Rating of
3.5/4
Take a big drink of "Milk"
kcvidkid - wrote on 12/16/08
I'm a bad gay in that I'm not real familiar with the history of my kind. In fact, before I saw "Milk", I never imagined that Castro Street was ever anything but the gay mecca that it is today. Stonewall, sure; I've read about the uprising in New York. But I did not know that as recently as 30 years ago, homosexuals were emotionally persecuted, even in San Francisco.
So on one hand, "Milk" was a necessary history lesson for me. But on the other, it was a very moving story about an interestingly charismatic man who met an untimely end. Sean Penn completely transforms into Harvey Milk; his performance is amazing. I think even the most homophobic people (even though they won't see this movie) would find sympathy in Penn/Milk.
What attracted to me the character was not the focal political point, rather the subtle qualities of the man. Time and again, he is portrayed as someone who wants to "save" people. While that sometimes could result in overly dramatic filmmaking, here it is presented in quiet conversations he has with his followers. He seems to be so wise in the ways of the world, both gay and straight. When he tells a heartbroken boy that he will have many more loves in his life, he's speaking from experience in a way that is truthful, yet hopeful, somewhat bitter, yet completely joyful. I mean, that is what it means to exist.
Although arguably a very "gay" movie, with some explicit scenes, "Milk" really says something else about tolerance in general. And for me, the biggest irony is that as much as things change, they really stay the same. Some of the same arguments we are hearing today about gay marriage, for example, seem to have been spoken word for word 30 years ago. In some ways, we've come a long way, but in others, we've barely moved at all.
