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Jose Ruiz

Professor Moore

Comp. 1 ENGL-1301

20 March 2019

Title

In the video “The Hamilton mixtape: Immigrants get the job done” is a representation of what

America is built from and that immigrants are a big part of what America us today as well as ho

they (immigrants) do not receive the credit they deserve (Sopan). The video itself is spectacular

showing different locations and details of what an immigrant has to go through in order to

succeed by showing the condition of the train that they are traveling in and all the different jobs

they are doing during the traveling. As the video is rolling there are people rapping and telling a

story which is interesting because the lyrics and it’s meaning brings powerful a powerful

message to the music video. The message, Location, and the visual is a big part of what the

music video is trying to convince to the audience.

This controversial video brings a strong and invincible message to all people to make them

understand that immigrants come to this country to get a better life by leaving behind wars,

poverty and, violence. In the past few years the theme of immigration has been a controversial

topic in America with a new president coming in to the office which is against immigrants

coming in to the country illegally. What this video “Immigrants get the job done” message is

trying to deliver is that most of the immigrants that come to the land of the free (America) is not

to have fun and enjoy themselves but to have a better future for themselves and leaving behind

all the violence and poverty of their home country. As you see in the music video, all immigrants

are not in a luxurious train but in a train where the conditions or not that great. The message of
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the music video is important to what the producers is trying to promote, and they tell us in a clear

way that immigrants are important in this country and that they will do till the impossible to be

successful.

Most part of the location in the music video takes place inside the train. As the video is rolling

there many different locations inside the train. Some scenes show people working different jobs

but one of the scenes that caught everyone’s eye in particular was when the camera showed

immigrants sewing up the American Flag and having a stack full of them. This metaphor

representation can suggest many different meanings and can make people wonder themselves but

also relate to what the video is trying to make us understand. The producer for this video had in

mind to do make us the viewers what a everyday immigrant have to go through and also he

wanted the story to take an overall approach to it (Peitzman). The other point of view of other

people on why the video takes place on the train is because in central America all the way to the

border of Mexico with the United States there is a train named “la bestia” which translates to

“the beast” which many immigrants use for transportation to get to America, this train has been

used by many immigrants to get to their destination faster but its not easy for immigrants to

travel in this train, many immigrants suffer and go through many obstacles on their way in order

to reach the United States of America (Villegas). The location plays a major role for this video

and its message in order to make other understand that immigrants are a big part of what

America is today.

Every time the camera points to the immigrants the background lighting is always dark or their

covered with a black stripe across their eyes, but when the camera is pointed to a regular citizen,

the background is very light. The visuals that the producer gave the viewers is a unique

representation of what the people do wrong in this nation. Not giving the credit that immigrants
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deserve. In other scenes inside the train there is a war that is happening, all the violence that is

occurring, little children suffering that become victims of these wars, these visuals also

contribute to what the message is trying to bring. People think that immigrants come to this

country to steal their money, jobs, land but that is not true by showing these visual it gives us

more understanding of what is happening around the world where Americans do not try and see.

Many ignorant people do not understand what is happening in other countries and try to make

assumption without knowing what the real reason for immigrants to come to this country is.

There are many more visuals in this video that helps the viewer understand the video and it’s

message is trying to promote and the visual of this music video creates a platform where all

immigrant can connect and understand the meaning of this video.

“The Hamilton Mixtape: Immigrants get the job done” is a music video that creates critical

controversial message that can split the nation but as well an inspiring message to give

immigrants the light they deserve and also with the message, location, and visual make the

viewer see behind the world of an immigrants. Immigrant America ghost writers; is what the

video is all about and what it is trying to promote. The scene of the American flag scene where

all the immigrants are sewing it up is a very important scene that can bring many conclusions

and help the message become more effective than what it already is. This powerful message can

impact many people and understand where immigrants come from as well as to have sympathy

for them and see that their life in their own country is hard for them. With this music video we

see what they want us to know about the message, the location what is means, and also the visual

of all the scenes how well the producer put together the video to create a unique and powerful

message for the immigrants.

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Citations:
The Story Behind the “Immigrants (We Get the Job Done)” Video From “The Hamilton Mixtape”

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/louispeitzman/the-story-behind-the-immigrants-we-get-the-job-

done-video

Lin-Manuel Miranda Unveils New Visual For “Immigrants (We Get The Job Done)” For The Hamilton

Mixtape

https://www.thatericalper.com/2017/06/28/lin-manuel-miranda-unveils-new-visual-for-immigrants-we-

get-the-job-done-for-the-hamilton-mixtape/