Media and Music: Lin-Manuel Miranda's Anthems for Older Sisters of Immigrant Families
From Angelica Schuyler's hyper-awareness of her place in society to Luisa Madrigal’s search for worth in her service to others, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s soundtracks perfectly encapsulate the emotions of immigrant older sisters growing up in the United States.
In Media and Music, our writers take a deep dive into how movies use scores and songs to engage viewers, give new meaning and tone to some of our favorite scenes, and establish themes. It almost goes without saying, but there are spoilers abound.
Written by Arundhati Ghosh
Image courtesy of Walt Disney Animation Studios
Being an older sibling should be considered work experience. Whether working as an unpaid babysitter, an angsty teenager’s personal chauffeur, a built-in best friend, or a go-to mentor, there are few bases we don’t cover over the course of our lives. Even within the demographic of elder — often eldest — children, immigrant older sisters experience more challenges. These are the girls that find themselves navigating new systems their parents are unfamiliar with and protecting their siblings, all while shouldering the responsibilities that come with both their culture and their gender.
You argue with your parents on your siblings’ behalf, only for your siblings to ask why you insist on disrupting the peace. You’re silent on the things you really want, because you know in some capacity, whether it’s monetarily or emotionally, your parents can’t afford to give them to you. You love your family so deeply it aches, and you know it’s reciprocated, but sometimes, you can’t help but feel lonely when in a house that isn’t always a home. You can’t help but feel as if you aren’t understood.
Lin-Manuel Miranda has changed that, demonstrating that his characters of Angelica Schuyler, Nina Rosario, and Luisa Madrigal understand. They get it.
Historically, Angelica Schuyler was the eldest of a Continental Army General's three daughters. Although her youngest sister, Elizabeth, married Alexander Hamilton, it's widely believed that Angelica carried a torch for him throughout her life. In Lin-Manuel Miranda's breakthrough musical "Hamilton," a large part of Angelica's character arc consists of her learning to come to terms with the fact that the man she's in love with ends up with her sister. Nina Rosario is a main character in the movie adaptation of the musical "In the Heights." Upon returning to her neighborhood of Washington Heights, Nina reveals that she’s dropped out of Stanford University due to racism and other pressures at school. Miranda's most recent endeavor, Disney movie "Encanto," tells the story of a family in which every member is gifted with a magical power. One of the family members is Luisa Madrigal, who is the middle sister of three girls and has the power of super strength. Because of her gift, Luisa feels that she must put up a front with her emotions and appear tougher than she feels in order to ensure that her family always views her as strong and reliable.
The songs "Satisfied" and "The Reynolds Pamphlet" from the musical "Hamilton," "Breathe" from the movie adaptation of "In The Heights," and "Surface Pressure" from the recent Disney release "Encanto" all have two fundamental things in common: Lin-Manuel Miranda had a hand in writing them, and they were all relentlessly streamed by thousands of ethnic older sisters from all across the United States soon after debuting.
“Satisfied” introduces the audience to the inner workings of Angelica Schuyler’s mind as we witness her meet the man of her dreams, only to immediately give him up for the sake of her sister’s happiness. After seeing her sister Eliza become awestruck over Alexander Hamilton, Angelica is faced with fulfilling the first tenant of older sisterhood and at that time, womanhood alone: sacrifice, especially over self-satisfaction. In that moment, Angelica rattles off the “three fundamental truths” that come to her. She knows it’s her duty as the eldest daughter to maintain or elevate her family’s societal status, which is something she can’t do with a penniless writer such as Hamilton, and simultaneously most damning and most important: “I know my sister like I know my own mind / You will never find anyone as trusting or as kind / If I tell her that I love him she'd be silently resigned / He'd be mine / She would say, ‘I'm fine’ / She'd be lying.”
Angelica repeats her sentiments surrounding Eliza in “The Reynolds Pamphlet,” the song that depicts the public reveal of Hamilton’s affair. When Alexander expresses relief after seeing Angelica return stateside following the news breaking, she is quick to put him in his place with the following: “I love my sister more than anything in this life / I will choose her happiness over mine every time.” Although she’s already admitted to her audience and herself that she will never be satisfied with her own life, it is important to her that Eliza is happy. Her satisfaction is and always will be through her sister’s, who will always supersede everyone else in her eyes.
Lin-Manuel Miranda continues speaking up for older sisters in the film adaptation of the popular musical “In the Heights” with the song “Breathe.” Although Nina Rosario is not an older sister, the high expectations her community members placed on her upon her leaving New York City for college makes her representative of the experiences many immigrant children face in the United States. The first verse summarizes her thoughts about the unique situation she’s found herself in: “I smile at the faces I’ve known all my life / They regard me with pride / And everyone’s sweet / They say, ‘You’re going places’ / So how can I say that, while I was away / I had so much to hide? / Hey guys, it’s me / The biggest disappointment you know / The kid couldn’t hack it / She’s back and she’s walkin’ real slow.”
Although she does not explicitly state it, it’s clear that Nina feels as if her worth to her community — and, more importantly, her own family — hinges on not only meeting, but greatly exceeding the expectations set upon her shoulders. Nina has been set high up on a pedestal for her entire life while simultaneously being subjected to feeling like an utter failure whenever she so much as seems to teeter in place, and, because of this, her sense of self relies entirely on how others perceive her.
Image courtesy of 5000 Broadway Productions
The concept of feeling as if one is loved conditionally based on their worth to their family and/or community is also explored in the recent Disney movie “Encanto,” where among a family gifted with superpowers, older sister Luisa’s super strength burdens her with the greatest amount of physical labor. On screen, the only interactions between herself and others are when she is asked to move pianos or reroute rivers. “Under the Surface,” which Luisa’s character sings as her younger sister Maribel interrogates her about the family’s magic, elaborates on this feeling: “I'm pretty sure I'm worthless if I can't be of service.” She admits her fear of being loved only for her strength in her solo song “Surface Pressure.” Overcome by the overwhelming stress she feels, she tells her younger sister Maribel the following: “Give it to your sister, it doesn't hurt / And see if she can handle every family burden / Watch as she buckles and bends but never breaks / No mistakes… / Give it to your sister and never wonder / If the same pressure would've pulled you under / Who am I if I don't have what it takes?”
Luisa being continuously overburdened with physical tasks is also symbolic of the emotional pressure she’s taken on from caring for her family. She feels as if she must always prove her inner strength by stoically dealing with any issues that come her family’s way. Lyricist Lin-Manuel Miranda concisely sums up numerous fears of older sisters, especially of immigrant families: the crushing weight of expectations and responsibilities without any possibility of release is captured perfectly during middle daughter Luisa’s passionate solo.
It feels like we’re often expected to be as near to perfect as possible, from navigating the trials and tribulations of growing up in a country that feels like it wasn’t made for us to often feeling relegated to the role of a third parent, regardless of the age difference between us and our siblings. We learn the family secrets first, come to understand the realities of growing up as women, as immigrants, as people overall, and learn from a young age what protecting those you love can mean. Although we may feel lonely at times, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s older sister anthems show us that not only are we understood, but we are appreciated. We are loved.