Milk, then and now

Last night, Toby and I had a for real date and went to the movies. We intended to see Slumdog Millionaire, but due to a ticket mix-up, ended up at Milk. I'm sure SDM is great, but I'm glad for the mistake. Milk is a powerful, well-directed movie, but it also falls in that rare category of being an important film. I have to admit that before the movie came out, I had never even heard of Harvey Milk and yet watching the movie I couldn't help but think of comparisons between him and some of the most prominent civil rights leaders in our country. It's a story that every American should know.

When they decided to make Milk, the vote on prop 8 was in the distant future and the spot of president was still up for grabs. Yet it's impossible to watch the film without considering the current political climate. When I was listening to Milk spread his message of "hope" and campaign against considerable odds, I couldn't help but feel yet again thankful that Obama will be moving into the White House in January. I also felt a wave of gratitude that Palin will remain safely far away, as the film showed the eerily familiar self righteous former orange juice queen, Anita Bryant, step into the spotlight as a warrior for "family values".

At the same time, of course, I couldn't help watch the celebration of the defeat of Prop 6 without thinking of Prop 8 passing this year. Watching the passion, determination and energy that Milk put into leading the campaign against Prop 6, I could see where we went wrong. Rob Epstein describes the lack of leadership in the movement of 2008 here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rob-epstein/what-harvey-milk-tells-us_b_145288.html

When we left the theater and the world of 1970s San Francisco behind, Toby and I talked about the actors (Sean Penn deserves an Oscar for sure) and the deft way Van Sant mixed real footage into the movie, but mostly we talked about Harvey Milk. It was inspiring to watch his passion and energy on screen and to consider what it takes to be a true leader. Much like Obama did, the story of Milk calls on all of us to become involved in working towards change. Hopefully it will inspire a natural leader out there to step forward in the current climate and lead us toward overturning Proposition 8.