TresSugar

Harvey Milk: OK For a Movie, but Not For the Classroom

TresSugar — Wed, 27 May 2009 08:30:00 PDT

When California sixth-grader Natalie Jones put together a research project about Harvey Milk, it received a near perfect grade. But, when it came time to share the Powerpoint presentation, Natalie's principal said parents would have to sign a permission slip before her classmates could see it during a special lunchtime period.

The principal explained that since Harvey Milk was gay, parents might object to their children learning about his life. But, Harvey's sexual orientation had nothing to do with Natalie's decision to research him. She said she chose Harvey as her subject not because of his gay activism, but because he stood up for all minorities. And while the school cited sex education policies for its decision, the ACLU says officials misapplied those guidelines and violated Natalie's freedom of speech.

Discussing the openly gay politician in California public schools might soon become less unusual (but probably equally controversial). State lawmakers are considering a bill that would declare May 22 "Harvey Milk Day." May 22 wouldn't be a holiday, but it would be an occasion for teachers to talk about Milk's fight for equal rights. Conservative groups are already mobilizing to urge Gov. Schwarzenegger to veto the bill that they say would teach students about "homosexual experimentation."

Do you think Natalie should have been able to present her project? Should public schools go even further and encourage teachers to introduce students to Harvey's life story?

To see video of Natalie discussing the controversy,

Harvey Milk Day - Would You Support It?

LibertySugar — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 00:01:17 PST

If you didn't grow up in San Francisco, and maybe if you did, you might not have heard of slain gay-rights activist Harvey Milk until Milk hit theaters last year. Sean Penn, who won the Oscar for his portrayal of the nation's first openly gay person elected to major office, wants to continue promoting Milk's legacy. Yesterday in SF, Sean teamed up with state Senator Mark Leno to announce legislation creating a Harvey Milk Day in California.

May 22 wouldn't be a holiday, but it would be an occasion for teachers to talk about how the San Francisco supervisor fought for equal rights. The bill says that it would be "a day of special significance in California," in which public schools would be encouraged "to conduct suitable commemorative exercises on Harvey Milk's life and his contributions to the state."

Fellow-actor Gov. Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill similar to the one supported by Penn last year. Do you think the governor should support it?

To see more photos, read more.

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Milk: Deeply Moving, Difficult, and Worthwhile

BuzzSugar — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 12:30:58 PST

"I know that you cannot live on hope alone, but without it, life is not worth living." - Harvey Milk

The story of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk had a huge impact on me a few years ago when I first watched the Oscar-winning documentary about him, The Times of Harvey Milk. His is truly a stranger-than-fiction tale and is so full of inspiration, absurdity, and absolute heartache that it's somewhat surprising it has taken this long to create a feature-length dramatization of his life and death. I respect director Gus Van Sant's decision to memorialize and honor Harvey Milk with his movie Milk, and to my great relief, Van Sant and his exceptional ensemble cast have done Milk's story justice.

Milk picks up Harvey Milk's life when Milk (Sean Penn) meets one of the great loves of his life, Scott Smith (portrayed by James Franco) and decides to move from New York City to San Francisco. There, the two open a camera store in the heart of the Castro, a neighborhood with a rapidly growing gay population, and there Milk begins his life as a leader of the gay rights movement in the 1970s. After trying and failing twice, he is finally elected to San Francisco's Board of Supervisors in 1977, largely due to the support of the gay community. For the first time, it becomes apparent that the gay community could be a powerful one, and Milk often emphasizes this during his time in city hall. As the country's first openly gay man to be elected to public office, Milk brings the gay rights movement to the city's attention as much as possible, earning him admiration and support along with many enemies - including his ultimate enemy, fellow supervisor Dan White (Josh Brolin). For more about this and my thoughts on it all,

read more. Dan White is a good ol' Christian boy who feels threatened by and resentful of Harvey Milk's success. Josh Brolin, who is fast becoming one of the most fascinating actors in Hollywood, simply morphs into this insecure and fearful man who gradually becomes unhinged. His fate and that of Harvey Milk are tragically linked in history forever, and frankly, it's disturbing to see Dan White brought to life on screen, especially after seeing all the actual footage of him in the documentary. The rest of the cast is equally remarkable: Franco makes for a loving, sympathetic Smith, and Emile Hirsch is captivating as Milk's young activist protégé Cleve Jones. Allison Pill is always an undeniably strong presence on screen and her depiction of Milk's sole female team member, Anne Kronenberg, is no different. Diego Luna plays one of Milk's lovers, Jack Lira, with equal parts bright beauty and troubling instability. Most of all, Penn's portrayal of this charismatic, resilient, and good-humored pioneer will surely earn him some well-deserved accolades and awards. This project is remarkably ambitious. There are so many intersecting aspects of Milk's career, activism, and personal life, it's enough to make one's head spin. Add to this Van Sant's decision to incorporate actual footage from the '70s into his dramatized story, and you've got yourself a crazy, giant puzzle to put together. But the actual footage is crucial in this case, consistently reminding us that though this seems like fiction at times - especially now, to modern audiences - this is a true story. Interestingly, one "character" (so to speak), the outspoken fundamentalist Christian singer Anita Bryant, is not played by any actress (though at first glance I thought for sure it was Marcia Gay Harden). Instead, her entire part in Milk's story is shown through real footage - which only makes her behavior that much more staggering. This directorial choice seamlessly blends the reality of Harvey Milk's actual life with the staging of his life by the director and cast. Overall, I can’t express enough how much I applaud and admire Van Sant’s accomplishment here. It's a complicated and deeply emotional story, and the entire production - Van Sant, screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, the whole cast - carried a tremendous responsibility to get this thing right and the result is a dignified homage. I highly recommend watching the documentary first, as there was an effervescence and a beautiful light to the real Harvey Milk that no actor, not even the great Sean Penn, can capture. Both the documentary and this new film may leave you speechless and/or weepy. But his is a worthwhile story to tell and if this grand-scale production with heavy-hitting actors and a talented director gets his story out there, all the better. Photos courtesy of Focus Features

Headline of the Day

GiggleSugar — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 09:00:00 PST

Sean Penn's Milk Has Blast From the Antigay Past

This is one of those headlines where you (kinda) know what the writer was trying to say, but you're all, "Re-write, re-write!" I mean, c'mon! "Sean Penn's Milk"?! That just sounds dirty. And "blast," following it just a couple words away, doesn't help. Anyway, if you're interested in reading about anti-gay rights crusader Anita Bryant and her reaction to the Gus Van Sant film Milk about the life of activist Harvey Milk, click here. Or you can just let your imagination run wild. It's your call.

Friends of Harvey Milk Talk Gay Marriage

LibertySugar — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 13:31:18 PST

In 1978 Harvey Milk, the first openly gay person elected to major office in the US, led the fight against Proposition 6. The California ballot measure would have banned gay teachers, including those already teaching, from public schools. Milk's organization against Prop. 6 is featured in the upcoming movie MILK, staring Sean Penn. A group of close friends, including Cleve Jones and Anne Kronenberg, surrounded Milk in his quest to preserve the human rights of gay Americans. I recently got the chance to meet longtime civil rights activists Cleve and Anne and ask them what they make of today's gay rights movement.

How does Proposition 6 compare with today's Proposition 8 to outlaw gay marriage?

Anne: Proposition 6 was (about) a basic fundamental right of gay men and women being allowed to teach in our schools. It was based on a morality that gays would be recruiting the kids and trying to turn them over into homosexuals, which is so bizarre. I think the same right-wing, Christian, born-again (groups) certainly play a big role in Prop. 8 currently. But (now) we're talking about an equality issue. . . . If you think in 30 years the difference (between) the paranoia of "I have a teacher and they're going to make me a dyke," to now we're talking about marriage - I think Harvey is smiling that we are even there.

To find out if Cleve thinks Proposition 8 will be defeated tomorrow as well as what he makes of today's gay activists,

read more. Cleve: I think we're going to win, but I don't feel the level of fear that I felt then. I feel that history's on our side, that we are moving in the right direction. And that if we do lose it will be a setback and I will be angry and disappointed, but I won't feel the same gut-level fear that we felt then. If Prop. 6 passed, we were going down a slippery slope right to fascism. I mean, that was outrageous - how would they determine who was homosexual? How would they test us? And it also included language for those who advocated for homosexuals. There was much more . . . real fear in the pit of your stomach and of the violence that could be unleashed. . . . It's very different now. We are winning and winning and winning. If we lose this one, it will be a minor and temporary setback. Do you think today's gay youth have the same passion? Cleve: I often say to younger people, "you know things are only new once, and I'm sorry you missed it" (laughs). But I think you can look at all the economic changes in San Francisco. It was much easier to live in the city then, it was much cheaper. Artists, students, young people could live on very little money. . . . But things are only new once. And all of us that were participating in the movement were keenly aware that we were participating in something that had never been seen. . . . It was just an amazing time. And everything was brand new: the first marching band, the first gay synagogue, the first gay film festival, all of the institutions and structures we now take for granted. Photo courtesy of Focus Films

Buzz News Roundup, 12/5

BuzzSugar — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 13:33:06 PST

The Hollywood Reporter has news that Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch, and James Franco have joined Sean Penn for the Harvey Milk biopic, Milk.
The stage musical version of Mary Poppins will begin its U.S. tour in Chicago during the spring of 2009, writes Variety.
Michael Urie of Ugly Betty will host a Miss America special on TLC starting in January; details are at The Futon Critic.
E! Online has news about the tour John C. Reilly will do to promote his mock musical biopic Walk Hard.
Randy Jackson is auditioning hip-hop crews for an upcoming MTV show, TV Guide reports.
According to Variety, Edward Norton will star in the comedic thriller Leaves of Grass.
Dancing With the Stars professional champion Julianne Hough is launching a singing career, Billboard reports.
Old episodes of Pop-Up Video will start airing online via VH1 Classic, Broadcasting & Cable reports.

Source

Matt Damon, Sean Penn Attached to Harvey Milk Biopic

BuzzSugar — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 10:22:01 PDT

Ever since I watched the mesmerizing and heartbreaking documentary The Mayor of Castro Street - which won the Best Documentary Oscar in 1985 - I've kept an eye out for news about the film version of this story. Today, Hollywood Reporter announced that Matt Damon and Sean Penn are attached to star in the biopic about Harvey Milk, the first gay councilman in the U.S. who was viciously killed by his fellow councilman Dan White in 1978. Here's more:

Penn is attached to play [Harvey] Milk and Damon is attached to play Milk's killer, Dan White, in [Gus Van Sant]'s long-gestating Milk biopic. The filmmakers are now in talks with a leading specialty division to launch the project. Once a deal is finalized, the team behind the as-yet-untitled feature hopes to begin production in San Francisco as early as December.

It's the latest chapter in a long-running race to film the biopic of the first openly gay prominent elected official, which has pitted Van Sant's project against another from fellow openly gay director Bryan Singer.

Last I'd heard, Bryan Singer was directing this project, though apparently Van Sant has had a long-standing connection with this story, and even wrote a screenplay for it once. I think both of these directors would have an interesting take on Milk's story, so all I care about is that whoever directs does it justice.

Penn and Damon photos source

What to Netflix: The Times of Harvey Milk

BuzzSugar — Mon, 09 Jul 2007 11:24:46 PDT

Okay, all you documentary fans, have I got a recommendation for you. The Times of Harvey Milk, winner of the 1985 Academy Award for Best Documentary, left me speechless and filled with mixed emotions. In the 1970s in San Francisco, good-natured camera store owner Harvey Milk was elected onto the board of city supervisors, becoming the first gay city official in the U.S.

At a time when civil rights were still at the forefront of peoples' minds, Milk, along with his colleagues and friends, worked hard for tolerance. Among other things, Milk fought to make it illegal to fire teachers based on their sexual orientation. This was a huge win for Milk and his supporters, and his career at city hall was picking up speed.

At the apex of this success, however, Milk was shockingly assassinated, along with the mayor at the time, the highly respected George Moscone. The murderer was a fellow board member whose defense claimed, among other preposterous things, that he was rendered insane from eating too much junk food. That's not nearly the end, however, so

read more This story is so intriguing and sad that it made me wonder how I'd never heard about it, and here's why: Milk's murder occurred almost immediately after the story broke about the Jonestown massacre, another San Francisco-related tragedy in which approximately 900 people died (which became fodder for another jarring documentary). Thus, Milk's story garnered very little press. The whole thing seems too crazy to be true, and sure enough, there is a Hollywood movie in the works, The Mayor of Castro Street, helmed by Superman Returns director Bryan Singer and scheduled to come out in 2009. Before then, though, check out The Times of Harvey Milk.