Milk

With the Oscar® nominations out yesterday it seemed like a good time to talk about Gus Van Sant’s Milk. Nominated for a total of 8 Oscars®, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor, Milk tells the true story of activist and politician Harvey Milk.  Milk moved to San Francisco, specifically the Castro Neighborhood, in 1972 when he was 42 years old.  This move also marked Milk’s coming out of the closet.  While in California he worked to promote gay rights and neighborhood unity in the Castro and in San Francisco in general.

His local work led him to run for public office and after many unsuccessful campaigns Milk won a seat as a city supervisor in 1977.  He was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office.

Gus Van Sant’s biopic is pretty traditional, minus a Hitchcockian assassination scene, but it in no way it cliche or boring.  Penn exudes charisma and makes us root for the underdog Harvey.  The supporting cast is phenomenal and the performances that Josh Brolin, James Franco, Emile Hirsch and Diego Luna all give make it a community film - that is a film about a community of people.  This isn’t just a story of gay rights, it is a story of fighting for what you believe in when everyone tells you it isn’t worth it - that you won’t make a difference. It’s a special film about a special person and the amazing work he did.  In the words of Harvey Milk:

You gotta give them hope

Watch this film to see how it pushed the envelope and then takepart and Join The Impact by demanding equal rights for all people.

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