Aquarius. Don’t 
dismiss what you can’t 
quite understand.

This is a healing week for a close 
relationship, Pisces, which will 
benefit from as much fun and 
laughter as possible. Socialize as a 
couple if you can, because you’ll 
love seeing each other in a new 

light. Mix and mingle, 
enjoy good company, 
and shine.

WHISPER

“I've made my peace with
college, it is what it is.”

“Meat book.”

“in love with my best friend in 
love love love but I have to let 
it go.”

If you know anything at all 

about musical theatre, you know 
all about the rise of ‘Hamilton: 
An American Musical’ in 2016. 
The musical, written by Lin-
Manuel Miranda and adapted 
from Ron Chernow’s book ‘Alex-
ander Hamilton,’ debuted off-
broadway in 2015 and since then, 
it has become the most popular 
musical in recent history. The 
show played in New York City, 
Chicago, San Francisco and Los 
Angeles and now a recorded per-
formance with the original cast 
is streaming on Disney+ for mil-
lions of streamers to watch in 
their own homes.

I am not unique when I say 

that I fell in love with this musi-
cal when I first discovered it. 
My friends and I would play 
the soundtrack every day after 
school and my high school’s 
marching band even performed 
its hit song, “Burn,” through-
out the football season. My best 
friends even took me to see the 
show for my birthday in Chica-
go a couple of years ago (I have 
no idea how they swung that 
because we’re broke college stu-
dents) and I absolutely loved it.

At first glance, I’m sure many 

people would not expect a musi-
cal about Alexander Hamilton 
and other Founding Fathers to 
be a wildly popular sensation. 
However, the fusion of hip-hop 
and history is what makes it so 
entertaining and was the rea-
son I loved it so much. But due 

to my naivety and ignorance of 
accurate American history, I saw 
‘Hamilton’ as a fun show with 
cool songs instead of a confus-
ing and distasteful retelling of 
history. The show has received 
criticism since its debut at The 
Public Theater in New York, the 
majority of which stems from 
Miranda’s inaccurate retelling 
and framing of history.

Many critics of color think it 

is necessary to remember that 
‘Hamilton’ is nowhere near an 
accurate representation of the 
Founding Fathers. They were 
not underdog heroes or abo-
litionists, but capitalists who 
stole Native American land and 
enslaved and exploited Black 
and Brown people. They were 
white 
supremacists. 
Among 

many atrocities, Thomas Jef-
ferson sexually assaulted Sally 
Hemmings, an enslaved Black 
woman who worked in his home, 
and then enslaved the children. 
George 
Washington’s 
teeth, 

that many of us were told were 
made of wood, were teeth from 
enslaved people. And of course, 
Alexander Hamilton purchased 
enslaved people to work for his 
family. How can we be so far 
removed from these horrors that 
we can sing and dance along 
to songs about these men and 
ignore the terrors they inflicted 
on Black people?

After knowing this informa-

tion, other points of criticism 
become increasingly valid. For 
example, some viewers question 
the choice of hiring nearly all 
people of color to play the role 
of white historical figures. In 
regards to this, Miranda stated 
he wanted the story to be “told 
by America now.” But I wonder 
how this can be successfully 
done when the whiteness of the 
Founding Fathers and their fam-
ilies is crucial to why they were 
able to rise into power. If the 
story of the Founding Fathers 
were to be told based on the way 
America looks now, they should 
still be portrayed as rich, white 
men who exploit and oppress 
low-income, Black people. By 
erasing that their race had an 
active role in the power they had 
to oppress others, we downplay 
the racism that they wrote into 
our country’s foundation.

Another major critique focus-

es on the musical’s use of hip hop 
to portray white supremacists as 
relatable and comedic. Miranda 
believes “hip-hop’s the language 
of revolution and it’s our great-
est American art form,” which 
I would have to agree with, but 
whose revolution? Black people 
were not included in the Dec-
laration of Independence when 
slave-owner Thomas Jefferson 
wrote, “We hold these truths to 
be self-evident, that all men are 
created equal.” So why appro-
priate Black culture to uplift 
white supremacists? If we want 
to make a statement about revo-
lution and fighting for freedom 
in the United States, telling the 
story of the white men in power 
seems to be the worst way to do 
so.

I am puzzled and conflicted 

about how I feel about ‘Ham-
ilton’ today. I don’t believe 
Lin-Manuel Miranda or any 
of the crew and cast purpose-
fully wanted to erase history or 
offend viewers, and for the most 
part, many people still love the 
musical. We cannot deny that 
‘Hamilton’ has opened the doors 
for many performers of color to 
become household names on 
Broadway. But as a Black Ameri-
can woman, it makes me wonder 
how our ancestors would have 
felt about this story. They were 
the ones who built this country 
from the ground up, not Hamil-
ton, Washington, or Jefferson. 
And yet, we collectively gloss 
over their stories and hard work.

The criticisms and conver-

sations that people around the 
world have been having about 
‘Hamilton’ dig into important 
questions about how history 
should be told and who should 
be centered in those retellings. 
Could you imagine if, in 200 
years, there were a musical called 
Trump? We would see actors of 
color portraying Donald Trump, 
Mike Pence and Mike Pompeo 
instead of hearing the stories 
of Black and Brown people who 
were targeted and suffering at 
the hands of this administration. 
That would be outrageous, and 
yet, how different would that 
be from ‘Hamilton?’ We must 
pay attention to the way we are 
retelling the stories of the past as 
not to have our current reality be 
inaccurately retold in the future.

 GRACE GARMO

MiC Columnist

Photo courtesy of the author

Photo by Marcus Spiske via Unsplash

 CAMILLE MOORE

MiC “Off the Record” Blogger

