Milk

In light of last night's Academy Awards (with a shocking, twist ending!), it seems appropriate to mention the role of film in learning to become a better ally.

Feature films, documentaries, and television programs can be helpful in learning about history and culture. Here on the Burgeoning Ally blog, I will occasionally take some time to write about films which have been helpful to me.

At some point, I will be writing about last night's Best Picture Winner at the Academy Awards, Moonlight, which tells the story of a young, gay, black man growing up in Miami. If you get the chance to watch that film, please do so.

Today, I want to highlight another film (which happens to be available for streaming on Netflix for a limited time).

Milk is a 2008 film based on the life of Harvey Milk. Harvey Milk was the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California.

Harvey Milk is an important figure in LGBT history. At the age of 40, Harvey Milk stepped into local leadership, serving as an advocate and organizer on behalf of his neighbors. He was instrumental in the passage of gay rights legislation in San Francisco. He also helped defeat Proposition 6, a 1978 ballot initiative which sought to ban gay and lesbian people from serving in California's public schools.


Milk is a valuable film, not just because it tells the story of Harvey Milk, but because it also gives a sense of the history of discrimination against LGBT people in this country. The film features archival footage of police raids into gay bars in the 1950s and 1960s, and portrays the passionate efforts of hundreds of everyday people to bring about change in their community. This film also highlights the the Castro neighborhood in San Francisco as an important location in LGBT history.

I must mention the events portrayed at the end of the movie, so if you are hoping to learn about Harvey Milk for the first time by watching the film, you may want to skip to the next paragraph. The film also portrays the tragic events of November 27, 1978 when a conservative political opponent murdered Harvey Milk, along with Mayor George Moscone. After shooting two people execution-style, Harvey Milk's assassin was convicted of manslaughter (not murder!) and served 5 years of a 7 year sentence.

Milk won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, and Sean Penn won Best Actor in a Leading Role for his portrayal of Harvey Milk. The film was also nominated for Best Picture. Milk is currently streaming on Netflix for a limited time.

If you would like to know more about Harvey Milk, there is also a 1984 documentary called The Times of Harvey Milk, which won an Academy Award of its own. This documentary was based on a biography written by Randy Shilt called The Mayor of Castro Street.