Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

“I got sorta out of sorts with a buddy of yours…

48 replies

Righthandman · 24/04/2023 17:20

…He looked at me like he thought I was stupid. I’m not stupid.”

AIBU to wonder whether Alexander Hamilton was autistic, or had ADHD, or both? Or at least, Lin Manuel Miranda’s version of him?

OP posts:
mathanxiety · 24/04/2023 17:26

Whatnow?

MillicentTrilbyHiggins · 24/04/2023 17:28

Hmm. Not sure. It's exactly the kind of thing I would say when I can't explain something and my brain goes faster than my mouth.

That said, I strongly suspect I have autism/adhd/both. So maybe you're right.

Wtafis · 24/04/2023 17:29

I again think both

Original poster
Righthandman · 24/04/2023 17:33

Interesting @MillicentTrilbyHiggins

There are many reasons I think it could be true for the man and the character, but for Miranda’s character that line stands out to me because he’s totally failing to communicate to the bursar- or to Burr really- but totally certain of his reasonableness. Which is how I feel often in the heat of the moment.

OP posts:
Original poster
Righthandman · 24/04/2023 17:38

Wtafis · 24/04/2023 17:29

I again think both

Again? Did I miss a thread?

OP posts:
MillicentTrilbyHiggins · 24/04/2023 17:39

Righthandman · 24/04/2023 17:33

Interesting @MillicentTrilbyHiggins

There are many reasons I think it could be true for the man and the character, but for Miranda’s character that line stands out to me because he’s totally failing to communicate to the bursar- or to Burr really- but totally certain of his reasonableness. Which is how I feel often in the heat of the moment.

Yes that sounds exactly like me tbh. I'm sure what I've said to someone else is clear, yet they act like I've spoken ancient Greek sometimes! (Especially my mum, but that might be a her thing)

Interestingly my ND/ND suspected friends always understand me.

PiffleIsTakingThePiss · 24/04/2023 17:41

What on earth are you on about?

aberlot · 24/04/2023 17:41

It's bad enough the amount of armchair diagnoses that goes on here with other posters. Can we maybe just leave historical people alone?

It's hideously embarrassing to attempt to label someone autistic based on a ducking line written by someone who read a book and wrote some songs.

NutButters · 24/04/2023 17:42

The detail about him punching the bursar is made up (to fit with the whole "Burr, Sir" thing).

ForgetHim · 24/04/2023 17:42

I never thought of it like that! But I'm not nd/adhd so who knows. It made perfect sense to me that someone could get 'sorta' out of sorts. To me it was just him vaguely saying there's trouble with the buddy but without specifics/detailing in what he's saying to Burr, plus obvs the sibilance, repetition and rhythm works with that part of the musical.

steff13 · 24/04/2023 17:42

I'm sure some artistic license was taken in the creation of that musical. Maybe he had some sort of diagnosis, maybe he didn't. There's no way to know, so I suppose you can believe what you like.

Original poster
Righthandman · 24/04/2023 17:43

MillicentTrilbyHiggins · 24/04/2023 17:39

Yes that sounds exactly like me tbh. I'm sure what I've said to someone else is clear, yet they act like I've spoken ancient Greek sometimes! (Especially my mum, but that might be a her thing)

Interestingly my ND/ND suspected friends always understand me.

Show quote history

That is super interesting about your ND friends. I have always had a ‘category’ in my head for people that was roughly ‘s/he seems to be trying and I can work with that’- these were people I generally understood easily and who understood me. It corresponds pretty exactly to my newer category of ‘ND but decent at masking’

OP posts:
steff13 · 24/04/2023 17:43

Maybe he just had anger management issues.

aberlot · 24/04/2023 17:43

steff13 · 24/04/2023 17:42

I'm sure some artistic license was taken in the creation of that musical. Maybe he had some sort of diagnosis, maybe he didn't. There's no way to know, so I suppose you can believe what you like.

He didn't have a diagnosis. He is from the 1700s Hmm

HerculesMulligan · 24/04/2023 17:45

Interesting thought, OP!

My suspicion is that he isn't ND. Hamilton later in the show is persuasive and charming and has killer social instincts. I think the line you quote is intended to show that he's a country bumpkin and an immigrant, and gets a hard time for that. While he progresses despite that prejudice, he's never wholly successful in being accepted ("ya best gwan run back where ya come from" in Act 2).

Ainsley Hayes on The West Wing, though..... I'm certain that she's autistic!

steff13 · 24/04/2023 17:45

aberlot · 24/04/2023 17:43

He didn't have a diagnosis. He is from the 1700s Hmm

Show quote history

Oh for fuck's sake, of course I mean maybe he was neurodivergent and in this day and age would have had a diagnosis. I thought that was clear, but perhaps not... 🙄

aberlot · 24/04/2023 17:46

Oh for fuck's sake, of course I mean maybe he was neurodivergent and in this day and age would have had a diagnosis. I thought that was clear, but perhaps not... 🙄

Fuck sake yourself.

You said it, not me.

Lovingitallnow · 24/04/2023 17:46

That line makes perfect sense to me- someone's going to have to explain the link.

Original poster
Righthandman · 24/04/2023 17:47

aberlot · 24/04/2023 17:41

It's bad enough the amount of armchair diagnoses that goes on here with other posters. Can we maybe just leave historical people alone?

It's hideously embarrassing to attempt to label someone autistic based on a ducking line written by someone who read a book and wrote some songs.

It’s not embarrassing it’s interesting and fun. It’s no harm to the character or the man. Don’t you think there were ND people in the 18th and 19th centuries? Don’t you think it would actually have been a pretty decent time to be a ND man at least, if you didn’t have a learning disability?

OP posts:
steff13 · 24/04/2023 17:47

aberlot · 24/04/2023 17:46

Oh for fuck's sake, of course I mean maybe he was neurodivergent and in this day and age would have had a diagnosis. I thought that was clear, but perhaps not... 🙄

Fuck sake yourself.

You said it, not me.

And I stand by what I said. Just because something isn't diagnosed formally doesn't mean the diagnosis doesn't exist.

aberlot · 24/04/2023 17:48

’s not embarrassing it’s interesting and fun. It’s no harm to the character or the man.

And the people who have autism/ADHD diagnosis ? It's not fucking fun for people to assume you can base this on one line in a show.

Don’t you think there were ND people in the 18th and 19th centuries? Don’t you think it would actually have been a pretty decent time to be a ND man at least, if you didn’t have a learning disability?

Of course there were, but that's not the discussion that was raised.

Bearfrills · 24/04/2023 17:51

I saw the show this weekend with Reuben Joseph playing Hamilton and it was a whole different take on the story. I found Hamilton to be slightly arrogant to the point of almost bordering on unlikeable at times then moments when Eliza was talking to him but he was staring at Angelica... It was a fantastic performance and I think I liked it better than I like Lin.

Singleandproud · 24/04/2023 17:55

Have you read the biography by Ron Chernow Lin based the play on? Its well worth a read, the font is tiny and the book thick not sure how fast he reads as he picked it up for some 'light' holiday reading.

Clementineorsatsuma · 24/04/2023 17:58

It's wordplay? You can't diagnose neurodiversity from wordplay!

Simplelife1 · 24/04/2023 18:03

Why would it have been a decent time to be a ND man?