The movie portrays the era of 1970s and is based on a real life story.
In this movie the antagonist Harvey Milk represents a real life person who was an activist elected to the San Francisco Board of supervisors in1977, and was murdered the very next year. He one of the first openly elected gays in the community and his murder can therefore, be regarded as a hate crime. The screen representation was fascinating and tear-inducing to say the least.
“Milk” brought in tremendous amounts of insight regarding the gay community and the biases they are subject to in their daily lives. It also portrays history openly and declares that there have been gays in the American Community who have come out with their sexuality and are rather comfortable with it. This movie provided me with easy knowledge regarding a primary political figure that I was previously unaware of. This movie also gives life to the fact that biases always tend to get the best of people and the eventual end was rather tragic to say the least. Moreover, it gives insight into the political system, and how it can be used as a means to achieve awareness and reduce sexual biases within the community.
I think the movie was a brilliant effort to educate people about one of history’s tragic heroes, and make everyone realize that being gay, or having any sexual orientation is a personal choice, not open to judgment. That does not make you liable to any public disgrace, mistreatment or even death. I thought that it was rather ironic that the leading gay character ended up dying, and this further adds to the impending doom in the movie; indirectly urging others to not hold biases, by presenting a real life and touching story. At various points, romanticism is visible; Harvey Milk is shown as a great supporter to the grand opera and towards the end I witnessed him watching an opera that highlights his upcoming death.
I experienced a feeling of strong empathy for the gay community and for Milk in particular because he stood in campaign after campaign until he won, just because he wanted to represent a mistreated and misunderstood section of the society. He changed his look thoroughly, shaving off his beard and head, to fit in; but never gave up the acceptance that he was in fact gay. His confidence was truly remarkable considering his background. This was symbolic of the fact that changing your outlook won’t change the perception of the common man. My reaction towards the end of the movie converted to shock and disgust at the level of hate present during that era, for someone who was deviant according to normal observation. The characteristic of love in the story was far from typical and made me feel rather emotional, despite it being centered around two men; one being half the age of the protagonist. The way they met and their sexual encounters appealed to me as much as those between a man and a woman even though many people are usually repulsed. I feel that the depiction based on a real life instance made it that much more engaging and touching. Their eventual separation after the murder of Milk was strong enough to break anyone’s heart. The dedication and effort to represent a weaker section, was inspirational and made me believe that anyone could make this possible if they have the will power necessary.
Even though there has been a direct reference to the murderer of Milk, and his character is presented as an enigma of evil, no reason is declared for the murder. That is probably because history has not surely established as reason as well, leaving it open to interpretation. The only reasonable point one can conclude is that it was in fact a matter of hating gays that lead to this because Harvey milk had no other such personal enmity with the killer.
The basic theme under scrutiny in this movie was gay rights and sexual discrimination; which was tackled rather effectively. Not only did it represent the view of a powerful man, but also the plight of the common man. The fear of people admitting they’re gay and actually becoming recruiters of Milk is highly representative of the society today. Many gays won’t own up to it because they fear the hate and the social discrimination they will be subject to. Not only is this movie useful for education regarding history, but it can also play a pivotal role in motivating gay viewers to take a stand and be an equal part of society. The eventual victory of Harvey milk in the elections serves to be an example for gays, who can come out with the sexuality and yet make their dreams come true. Harvey Milk represents the tragic hero in the movie, which wasn’t apparent till the end. Initially his drive and effort to be someone, and work for gay rights seemed rather victorious. But, it all went to waste because he was subject to hate crime leading to his untimely demise.
