Film Review: Milk

Milk. Directed by Gus van Sant. Written by Dustin Lance Black. With Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, Diego Luna, Vincent Garber, James Franco and Allison Pill. (2008).

Movie Brims with Life and Love

This is an extraordinary film.  I was moved beyond words.  The movie is a labor of love and it has succeeded in making history come alive.  Everyone involved with the film, director Gus van Sant, writer Dustin Black and the entire cast has clearly committed themselves to letting these people live again with truth, passion and dignity. They have succeeded. Sean Penn, in particular, completely disappears into his role, and completely becomes Harvey Milk.

In 1978 I was in a cocoon politically and never heard about Milk nor of his assassination by Dan White.  This film filled in the gaps for me.  This is a fictionalized version of the truth but it’s genius is to make you want to dig deeper into the actual facts.  (A good way to do that is to watch the documentary The Times of Harvey Milk).

Social Change Does Not Come Easily or Quickly

How does a group which has been disdained and discriminated against for generations, reclaim worth and dignity in society?  Why is it so hard for some segments of society to accept that “other” into its heart? Dishonored groups have followed a pattern of demonstrations, protest and working within the law to bring change. But it hasn’t come quickly for the LGBT movement just as it didn’t for African Americans or other groups.

Road to Change is Fraught with Danger

Harvey Milk followed this path and he was a genius at it.  A  fundamentally kind and generous man, once he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, his  instinct was to befriend and work with his fellow Supervisors.  This strategy would have made  sense if he had been dealing with a healthy man. However Dan White was not a healthy man but a deeply troubled one. How was Milk to know that?

Some People Are Terrified of Change

Dan White yearned to shine and be important in that political realm and Milk, it appears, stole his thunder. Of course this is a story and an interpretation by a writer and actors.  What did Dan White need? Why was he so disturbed by Harvey Milk and George Moscone? Was he homophobic? Did he have secret homosexual tendencies? Whatever it was, White could not express it and Milk could not see the danger his colleague posed.

Milk Triumphed-The Times Are Different Now

Watching this movie one is tempted to say, “Nothing has changed”, given the defeat of Proposition 8.  But times have changed. The fact that we are talking about the possibility of institutionalizing gay marriage is a huge advance. This movie’s artistry is a gift to people all over the world and it will make a difference, I think, in the journey the American people are taking toward their eventual acceptance of gay marriage.

What To Do With Those Who Cannot Accept Change

However, there are people in society who cannot accept change, particularly change that is mandated by law or by sweeping changes in social custom.    Humans are strange creatures. We hate to have change imposed on us. We like to be consulted. We like to have a say. Because there are those who are so troubled by change that they will kill, it suggests to me that a new and different strategy may be needed to supplement the legal approach.  

Engage Those Who Refuse Change

A deliberate strategy of engagement and relationship building which honors the very deep nature of the values held by those who resist change is needed now.  How can we live together such that people welcome and embrace change?  My sense is that Milk may provide a precious piece in this particular piece of social change that we Americans are engaged in right now–the gift of humanizing our rejected brothers and sisters and calling them home.

Questions of Inquiry:

1. If you’ve seen Milk, what were your responses to the film?

2. What are your thoughts about engaging those parts of society who refuse or resist social change?

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