I'm writing a lot about film lately. Partly because I am so delighted that there are films worth watching again, and partly because it's been a heavy weekend. But also because I am so moved by stories of people who have fought so hard to live lives of dignity and meaning despite obstacles.
We call all learn from these stories.
I saw Milk tonight at the Arclight. I was probably the only splotchy and tear-stained woman in the restroom afterward. Everyone else, who may have seen other movies in their defense, was touching up their perfect makeup and hair. I was a little proud to be a mess. This movie tells a story that's worth being a mess about.
image: Harvey Milk speaks at Gay Freedom Day, 1978.
As a former San Francisco resident, and one that left more than a ventricle up there, the name Harvey Milk has been in my consciousness a long time. I lived next to the Castro in Noe Valley for almost two years, and worked on 18th street right in the heart of it. A boyfriend at the time helped the shop I worked for do inventory after close once and after stepping out on a break, he paraded in announcing the most proud moment of his life so far: "I just got called hella fine out there by a guy. In the Castro! They have a lot to choose from in this neighborhood and they thought I was hella fine!" I wish it had always been like this. I wish that Harvey Milk had his name all over the city because of all the good he was able to do in a long and prosperous career.
One of the gifts of the film is how it captures the time and place that this happened. I heard that in one of the protest scenes, all the the extras were present at the original speech. They must have felt like they were transported back in time. Sean Penn's performance is so spot-on from the first moment that if he doesn't win best actor this year, I will be even madder than when Amy Adams got passed over for Junebug. Which, as those who know me are aware, is pretty mad.
If there is one thing I am realizing my work is about, it is about supporting people to be brave enough to tell their real story. If that means working a different job than the one they thought they wanted when they started grad school, so be it. Or if people realize that they want to believe that money can come through the arts I want to support that too. No matter who told them that they need to be someone other than who they know themselves to be inside, I want to get behind the voice of their truth and help them make it real.
We need more love in the world and we need to support everyone in doing what they need to do to get as much love out there as they can.
It always amazes me to listen to fundamentalists who claim to be on the side of the family and values and are flashing Jesus around in their defense of shutting down homeosexuality or whatever difference is in vogue to repress that day.
It amazes me because there couldn't be a more clear parallel than the one between Jesus telling a new story about how to be in the world that was more about acceptance and turning the other cheek and that of Harvey Milk standing for gay rights and there being a place for everyone in this country, no matter who they are.
They both were killed as a result of their public stances. I must say, it is my belief that if Jesus had been present in San Francisco during this time, he would have been recruiting with Harvey Milk.
I am biased. I am liberal, and one of my parents is gay. But even outside of that, I think that the part that gets me is the fact that some people have convinced themselves that love and happiness and beauty have to look a certain way or come in a certain flavor to be acceptable.
The opening stretch of this movie where James Franco and Sean Penn play out Harvey Milk and Scott Smith's early relationship is one of the sweetest and touching depictions of love I have seen in a long time. It doesn't matter to me what the gender of the people are who are in love. It matters to me that we live in a world where people get to love as much as they can, be that their work, their lives, or the people around them. Love is hard to find- let's all do what we can to make it easier for everyone to know it, and know it openly.
It was chilling to watch a greater victory in the seventies for defeating prop 6 than there was for voting down prop 8 this past year. Shame on us for not being further along. But good for us for putting stories like this out there to make us remember what really matters.
Our lives are precious. Benjamin Button was a beautiful example of that as well. there, too, love looks different than how the average relationship unfolds. But we need to look at difference. And we need to accept that not all of us are the same on the outside, but what we want in the end is to belong. In that we are the same.
I am thinking harder about what life means since my employer lost his life at only 58 with the speed of a mack truck hitting a wall this past weekend. There isn't always time to get ready or to do the right thing later.
I am promising myself to stick to doing the right thing now. We have what we believe and we have the choices we've made in life. No matter what happens, those things can't be taken away from us.
This year, I want to support as many people as I can through my work in being just a little bit more fearless, in hesitating just a little less before they move ahead into their dreams. I believe we have more power than we realize and that the time is now to step outside what is familiar and safe. The world needs us to make it more beautiful.
We can be powerful beyond measure. We owe this to those who were ahead of their time and met with a less than welcome reception. We have to do better now.
I believe that we can.
Recent Comments