Milk is a biopic movie about the late Harvey Milk.  More to the point it is his last  8 years. Starting in New York he is reaching for change and like a lot of gays in this country at that time he moves to San Francisco as the Castro District is starting to become an epicenter for change. It finally got to a movie theater in Maui!

Viewing the movie in a more broad sense I don't put as much emphasis on the movie as a "gay" movie any more than I would look at other people of history and associate them myopically with only one cause.  You can't look at Gandhi solely in the content of rights for the Indian people or Martin Luther King strictly as a beacon of hope for Black America.  Rather I tend to look beyond the obvious impact in the community of their work and the larger impact on society.  

Harvey Milk's legacy is developing in the same manner.  This movie is helping to enshrine him not as the first Homosexual to to hold public office, rather the first openly homosexual man to hold office.  In his success as a politician and activist he demonstrates that any gay person can succeed in life, in business and in politics in the open.  It is not insignificant that this movie historically finds it way to audiences at the same time a black man finds success in politics as the first President of the United States.  I find it even more significant that some of the people that worked with Martin Luther King in the civil rights movement, had the luck to still be alive and openly wept at his inauguration.  I expect that when the gay community is afforded the same rights, under the law that all heterosexual citizens have, I think we will witness similar scenes.

The movie weaves into it the fears of change and the persecution of the failed fears of a vengeful God that hates the lifestyle of a homosexual.  We also witness the pragmatic coalitions in politics, especially in in those that are trying to create a level playing field of rights for all people. A significant alliance is made with the teamsters union to help them win concessions and signatures to a distribution agreement with the union.  The Gay community comes in and with their support in gay bars, 4 out of 5 companies sign the unions agreement.  Milk rather than asking for an endorsement for his politics wants jobs and a  percussion free environment for openly gay beer truck drivers.  It is precisely that type of attitude that will eventually  lead him to the board of supervisor's successful election.  

 We see the attempts of  religious elitism, through the Anita Bryant campaigns trying to socially engineer a population.  I am reminded of the  intolerance of the dogma of Islam today.  It will fail as well in time.  Given time people will not tolerate the artificial controls on their behavior from a religious elite that dictate the illusion of salvation or hard consequences on Earth for the failure or changes in behavior and conformity to their ideology.

Sean Penn in his acceptance speech for his Academy Award  put it simply and I'll paraphrase it, that people that see this movie will have to re-exam their assumption on the gay community and see their struggle to win equal rights under the law in a larger content.  It is inevitable and well overdo.  The performances by all the main characters are exceptional.

I was reminded, in the broadest sense, of rights for all people. Sean Penn's words were ringing in my ears as I remembered that point in time when I had to re exam my own beliefs or rather those beliefs that had been thrust on me.   Years ago I was the host of a large seminar.  The organization that sponsered the seminar was dominated by a group of conservative Christians that discreatly and covertly discriminated against gay people.  As was the custom normally, in this group the people that represent the largest groups of people in the area where asked in some routine but random way to offer a prayer and pledge just as the meeting took place by the host.  I had the the largest group there , hence I was the host.  The next largest group was represented by two professional gay men who for all intents and purposes had been partners as long as I new them and I think as far back as college.  One had become doctor and the other an architect.  Good people, and deserving of the recognition that they  had worked so hard to achieve.  Knowing that unwritten, unspoken  law and  policy of the board I made a command decision and invited them up to do the prayer and the pledge.  Did Harvey Milk influence that decision.  No...!  Did the larger issue of fairness and equal rights play into it ?  Absolutely! Does Harvey milk's legacy and his work contribute to that decision ?  Today I would have to say yes, in fact he died and is a martyr to that ideal.

In a larger context it was really a personal encounter and a selfless act of kindness that really opened my eyes.  On a horrible weekend day, my wife had some sort of infection that was festering out of control on her foot and I couldn't find a doctor to look at it.  I called our friend and not only did I not have bring my wife to him, he made a house call, fixed up my wife's foot and then wouldn't give me a bill.  Like Harvey he asked a business favor.  If I could, would I and my wife do a private seminar for his group of people! (Let your action speak so loudly what you say I cannot hear.)  Did I care that he was gay?  Hell no.  My wife was in pain and he delivered her from that pain and with a glad giving heart.  So when the time came for me to pay that favor back I was all too glad.  This couple more than any, broke more myths and barriers by how they lived and what they did than any activist. Like most people I had dismissed the activist as the over zealous radical.  It didn't matter what the issue was!  I just didn't didn't get involved. But when it was personal, and  the behavior was the same as what I would do for a friend in my professional capacity, it related to me.  I finally got it.  Gay people were the same as me. They breathed the same air, they had the same dreams and goals and they worked hard for them.  Many people still don't believe that...but in time they will get it too.  To ask for or even demand equal protection under the law only makes sense to me now. 

Finally did I catch hell for the decision.  Not really, it was as covert as any any mind game could be.  I got a phone call from a director the next day not challenging my decisions but my beliefs. Rather than debate the issue I simply stated if you want to violate someones civil rights, especially covertly, you'll do it without me.  Find a new host next time or leave it be. That pretty much ended the discussion.

I recommend the movie to all people and especially for the people that " don't care" or don't want to care about the gay community.  You know who you are.  The fence sitters that secretly don't do anything against gays, but at the same time don't go out of their way to make friends, admit they have good gay friends or openly support them in their struggle to obtain rights.  I don't think this movie was made to be a rallying cry for you but non the less your the one that should see it.