MILK

So I went and saw Milk last night with a free movie ticket my grandparents gave me for Christmas... I went with Jessica and Andrew and we went to Brea to see it... La Habra seems to play all their movies at 8 or 1030 so we opted for the 940 showing at Brea 12.

I wasn't too sure what the movie was about at first.. I'd only seen one preview for it a long time ago (I don't see "adult" movie previews too often considering most of the movies I see are animated) but I knew I wanted to see it and that it was about a guy named Harvey Milk who ran for office in San Fran as an openly gay man..

synopsis according to IMDB.com-
Using flashbacks from a statement recorded late in life and archival footage for atmosphere, this film traces Harvey Milk's career from his 40th birthday to his death. He leaves the closet and New York, opens a camera shop that becomes the salon for San Francisco's growing gay community, and organizes gays' purchasing power to build political alliances. He runs for office with lover Scott Smith as his campaign manager. Victory finally comes on the same day Dan White wins in the city's conservative district. The rest of the film sketches Milk's relationship with White and the 1978 fight against a statewide initiative to bar gays and their supporters from public school jobs.

The movie started and I was immediately transfixed.. It started with news footage from the 70's and was filmed with an indie- low budge kind of feel and I dig that. It made me laugh. It made me tear up and even made me shed a few tears.. But most of all it made me think. Any movie that can make me think and feel and want to discuss like that after I see it is a winner in my book.

I think the hardest part about watching that movie was the immediate sick feeling I got when I thought of the whole Prop 8 debates from this last election. SO much of it mirrored the Prop 6 debates that were going on in the late 70's. I was amazed at how much.. down to bumper stickers that said "yes on 6, protect our children" I couldn't get over how ignorant and bigoted Anita Bryant and John Briggs sounded.. I'll admit openly that I had no idea who Harvey Milk was or that any of this had happened before but I will tell you that I feel more educated and more empowered after seeing this movie.

I find it scary and sad that we still live in a world that would oppress people the way we do. It's a long struggle but one I feel we'll eventually overcome.

Okay. enough with the heavy subject.. I seriously recommend this movie. SERIOUSLY. :)
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