Milk | Review Revolution

Rated R | 2008 ‧ Drama film/Romance ‧ 2h 8m

Starring: Sean Penn, James Franco, Josh Brolin, Emile

Hirsch, and Alison Pill

Hey Nurds,

I wasn't expecting to do a movie review, but I have planned on watchin this movie for awhile and it just so happened to be an extra credit assignment for one of my classes (read more about my summer plans and classes here), so I thought why not? Nonetheless, here is a little impromptu movie review with a scoring scale! I don't know about you, but I've always wanted to do my Review Revolution book/movie review scale, so check out my scoring guidelines here for more on that!

The movie began with the end: the tumultuous outlook of post-assassination. The streets, the riots, and public outrage against Dan White (Josh Brolin) and his assassination of Harvey Milk (Sean Penn), who had been loved, supported, and admired, gaining the trust of the people--straight and gay.

“It’s not just about winning,” Penn says in the movie; he wanted to start a conversation, addressing issues regarding gay rights, including, but not limited to the gay working class, bigotry, and just the gay lifestyle in general. A businessman of sorts, he gained attention with his charm and promise. Although he was a Republican man, he became politically active, despite scorn, death threats, and constant push backs. He gained the support and trust of straight and gay people alike by understanding people’s stories on a personal and individual level and taking to heart the stories of those who nearly took their lives out of fear of being in the closet. With that said, near the end of the movie, he takes an emotional toll when his own lover commits suicide.

I like the documentation format of Sean Penn’s character recording his journey and encounters should he be assassinated, in such a format that, as the audience, we experience dramatic irony, because we know that he was assassinated and even Milk could predict it himself. The historical exigence of Cleve Jones going to Spain and his account of experiencing a memorial riot while in Spain that was at the center of supporting gay rights and gay individuals who were essentially persecuted for being queer, despite the totalitarian reign of communist Franco at the time, was a particular effort at providing context as supplement to the 70’s style of clothes, home, vernacular, and architecture. Additionally, there were actual primary sources of interviews and footage from the actual time era at which the events of the movie had depicted, including footage of Anita Bryant, Dan White, riot after riot, and yes, Harvey Milk himself. Anita Bryant and many others opposed him and his allies on a religious perspective, which is still common of an argument to this day.

Milk and White agreed to work together on an initiative White was supporting; however, when Milk disagreed with the effects of the initiative, White voted against a gay ordinance regarding limitations on anti-gay discrimination in the workplace out of retaliation. The movie depicts Dan White perhaps as homosexual himself and resented and murdered Milk because of that.

Harvey was not only a beloved man, leader, and activist, but also a groundbreaking man who pushed barriers and was okay with being controversial so long as he was starting a conversation about what affects everyone--heterosexual or not. It is really important to understand that the efforts of Milk and his allies as well as the push-backs from his opposers are a foundation to modern efforts at achieving equality. Even today are we still struggling for the same goals and initiatives and experiencing the same disapproval and religious intolerance that sparked more prominently when Milk arose as a leader. As a young activist myself, I feel that Milk’s efforts were inspiring and integral to what I feel still needs to be achieved and discussed.

There was a fine discrepancy between feeling emotionally aligned with Penn and understanding that Milk was a real person and that the events that the movie depicted actually happened more or less, but the movie kind of crossed that line, I would say. Penn’s portrayal of Milk and the supporting cast were impeccable; the performances were authentic and the ensemble convincingly resembled the people they were meant to portray (so props to the casting director). And of course, Dustin Lance Black, the screenwriter for his impeccable script that conveyed the exigence and emotional resonance of the film incredibly well. Plus, he’s a UCLA alum, so I’m kinda biased here.

Collaboration, passion, and sentiment. That was all there; however, and I do like how the cinematographer incorporated this, it seemed that Milk started the campaign and running for office for the mere purpose of filling a void in his life. Either that was true or this was one hell of a pre-mid-life-crisis. Despite this, he was loved, raining in a candlelit vigil of supporters and even those who regret disagreeing with him. His purpose and dedication to gay rights live on! That's #PRIDE right there.