The American Spectator : Sean Penn's 'Milk'

Imagine that you're a liberal-progressive with radical tendencies. Go on, it's not that hard. You may not be a Marxist, exactly, but you accept the neo-Marxian model of a world divided into exploiters and exploited, oppressors and oppressed. You are a keen multiculturalist and sexual liberationist -- by which I mean that you not only believe that people should be free to do anything they like sexually, so long as they are consenting adults, but that doing what you like sexually is a defining quality of your personhood. Anyone who dares to disapprove of or put any restrictions on your sexual self-expression in any way is as surely an oppressor as someone who runs a sweatshop or enforces Jim Crow laws or runs a colonialist government.

Now imagine that, as this very progressive person, you see a movie like -- oh, I don't know, The Searchers, John Ford's classic Western of 1956. Just check off the boxes. Racism? Check. Sexism? Check. Racism and sexism together? Check and check. Genocide of Native Americans promoted? Check. Sexual puritanism and "repression"? Check. Promotion of war and violence, probably related to the same sexual repression? Check. Triumphalist and traditionalist approach to American history as "winning" or "taming" of the "wild" West and therefore anti-environmentalist as well as genocidal? Check. There may not be any evil capitalists or factory owners in the movie, but when you've said that you've said just about all there is to be said for it as a political document. And, of course, as a good progressive, you believe implicitly that everything is a political document.

And yet you like this movie. You may not like it a lot, but if your aesthetic sensibility is at least as highly developed as your political consciousness, you may well conclude that the movie's reactionary politics don't matter all that much in comparison with the beauty of its imagery and construction, its character study of a man of heroic stature and its human sympathies with those who suffered the hardships and the heartaches of the American frontier in the period just after the Civil War. Well, if you can imagine this hypothetical situation, all you have to do now is reverse it. Imagine yourself a reactionary -- that should be a bit easier -- faced with a left-wing, liberationist movie of a certain quality and accomplishment and you will have some idea of how I felt about Gus Van Sant's Milk.

Not, I think, that it is on a level with The Searchers. Very few movies are, after all. But I agree with A.O. Scott, the much more smitten reviewer for the New York Times, at least so far as to say that "Milk is accessible and instructive, an astute chronicle of big-city politics and the portrait of a warrior whose passion" -- I would add bravery -- "was equaled by his generosity and good humor." In short, the historical Harvey Milk, one of the first openly gay elected public officials in the country who was gunned down (along with Mayor George Moscone) in 1978 by his fellow San Francisco supervisor, Dan White, is here portrayed by Sean Penn as a preux chevalier of the sexual revolution, and this celebration of his life, for all its propaganda and dubious (in my view) politics, is also a celebration of honor in perhaps the only way it still can be celebrated. The fact that White later got off with a manslaughter conviction by using the now-notorious "Twinkie defense" -- that he had been deranged at the time of the killings from having eaten too much junk food -- only serves further to cast the soft glow of nobility around the iconic figure of Harvey Milk.

Mr. Van Sant does a fine job of weaving together archive footage of the period -- as well, at the very beginning of the film, of an even earlier period where arrests on "morals" charges were a regular feature of homosexual life -- and re-enactments of Milk's various political campaigns and the private life that was closely bound up with them. Mr. Penn's performance is to my eye terrific -- though a gay friend tells me he thinks it too self-consciously "gay" -- and neither he nor White (Josh Brolin) are allowed to stray into caricature, as a lesser film might have allowed them to do. I thought the gay sex, though tastefully represented, bordered on the excessive, but I also recognize that it couldn't have been omitted without being untrue to a man who led the way for a whole generation of gay people in defining himself, publicly, by what he got up to in the privacy of the bedroom.

You will perhaps not be surprised to learn that I regret this historical development. "Privacy is the enemy now," says Harvey Milk in the film, and you can see what he means. But I still retain a sentimental attachment to privacy myself. Its gradual erosion if not complete elimination from our lives at the behest of a coalition of gays and feminists in collusion with a media culture that stands to gain monetarily from the fall of every remaining barrier between public and private strikes me as being a wholly lamentable state of affairs, and the possible prelude to some future tyranny that is now scarcely imaginable. The headline to Mr. Scott's review is "Freedom Fighter in Life Becomes Potent Symbol in Death." But the possibility that the title of "Freedom Fighter" might have some of the same irony about it that it does in the case of Marxist guerrillas, fighting to institute a Stalinist or Maoist tyranny, is not a negligible one.

Letter to the Editor

Tim| 2.23.09 @ 8:56AM

Was there really any doubt that Sean Penn would win the Oscar for "Milk"?

He would have won anyway, but California's Prop 8 sealed the deal.
.....and not to be politically outdone....."Milk's" writer, started the Oscar evening with a swipe at the Morman Church although he did it with grace.

Left Leaning Politics have always ruled Hollywood and the Oscars in recent decades so I hope no one took it personal when 500 or so folks demonstrated their arrival on the Red Carpet.

Free speech works both ways....

All in All it was a good show. But no Sean, sorry, I am not ashamed of my vote to uphold Marriage as a sacred bond between a man and a women.

However, I have no problem with Gays sharing their lives and love with one another and receiving the same bennies as married couples.

What you do in the privacy of your own home is your business but leave the Institution of marriage alone.

Alan Brooks| 2.23.09 @ 8:58AM

not so much tyranny, but Brave New World in its seductiveness-- and emptiness. BNW is, when you re-read it, not so bad in the gross materialist sense; involving sex and soma, but such a life would be, and today in some cases already is, cold. heartless. meaningless.
look how ruthless today's pornocracy is,
it's probably not even very much about money, disgusting-porn is as much about shocking and revolting as anything else. no one will ever go broke underestimating such taste.

Pingback| 2.23.09 @ 9:04AM

Sean Penn links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…... Blog Posts on Sean Penn Movies - News - Sean Penn thanks 'commie' audience - Digital Spy ( digitalspy.co.uk ) - February 23, 2009 Showbiz, TV, entertainment and media news around the clock. The American Spectator : Sean Penn's Milk ( spectator.org ) - February 23, 2009 Sean Penn's Milk. By James Bowman on 2.23.09 @ 6:02AM. Imagine that you're a liberal-progressive with radical tendencies. Go on, it's not that hard. You may…

Pingback| 2.23.09 @ 9:19AM

Shawn Penn links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

... Blog Posts on Shawn Penn Movies - News - Sean Penn thanks 'commie' audience - Digital Spy ( digitalspy.co.uk ) - February 23, 2009 Showbiz, TV, entertainment and media news around the clock. The American Spectator : Sean Penn's Milk ( spectator.org ) - February 23, 2009 Mr. Penn's performance is to my eye terrific -- though a gay friend tells me he thinks it too self-consciously "gay" -- and neither he nor White (Josh Brolin)…

frost| 2.23.09 @ 9:37AM

Nah -- won't probably see that movie, even when it gets on Showtime (no, I won't subscribe to HBO, even though they may also be a part of the same ownership -- Bill Mahre and Michael Moore crapola offend me sufficiently that I won't underwrite their garbage; Larry David notwithstanding) and, candidly, I fail to comprehend why anyone wants to view something like "Milk," excepting, of course, the gay contingent. Penn's a nutcase, sure, but he alone is not the reason I'd avoid this movie; to me it just isn't entertainment, that's all. Now, if it were one of the Monty Python efforts, that'd be a much different story....

Marc Jeric| 2.23.09 @ 9:43AM

A far-left agitator glorifying the life of a far-left homo - a par for Hollywood. But Oscar? I guess when Brad Pitt failed to preserve the murderous regime of Saddam Hussein he (I mean Pitt) found solace in electing the other Hussein to our presidency.

Doctor Right| 2.23.09 @ 9:59AM

Hollywood has several required categories for films that aspire to be nominated for Oscars.

One of those categories is "The Saintly gays".

Was there ever a more "Saintly", sympathetic man than Harvey Milk, who's personal and political struggles freed San Francisco to become the cesspool of moral degeneracy and stupid policies that it is today??

Yes, goold old Harvey...What a "Saint"!

We MUST make a movie about him! And who better to portray him than a far-left, rabble-rousing ignoramus like Sean Penn??

It's sooooooo perfect! In your face, America!

...yawn...

Mike| 2.23.09 @ 10:34AM

Tim - If you support giving them all the beenies, what's the point of denying them the good housekeeping seal of approval? Better to defend the sanctity of marriage in both word and deed.

Red Phillips| 2.23.09 @ 11:02AM

"Was there really any doubt that Sean Penn would win the Oscar for "Milk"?"

I actually thought Mickey Rourke was a shoo-in. This was definitely a political vote by the Academy.

Alan Brooks| 2.23.09 @ 11:02AM

no one has ever gone broke, nor will anyone ever go broke, underestimating taste.

frost| 2.23.09 @ 11:29AM

Yup -- I guess Red's right -- the red won, and it sure was political.

Paul| 2.23.09 @ 11:48AM

I am envious.... I can no longer watch and enjoy
most movies these days because of the same-old repeat actors and actresses. I am one of those people who watch movies for the movie and not the cast.

No matter what costumes he wears, or words he's told to recite or the special effects, he's still the same old anti-American, Sean Pean. They can't fool me! This applies to all. Actors, to be most effective and believable, should remain anonymous.

I like movies with actors whom I have never seen and will never see again.

Anthony| 2.23.09 @ 11:49AM

So this gifted actor, but intellectual lightweight, Sean Penn actually said America had the courage to elect an "elegant president", or some such rot. Thank God I haven't watched this crap in over 25 yrs, since Cuckoo's Nest with Nicholson. So where was Penn's intellectual twin pigmy,Tim Robbins, with his "chill wind" polemic? I guess the "Fairness Doctrine", or a variation on the theme, doesn't' register with these clowns, only their fevered manifestations of Bush's book burnings. Of course, with Robbins & Co., silencing talk radio is not a "chill wind" but rather, a cleansing of America. O.K. ,we got the Herbert Marcusian logic from you jokers a long time ago, it's getting real old real fast. Hey Sean, how about your elegant president holding a black tie dinner just one month into his reign, as America sinks? Kinda of Hooverish, don't you think? Oh I forgot, you don't think. I'm with Red, Mickey Rourke is great. I wish he had body slammed Sean Penn last night and crushed the weasel.

stmichrick| 2.23.09 @ 12:04PM

Penn peaked when he played to type as Spicoli in 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High.'

Dustoff| 2.23.09 @ 12:58PM

Ahhhh Yes, my San Diego high school.
Only to be wrecked by having this fool play in a movie written about it.

JP| 2.23.09 @ 1:19PM

There was a time (about 29 years ago), Sean Penn and Timothy Hutton were considered the 2 best young actors in Hollywood. The movie Taps was thier coming out. My how things turned out differently. As mentioned above, Penn is best remembered as a drugged out surfing bum from a teen skin flick (the scene of him hitting a sneaker on his head and yelling, "I'm so wasted!" will go down in history). Hutton was too full of himself and his righteoousness, and it turned out his acting abilities are very limited. It took Penn a decade to catch up to Hutton and pass him by as far as political activism goes. Coincidently, Penn's activism increased as his acting performances decreased.

Susan Hart| 2.23.09 @ 1:51PM

Your Comment:
Sean Penn won a wonderful award last night for his part in a movie about civil rights. I wonder how he can get up in front of millions and proclaim his holy then thou speech when he says, "We've got to have equal rights for everyone" what a joke.. Equal rights for who? Mr. Penn where are the rights of the unborn? The babies that will get slaughtered when his friend Mr. Obama legalizes abortion on demand. Injecting poison into the skull of babies that are aborted and are full term? If the injesction of poison does not work they will be thrown in a compactor to further their pain. Mr. Penn if you want equal rights for all then stop your messiah Mr. Obama from the Freedom of Choice act.

David| 2.23.09 @ 2:26PM

Sean Penn's comments just show how arrogant he is. He, like most of the so called actors today have never had an original thought. They say words other people write and make faces that fit the words and make millions of dollars doing it. I have to give him credit, he chose the right profession. He certainly could not compete in the real world. With few exceptions, hollywood is a bunch of lemmings. Triple digit IQs do not abound in hollywood. If someone writes it, he could do the eulogy for Castro. I can do without anymore of the "all knowing Penn".

Doctor Right| 2.23.09 @ 2:33PM

It's safe to say that at least 50% of the movie-going public is reasonably conservative.

That said, we need to take a page from Dr. King and hit these bastards where it hurts - in their wallets.

Most Hollywood films are drivel. I could go an entire year without once going to the cinema. If a sizeable portion of conservative movie patrons did the same, they'd get the message real quick.

It may be time to start emulating the 60's as a means of recapturing this nation from the Marxists. One thing the fools in Hollywood do understand is money - they're all secretly raving capitalists in the privacy of their own homes.

Hollywood is ripe for a boycott. Let Sean Penn peddle his movies in San Francisco, LA, and Manhattan. The rest of us in fly-over country can watch the good old days on TCM...

Wankel| 2.23.09 @ 3:05PM

Unbelieveable as it may sound, I have never seen a Sean Penn movie. Nor one with Mr. Robbins or Mr. Hutton. I feel I haven't missed anything. Life goes on.

Brutus| 2.23.09 @ 3:30PM

Dr. Right, I'm with you, but that knife cuts both ways.

The older I get, the more thoughtfully and discerningly conservative I get, with one result being my lack of interest in seeing the latest drivel coming out of Hollywood. But when an opportunity for your "..50% of the movie-going public (that) is conservative.." comes along to prove themselves so, they drop the ball.

I saw "An American Carol" on opening weekend for that very purpose. A funny movie with truly hilarious moments, though it might have used some better writing. It was a hoot watching libtards' talking points and sacred cows getting gored (no pun intended).

When I last checked the stats, An American Carol's box office had yet to cover the cost of making the movie. Opportunity missed.

Dustoff| 2.23.09 @ 3:41PM

Hey Doc.

I'm with you. Most movies out there just stink!

One nice thing. The lib movies about Iraq suffered bad at the movies.

Doctor Right| 2.23.09 @ 3:46PM

Brutus,

I agree completely. I think that when the rare "conservative" movie comes along ("Expelled"; "American Carol"; Fireproof"), we should support it.

In that regard, and maybe I'm getting alittle too ambitious, "Fireproof" has proven that we don't even NEED Hollywood. There's no reason that an alternative film industry couldn't be started somewhere in the USA that is funded by conservatives.

Would the production values be a liitle less than what we're used to from Hollywood? Undoubtedly, at first. Would the acting be "up to par"? Depends on who you ask...Personally (not that anyone really cares), I don't think much of a lot of the over-used has-beens in Hollywood, so I wouldn't mind some fresh faces.

But your post points to another issue that we simply MUST change if we're to overcome the Socialism in this country - ACTIVISM! Traditionally, we conservatives have not been the most strident activists. For one reason, we're too busy working, raising our families, and making the country function. But the second is more internal. Unlike the average leftist, we're not narcissists. We're not comfortable doing street-corner, theatre protests while screaming for attention and demanding kudos for supporting fashionable causes.

While we can overlook the narcissism, we can't overlook the activism. I've said it befrore, and I'll say it again, we need a tumultuous decade of our own - another 60's, if you will - to make painfully clear that we're tired of being rolled.

Imagine 1 million conservatives from the "Producing class" (I'm also a recent convert to class warfare - with a twist) converging on the mall in Washington and angrily demanding tax REAL tax cuts ("No tax cuts, NO peace!"), and you'll get what I mean.

But first, let's bury the Hollywood left.

Sarah| 2.23.09 @ 4:30PM

It's frightening how small-minded and bitter you people are. Your grandchildren WILL be ashamed when they realize that you stood in the way of EQUAL rights. And as for Susan Hart's ranting about the abortion issue...get over it, Ms. Hart. I'm sure you are just fine with the death penalty though, right? And I'm sure you also think Octomom is a saint. Pu-leeease. I'm so glad I'm on the right (left) side of these issues. You guys will be crying when Prop 8 is overturned very soon.

Rana| 2.23.09 @ 4:36PM

Why the HELL did he not thank his Wife who endures his S****T?
I was a big fan and today I am no longer can stand him

casey| 2.23.09 @ 4:38PM

It came as no surprise that this movie was recognized in Hollywood. It always seems to be attracted to the more anti-traditional, anti-American, anti-family, anti-values, victim-who-is-gay-or-a-minority of some sort. I am sick of it. It never ends, and each year it seems to get a little worse. Can anyone say "Brokeback Mountain" and "American Beauty," just to name a few truly horrible selections? I loathed the latter and refused to waste my precious time with the former trash. Right is called wrong and wrong is called right in these movies and heaven forbid you disagree.
So each year I boycott these nauseating, self-congratulating, empty, narcissistic fawning festivals put on by Hollywood and all their hangers on. This year only confirms I continue doing so.
And come on, Sean Penn? Harvey Milk? Yeah, no thanks; that tells me enough right there.

Dustoff| 2.23.09 @ 5:03PM

Sarah
You guys will be crying when Prop 8 is overturned very soon.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I would not hold your breath.

PS... people on both the left & right voted for prop 8.

casey| 2.23.09 @ 5:09PM

Susan Hart:

I agree completely.

Red Phillips| 2.23.09 @ 5:16PM

Fireproof and Expelled were excellent movies, but American Carol was neoconservative, pro-war propaganda. We most certainly do not need conservatism to continue to be associated with mindless militarism. That has already cost us. Non-interventionism is the truly conservative foreign policy. I agree that we need to bypass Hollywood.

Sarah, it is morally illiterate to equate abortion with the death penalty. Grow up.

Chuck| 2.23.09 @ 5:31PM

I have to agree with most of you, that Sean Penn is an imbecile. But I have to disagree with you that he has never been in any decent movies. Woody Allen's The Sweet Lowdown was a good movie, and Sean Penn was good in it. The Mystic River, directed by clint Eastwood, was a decent movie, and Sean Penn was very good in it.

Just because they are morons, does not necessarily mean they have no talent. But I understand avoiding Sean Penn movies. I usually tend to avoid worrying baout actors' political views, because if I did, I would not be able to see anything. i am too much of afan of movies to do this. But Sean Penn is so over the top, that I too sometimes consider skipping his work.

Michele San Pietro| 2.23.09 @ 5:52PM

I think Sean Penn should be abolished, as well as the whole Hollywood. Here's something about America I just don't like.

Anthony| 2.23.09 @ 6:05PM

Sarah says it all folks: Frightening ,but she represents the leftist moral equilivancy in all its demented splendor. The killing of an innocent life, before it has a chance to enjoy his/her promise of life, with no say,no protector, no advocate, is compared to the punishment of an adult, who has committed heinous crime(s) that have resulted, usually, in the taking of one or more lives. What twisted minds Sarah & friends have. Hey Sarah, how many innocent lives have been deprived of their ability to respond to your stupidity tonight? God help you.

Tim| 2.23.09 @ 6:06PM

Sarah,
Talk about bitter, Did you really listen to Sean Penn last night.

It's one thing to disagree with one's point of view but he stands up in front of a billion people world wide and says that people who vote to secure marriage for a man and a women should be ashamed of themselves....as if we are supporting something evil like abolishing talk radio or putting people in ovens.

The only thing Penn didn't say was that we defenders of traditional marriage will burn in hell.....but he should have said it and come all the way out of his bitter, America hating closet.

blackirishblonde| 2.23.09 @ 6:40PM

It has bothered me since watching the Oscars last night about "Milk". I remember when this happened. My husband is also a Vietnam Veteran, and no one seems to remember who Dan White really was. I will not see the movie because I do not care for Sean Penn, so I don't know how Dan White's character in the movie was portrayed, but knowing how things can be twisted, I decided to find out for myself.
Daniel James White was born in San Francisco, the second of ten children. He was raised by working class parents in a Roman Catholic household. He attended Riordan High School.He enlisted in the Army in 1965 and served in the Vietnam War as a paratrooper before being discharged in 1972 and returning to San Francisco to work as a police officer. He later worked as a firefighter.
In 1977, White was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors from District 8, which included several neighborhoods near the southeastern limits of San Francisco. At this time, supervisors were elected by district and not "at large," as they had been before and would be again in the 1980s and '90s. He had strong support from the police and firefighter's unions. His district was described by the New York Times as "a largely white, middle-class section that is hostile to the growing homosexual community of San Francisco. As a supervisor, Mr. White made it clear that he saw himself as the board's defender of the home,the family and religious life against homosexuals, pot smokers and cynics."
White was initially on civil terms with Milk and supported some of his political initiatives. After the two had a falling out over a land zoning matter, however, White frequently clashed with Milk and other members of the board. On November 10, 1978, White resigned his seat as supervisor. As reasons, he cited his dissatisfaction with the corrupt inner-workings of San Francisco city politics, as well as the difficulty in making a living without a police officer's or firefighter's salary, neither of which jobs he could legally hold while serving as supervisor. He had opened a potato restaurant at Pier 39, which had failed to become profitable. On November 14, however, he reversed his position after his supporters lobbied him to withdraw his resignation and seek reappointment from San Francisco mayor George Moscone.Moscone initially agreed to White's request, but later refused the reappointment at the urging of Milk and others who felt White was resisting their progressive agenda. On November 27, 1978, White went to San Francisco City Hall to meet with Moscone and make a final plea to get his job back. He arrived that day carrying a loaded gun, with 10 extra rounds of ammunition, and sneaked into the building through a window, thereby circumventing the metal detectors of the recently installed security system, which would have prevented him from entering city hall with a loaded gun. Upon entering Moscone's office, White began to plead to be reinstated as a supervisor, but Moscone turned down his request. White responded to this by shooting and killing Moscone. White then reloaded his weapon and walked over to Milk's office and shot him five times, killing him; he fired the final shot at very close range. He then fled City Hall and turned himself in at the Northern Police Station where he had been an officer. White recorded a tearful confession, stating, "I just shot him."
White served five years of his seven-year sentence at Soledad State prison and was paroled January 6, 1984. Fearing he might be murdered in retaliation for his crimes, California State Corrections Officials secretly transported him to Los Angeles, where he served a year's parole. White's release prompted another round of demonstrations; protesters still outraged by the brevity of his sentence publicly ate Twinkies, implying that they themselves might not be responsible for any violence they engaged in. After satisfying the terms of his parole, White indicated he wanted to return to his lifelong home of San Francisco; this prompted Mayor Diane Feinstein who feared for her safety, to issue a public statement formally asking White not to return. Nevertheless, White did move back to San Francisco,where all of his extended family lived and attempted to restore his life with his wife and children. His marriage soon disintegrated.
On October 21, 1985, less than two years after his release from prison, White committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning in his garage by running a garden hose from the exhaust pipe to the inside of his car. White had been listening to a recording of Paddy Reilly's rendition of "The Town I Loved So Well" on the car's cassette player. White's body was discovered by his brother, Thomas, shortly before 2 p.m. The same day.
White was buried at Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno California, with a traditional Government-furnished headstone issued to war veterans. He was survived by his wife Mary Ann, two sons (7 and 4 years old), and an infant daughter.

ruth| 2.23.09 @ 7:13PM

Sorry, when I see the little commie, I see Spicoli. Like, gnarly, dude!

ruth| 2.23.09 @ 7:25PM

Sarah eloquently stated, "...Your grandchildren will be ashamed that you stood in the way of EQUAL rights (for gays), and "...about the abortion issue, get over it." Great juxtaposition; the sheer stupidity of liberals leaves me at a loss for words. Oh, about the death penalty, Sarah, nice comparison of preborn babies to serial killers. Can anyone say publik skool education?

Gene S.| 2.23.09 @ 7:36PM

to blackirishblonde: a lot of impressive research...but what exactly is your point?

blackirishblonde| 2.23.09 @ 8:12PM

I don't believe that Dan White killed Harvey Milk because he hated gays. I don't believe that Harvey Milk was some sort of heroe. I think it was a terrible thing that Dan White did.I believe Dan White ultimately felt used and manipulated by forces he could not understand, a changing way of life around him, he could not understand. I also believe Dan White suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. However, back in 1978 PTSD was still not a recognized medical condition. I didn't see the movie, but I'm sure his Vietnam service was never discussed.

carlos alexandre| 2.23.09 @ 8:21PM

Adorei a vitória de Sean Penn e especialmente seus comentários sobre a Proposição 8. O filme Milk mostrou para o mundo que nem todos são reacionários e homofóbicos como a maioria aqui.

Tim| 2.23.09 @ 9:04PM

Sean Penn es un Perro!

CARPE CURSUM

Liz O'D| 2.23.09 @ 10:23PM

Hollywood is a cesspoll of arrogant hypocrites. Penn has a lot of nerve insulting those who have different opinions and beliefs.
He has no problem kissing up to dictators who hate the U.S. and who would never tolerate any gay relationships.
I try not to contribute any money to the Hollywood crowd - don't go to movies, get dvds for free at the library. The disgraceful hateful things that were said in the election by people like Sarah Bernhardt, Bill Maher, Letterman, etc., should tell you a lot!
Penn proved that actors can not speak unless someone else writes a script for them.

ruth| 2.23.09 @ 10:54PM

I think we just got cursed out in Spanish. Well, I say, "Kiss it," in Inglesa.

Chris Odom| 2.23.09 @ 11:46PM

Who the hell is Sean Penn and why the hell does anyone care?

vin| 2.23.09 @ 11:54PM

"I actually thought Mickey Rourke was a shoo-in. This was definitely a political vote by the Academy. "

Whats tougher in your opinion:
1. To be a down and out performer that plays the role of a down and out performer

2. To be a straight male with a history of being rough around the edges that plays the role of a gay bank executive turned politician?

Look, we all have our own opinions. We are all entitled to express them. I think it would do us some good to zoom out. gain some perspective. Gay people have been around just as long as straight people. Back in the day it was the "in" thing to hate Jews. Then it was the "in" thing to hate blacks. Then it wasn't OK to hate, but it was ok to separate. 'I'll listen to your music and sing your song, but I would rather eat in a restaurant with a Nazi than you.' Now, it's the "in" thing to talk about gay people and how they should live their lives. They aren't hurting anyone. Open up your minds, focus on the religious brainwashing that has happened to you over the years. Religion is probably the longest purveyor of war in the history of the world. Hatred going so far back that you don't even know where it comes from. Let it go, focus on tomorrow. Focus on the REAL problems... like the kids who have been brought into this world that no one cares about. Squabbling over power, land, and religious ideals is like fleas arguing over who owns the dog.

ruth| 2.24.09 @ 12:01AM

Is the day far off when our priests, reverends and preachers are jailed for 'hate speech' because they have spoken out against homosexuality from the pulpit? That's what this is all about, and it upsets me.

ruth| 2.24.09 @ 12:09AM

Vin, atheists such as: Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Hitler, Castro, etc. took the big prize for multiple mass murders and atrocities in the twentieth century, remember? Not a God fearing Christian in the bunch. Give credit where credit is due.

Greg| 2.24.09 @ 3:02AM

Vin, good try douche. But why should gay people be accepted? Because they've "been around as long as straight people?" So. Murderers have been around since the beginning of humankind. So have thiefs, rapists, and people who assault/abuse.

Homosexuality is a morally repugnant lifestyle CHOICE that has turned once-decent cities (San Fransyphillis, parts of New York) into disease-ridden cess pools. And morons like Sean Penn have the gall to stand up and lecture US?

"Squabbling over land, power, and religious ideas..." This nation was founded by men with strong moral convictions, men with strong beliefs in God. 19th century westward expansion, a push for more "land" and "power" helped establish a nation large enough to support major immigration/population growth, the land for farming to adequately supply the population, and the wealth to help build up a strong enough military that won us WWII.

Worrying about "discriminated" "gays" never provided anything for this nation. Its time we say enough is enough and send the homosexual mafia back where it belongs.

amanda hill| 2.24.09 @ 3:11AM

Vin, you are the first voice of sanity in this steaming pile of conservative manure the American Spectator calls comments. I am a New Zealander and have never been prouder of my country than the day I had a civil union with my partner. The sheer hate emanating from these pages is frightening. We have our Harvey Milks here - but they were never assassinated. They have lived long and happy lives and are recognised, formally and informally, as people who have made long-lasting and important contributions to our society.

America is no leader of nations. It is a sad, broken, angry place that has suffered pointless wars and endless, weary debate about who it is and what it wants as a country.

Milk gives me hope that one day the bulk of your population wakes up, looks around and realises that humanity comes first - sexual orientation, political views, race, ethnicity, gender - are all wonderful additions to a diverse and beautiful world.

People who blame homosexuals for the problems in the world have no desire to look for solutions. Get some perspective, conservative America. And good on Sean Penn for speaking out - too few straight people are prepared to put themselves on the line for others. He is a truly genuine man.

Rob| 2.24.09 @ 3:39AM

In 50 years, history will look back on people like Greg above the way that history looks back on the racists during segregation.

But I understand Greg's anger. It must be frustrating to know you're going to be on the losing side of history.

Richard Cummings| 2.24.09 @ 11:17AM

This review is spot on. There were great German artists who became Nazis, but their art remained sublime. Milk, as a work of art, succeeds admirably. The script is crisp, the direction almost perfect. Most of all, it is not only Penn's performance that is nothing short of spectacular. This is an ensemble piece, in which the casting was brilliant. I commend people on the right such as James Bowman, who appreciate art for art's sake, Oscar Wilde's position. Should we banish "The Importance of Being Earnest" because of its gay subtext? Most of the responses to the review and to the film strike me as immature. My advice is to lighten up.

Kat| 2.24.09 @ 11:51AM

Leave it to a smug, snotty New Zealander, whose selfish country has never done a thing to help others, to lecture us.

vin| 2.24.09 @ 12:09PM

Greg,

Thank you for responding to my post. I'm interested in hearing more about what you think. I will say this: it sounds like you are still learning. My point is to simply refrain from the negative energy. Hold onto your opinion, but keep gaining perspective. As much as it might annoy you, put yourself in the shoes of another and see how your ideals stand to that test. But keep in mind, there is no need for anger or belittling comments. In any issue I think it's important to define the extremes... and then work toward points of common ground. No doubt, defining the extremes with others who may disagree with you is a challenge. But it does help to find the common ground.

Ruth,
I'm not sure if Sean Penn should have used the opportunity to speak out for gay rights. At least, he shouldnt have fanned the flame by insulting those who don't support gay marriage. The movie says enough. He could just accept the award and move on. Let me make it clear that I believe most Christians are good. There have been a few priests who abused their power AND participated in homosexuality. BUT those are a few rotten apples that need not spoil the whole bunch. In any group, there will be people at the top that abuse their power.

Here's the point. It's not religion, politics, business that are flawed. It's HUMAN beings that are flawed. Let's open ourselves up to where we as individuals may be flawed and move to correct those flaws.

We don't need to agree on everything, but we do need to learn from the past in order to have a better future.

Also Ruth,
I really appreciate your response because I went to one extreme, and you took it to the other extreme by bringing up Hitler, Stalin etc. Now, we can go forward and clarify what bothers us on the issue. I'll start by saying that I agree with you... I do not think christians against gay marriage are anywhere near in comparision to Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Hitler, Castro.

I'll be honest again, I don't understand why gay marriage is such a big deal. Why people hate it so much. I'll admit that I don't fully see it as "right". But that's just because I grew up around married men and women. And now, that I'm older and aware that the world is bigger than the small town I grew up in, I don't see gay marriage as "wrong" either. To tell you the truth, I've never met an unfriendly gay person. Also, my girlfriend recently moved into a neighborhood with a large gay community. Probably the safest place in the city too.

Honestly, we should be more worried about what humans will do when the Sun blows up. The Sun is a star. When stars die, they blow up. The Earth will be destroyed. SO, lets get everyone together, shut up about who's marrying who, and figure out how to build a bigass spaceship.

On that note Greg:
For example. Say you have a chance to be on that ship, it'll save your life, but you can't fly it yourself. You need one other person to fly you out of here. 1 person is straight and inexperienced. The other is gay and a top NASA pilot. It's an extreme example, but its one that will make you think. I don't need your answer. I just ask that you think about it, or find a similar example of your own. Since you called me a douche, it's the least you can do. Also, let's be clear that this land was founded by revolutionaries. People that didn't want to pay taxes. People that went against their political leaders. And by the way, EVERYONE believes in god. They just have different names for him/her/them. Study religion and you will see the similarities in each one. There is more than one way to life.

ruth| 2.24.09 @ 12:22PM

Yes, but I went to the extreme for a purpose, and that was to call you out on your Christian bigotry.

vin| 2.24.09 @ 12:23PM

Kat,

I suggest you take a trip around the world and talk to people. See what they really think of the US. That might show you what's really going on in this country of ours.

vin| 2.24.09 @ 12:31PM

Ruth,

Please re-read my response, think about it for a month. Then come back and talk to me about purpose and call me a bigot if you still feel that way.

ruth| 2.24.09 @ 1:21PM

I thought your first remark was bigoted until you clarified it. I understand your position, do you understand mine?

vin| 2.24.09 @ 3:05PM

Yes, I think so... that we shouldn't go so far as to persecute relgious leaders for promoting their religion. Is that correct?

I remember talking with a foreigner about life in the US and how he feels bringing up his children with conflicting sets of values. He said, "Although there is conflict, there are good parts on each side."

Also, I think the only constant thing in life is that everything changes. When a human's core belief is challenged , it's an opportunity to evolve.

I guess I'm more of a liberal on issues like gay rights and abortion. But I have to be honest and say that there are a lot of obnoxious liberals out there. For example, if I didn't agree with Bill Maher on issues, he would really annoy me.

ruth| 2.24.09 @ 3:23PM

Yes, but not just religious leaders, all of us. I don't think private behavior is my business, but I become alarmed when my children are being indoctrinated in the schools and the threat of persecution for my religious beliefs is possible. This is already happening in Canada. I don't hate anybody.

Greg| 2.24.09 @ 6:52PM

Vin--Homosexuality has never been deemed a "normal" behavior. Disease rates are higher in the gay community. No major religion on Earth accepts homosexuality. It is unnatural. I could go on and on.

"Religion is probably the longest purveyor of war in the history of the world. Hatred going so far back that you don't even know where it comes from. "

Its tough to find "middle ground" when you purvey garbage like this. But lets agree to this. You can call me "homophobic" or "anti-gay" ...which represents (at best) 5% of the world. Fine, I'm "discriminating" 5% of the world. But using YOUR OWN WORDS, religion (and supposedly its followers) which represents over 5 BILLION people is no good. Who's the bigot?

amanda hill--don't lecture US about "gay rights." You live in a 3rd rate country the size of Kentucky. We've won 2 world wars. If our center-right country doesn't want morally bankrupt behavior shoved down our throats we won't put up with it. Go produce something for the world instead of sheep ranching.

vin| 2.24.09 @ 11:20PM

Greg, take it easy on Amanda Hill... based on the last 8 years, she isn't totally off point. Sure, America has a bright history, but right now, the world is watching us. and its up to me, you, the other people on this board, and everyone else in the country to win them back over.

And just to clarify, Religion can be a very positive thing. It's a sense of community. The problems arise when one community's beliefs conflict with the belief's of another community. Or if there is dissension within a community. And those conflicts escalate. I'm merely saying that humans, nature, evolves. Religions that reach too far and set too many rules can create angry and confused people. (cough GREG cough) Take the good. Use what works. Use it to make better communities.

Here's a very basic point: whether you discriminate against 1% or 100%, you are still discriminating.

And Greg, if you have a problem with gay people so be it. Maybe you'll experience a paradigm shift at some point.

The problem with you is not that you are homophobic or anti-gay... that is not a problem at all. The problem is that you are a jerkoff. Not the first one I 've encountered, and won't be the last.

Frosty| 2.24.09 @ 11:26PM

Uh, Vin, I think Greg called you a jerkoff first. He was right.

vin| 2.24.09 @ 11:41PM

haha. so what does that make you

Frosty| 2.25.09 @ 2:00AM

Smarter than you, liberal loser. Now, sit quietly, contemplate your navel and EVOLVE. LOL

vin| 2.25.09 @ 12:05PM

evolving... and moving on... have a good one

vin| 2.25.09 @ 12:08PM

btw Greg, i think Frosty thinks you are cute

Frosty| 2.25.09 @ 2:28PM

Your gay pride parade is starting, Vin, strap on those kneepads.

Flu-Bird| 3.4.09 @ 4:11PM

What a stupid idea a holiday for HARVEY MILK thats just what we need another stupid PC holiday for sime freak jerk liberal SEAN PENN is a stupid annoying liberal jerk and i,ll never ever watch any of his stupid putrid movies their nothing but junk

Flu-Bird| 3.5.09 @ 1:50AM

How about if we have a holiday for real american heros like DOUGLAS McARTHER,ROBERT E. LEE how about if we returned to celbration GEORGE WASHINGTON and ABRAHAM LINCOLN birthdays seperatly like we once did why should we be clebrating these birthdays for CEASAR CHAVEZ and why should we ever bother celbrating CINO DEMAYO its not our holiday and KWANZAA there is no such a celebration as that SCREW SEAN PENN,SCREW HARVY MILK SCREW LIBERALS

mjn| 3.11.09 @ 5:47PM

Seem to recall that Harvey Milk protected Jim Jones by (verbally) attacking the families of Jones' cult members when said families tried to rescue their loved ones...was that in the movie?

klm| 3.12.09 @ 3:06AM

blackirishblonde| 2.23.09 @ 6:40PM -- yes, White's Vietnam service was mentioned briefly in passing. It's a tragedy that good people got sucked in to that misguided war. The film (Milk) does, in my viewing, represent White as being motivated by politics, not sexual orientation.

ruth| 2.24.09 @ 12:01AM asks, "Is the day far off when our priests, reverends and preachers are jailed for 'hate speech' because they have spoken out against homosexuality from the pulpit?" -- Yes, Ruth, that day is very, very far off, except in the minds of people who inflate their sense of self-importance by imagining that they're persecuted.

To those who think discriminating against gays is ok because "gay sex is gross", or whatever: hey, to me, the thought of fat people having sex is repugnant, so I just don't think about it. And I don't think it gives me an excuse to limit their civil rights, or their rights to express themselves in public in exactly the same ways that anyone else is allowed to.

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