It was recently announced that Taika Waititi, the Oscar-winning writer and director of Jojo Rabbit and Thor: Ragnarok, had signed on to direct the pilot of the new HBO comedy, Our Flag Means Death. If any other high-profile director were revealed instead, the announcement may have been met with praise but not much more. But, since it’s Waititi, an important question comes to mind: Where does he find the time?
As a cursory glance at his Wikipedia page will attest, the New Zealand-born creative has a lot on his plate. He’s committed to countless projects, and tangentially involved with far more. Really, there is only one person Waititi can be compared to: the first US Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton. Seriously, Taika Waititi is Hollywood’s modern-day Alexander Hamilton.
However, an important distinction needs to be made. Taika Waititi is not much like the original Alexander Hamilton, the Founding Father who owned slaves and was a sexual philanderer, but rather the character created by Lin-Manuel Miranda in his eponymous musical. Although this ‘second’ Hamilton is based on the first, he’s more of an artistic echo, imbued with liberal and more modern points-of-view. It’s this ‘fictional’ Hamilton that Waititi resembles, and to a shocking degree.
By far, the most obvious parallel between Waititi and Hamilton is that both of them have an astounding work ethic. To borrow one of the more popular phrases from the musical, they both work like they’re “running out of time”.
Take Waititi’s upcoming projects, for example. Beyond the previously mentioned HBO pilot, he’s also directing the next Thor movie, another potential Oscar-darling (the feel-good football drama, Next Goal Wins), two animated TV series for Netflix (one based on Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and another based on the novel’s Oompa Loompas), a live-action Star Wars film, as well as future seasons of What We Do in the Shadows and The Mandalorian. That’s a lot to do, notwithstanding all the additional writing and acting jobs he’s committed to; the Kiwi director seems to work at a rate that very few people in history seem to match.
But then look at Hamilton’s docket in the musical. He was the first-ever Secretary of the Treasury, establishing the U.S. Mint and redefining the US Public Credit, National Bank, and Revenue Cutter Service, all while facing major opposition from within the cabinet. Beyond being Secretary, he also resumed his law practice, drafted documents for George Washington, established the New York Post, and even became a party leader during the General Election of 1800. Like Waititi, Hamilton worked at an incredible pace, to the extent where it’s difficult to comprehend how he managed to fit it all in.
Moreover, importantly, Waititi and Hamilton both also brought outsider perspectives to American institutions – Hollywood and the government, respectively.
For Waititi, his New Zealand-roots are evident throughout his career. In fact, his first few films (Boy, John and Pogo) directly interrogate the Māori identity, and how it holds up to modern society. Equally, when he made the jump to big franchises with Thor: Ragnarok, Waititi brought his non-US perspective with him, casting New Zealand natives like Rachel House and Karl Urban, framing the story of Thor as an outsider in a strange new environment, and immersing the film in his off-beat sense of humor. Simply put, Waititi is unafraid to move his films away from the homogenized norms of the US film industry.
Equally, as anyone who’s watched or heard Hamilton can attest, the founding father’s immigrant status was an undeniable influence on his life. Born in the then-British West Indies, Hamilton only moved to America in 1772, when he was roughly 15 years old. In the musical, his political opponents are quick to point out his immigrant-status, constantly throwing it in his face. However, Hamilton also owns this label, leaning into it – “immigrants”, as he tells John Laurens, “get the job done”. Therefore, under this fictionalized Hamilton, the American government is reconfigured, so that it has become “a place where even orphan immigrants can make a difference”. Like Waititi, he utilized his outsider nature as a force for good.
Additionally, a final comparison that has to be made is that both Waititi and Hamilton are having a massive impact on the contemporary cultural moment. By storming both the world of high-art cinema, with awards-favourites Jojo Rabbit and What We Do In the Shadows, and blockbuster franchises, with stints at Marvel and Star Wars, Waititi is impacting the film industry like very few others currently are. Winning Oscars, breaking box-office records, and earning the praise of viewers as he does so, the director’s influence will likely be felt for years to come, shaping both franchises and indie features.
Similarly, Hamilton is revolutionizing the theatre industry. The stage production tore through the Tony Awards, redefined what it meant for a broadway show to be successful, and likely motivated more viewers to get Disney+ than all the Pixar films combined. Moreover, the musical’s enormous success on the streaming service is also predicted to cause an avalanche of similar offerings on rival services, like Netflix and Amazon. Hamilton is even influencing the modern streaming-war.
So, yes, Taika Waititi is very much Hollywood’s modern-day Alexander Hamilton. Like Lin-Manuel Mirand’s creation, he works at an incredible rate, he brings an outsider perspective to a US institution, and, to quote Mugatu from Zoolander, he’s “so hot right now”.
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