Cast: Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch
Director: Gus Van Sant
Screenplay: Dustin Lance Black

Synopsis: The story of Harvey Milk, and his struggles as an American gay activist who fought for gay rights and became California’s first openly gay elected official.. [1].

Review:

The film “Milk” chronicles the last eight years of Harvey Milk’s life as he advocates for the civil liberties of homosexuals in San Francisco, California. In this haunting portrayal of the last years of Milk’s life, Penn demonstrates with a powerful performance all the red tape and barriers that were against him from the beginning. The one item of note that makes this especially compelling is how Milk did not want to get involved with politics. Milk just wanted to live out a quiet life when he moved with his lover to San Francisco. Based on all the difficulties and prejudices he came across, he was thrust into the spotlight and adored by his patrons as the bearer for civil liberties in gay San Francisco areas. Later on, through a tragic death, we see how Milk has become a beacon for gay civil rights. It is interesting that the film mainly set in 1978, we still find ourselves dealing with similar issues 36 years later.

In following the history of family law, we will come to find the uncanny similarities between the struggles of interracial couples getting married to the same plight as homosexuals trying to get married. The poor justification that is used to distinguish between these two pieces of family law history is that homosexuals are not forbidden from being married, they just have to marry the opposite sex. In time, reflecting back on this part of history, we will recognize the absurdity of not allowing those who love each other to get married.

In summary, the film will stand as a testament to the continuing struggle of homosexuals to simply be recognized as equals in our society instead of marginalized as sexual deviants and outsiders.

References:

  1. “Milk.” IMDb: The Internet Movie Database. IMDb.com-Amazon.com, 1990-2014. Thurs. 29 May 2014. < http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1013753/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 >.
  2. “Milk.” Rotten Tomatoes.com, 2014. Thurs. 29 May 2014. < http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/milk/ >.
  3. “Milk.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 2014. Thurs. 29 May 2014. < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_%28film%29>.