Milk

Alas, Milk is not yet out on DVD. Instead, here is a trailer to the film The Times of Harvey Milk.

SPOILER ALERT!!!!

I left the theater with my friends thinking, "Wow. That was like a documentary about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr." The similarities between the life of Dr. King and Harvey Milk are uncanny. They were both civil rights activits, both fighting for the rights of underprivielged groups, both leaders among their peers, and both meeting the same demise. Harvey Milk was assassinated, like Dr. King, for standing up to established injustices. He is a hero among the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities, and he is a hero among straight people, too. Again, the same is true for Dr. King. You don't have to be white or American or straight to love either of these men.

Sean Penn acted out the life of Harvey Milk beautifully, and with such elegance. Often, we see straight men act out homosexual roles with exaggerated flamboyance. And while Penn did portray one "flaming" role, he did so respectfully so as not to turn the role into a farce. I appreciated that. Penn played a man so familiar to us all that the Harvey Milk on the screen could just as easily have been the lesbian next door.

The power of Milk is that it urges us to think. We think about stereotypes and consider how they conflict with reality. We're also called to remember how viciously people treated homosexuals, how it was difficult just for people to come out. I also think about how many people were forced out, too, simply because in spite of butch or macho they seemed, to everyone else something about them was queer.

I wholeheartedly recommend Milk.