Milk

Harvey Milk was a political right's activist back in the 1970s. He got into politics right around his 40th birthday, and he was the first openly gay male elected into public office in the state of California. I suppose I could have warned of a spoiler for the movie, but that was a pretty obvious one I figured.

The movie Milk tells of the life of Harvey Milk (played by Sean Penn) from his 40th birthday, when he decided to go into politics, and when he met his lover, Scott Smith (played by James Franco), until his assassination eleven months after he was elected into his position as a supervisor in San Francisco.

I didn't know anything going into this movie, and I've really never watched any movies that have dealt with activism, or the rights of gay people. My beliefs for the last few years of my life have been that every human deserves to be treated the same way, and watching this movie didn't change my beliefs at all, but I do think that if someone didn't have those same beliefs they may find it hard to watch. There are a few scenes which have men kissing other men, and I know that would be awkward for some people. It was awkward to me. I'm all for equal rights, but that doesn't mean I want to watch that. I'm sorry. I guess that was, honestly though, my only gripe with the movie, just that there were a few too many make out scenes for my tastes.

The rest of the movie was great! Watching the struggle that they went through was slightly upsetting, but Harvey always kept going on, and he never gave up, because he believed in what he was fighting for. It was a very inspirational movie, with a great message about how all people should be treated the same. Harvey loses his lovers, and gains new ones, and gets old ones back, and the love story of Harvey and Scott is intertwined throughout the entire movie. Sean Penn and James Franco were both great in their roles, and they didn't hold back. They did their job, and they did it very well.

Like I said, this movie was great. If you're looking for an inspirational movie, pick this one up. It's got a great message, and everyone should see this movie. I'd definitely throw a 9/10 rating on this movie.

Thanks for reading. I'll update again later, after I've finished watching The Green Mile.