Got Milk?

Last night I watched the biopic Milk starring Sean Penn, James Franco, and Emile Hirsch. While the love scenes in this movie are not as good as in Brokeback Mountain...I am just fucking with you. 

The movie depicted the gay struggle for equal rights in California and elsewhere in the country, but focused mostly on the Castro District in San Francisco. I thought the movie was inspiring, that Penn was tits and nailed the character, and that Harvey Milk was a bold and brave S.O.B. It surprises me that I hadn't heard more about him prior to the release of this movie, which brings me to my point. 

Mark Leno, a gay state senator from SF, recently introduced a senate bill that would declare May 22 as Harvey Milk Day in California. It wouldn't make it a state holiday like Martin Luther King Day or Memorial Day, but it would suggest some sort of an observance of Milk and what he stood for. I am just curious as to why Leno, a guy who has introduced a gay marriage bill every year since he has been in office, waits until the release of Milk to introduce a Harvey Milk Day bill? Like me, did he not know who Harvey Milk was until the film came out, or is he just jumping on the bandwagon and trying to gain additional clout in the gay community? If I had to guess, I would say the latter. 

I am not trying to take away from Leno or his efforts because he has always been a very vocal gay rights activist, but it just seems a little sour is all. I mean, Leno lived in SF at the exact time Milk was active and on the board of supervisors (a position Leno held almost 20 years later) so I know he knew who he was. It's almost like Harvey Milk wasn't worth mentioning until Sean Penn played him in a movie and won a bunch of awards. Like Leno is saying, "Hey, you know what, that movie about Harvey was well received, maybe I should try and do something to further my standing in the gay community." It just seems sort of Al Sharpton-esque.

I am probably completely off here and maybe Leno just felt he needed the movie before anyone would take a Harvey Milk Day seriously. It is hard for me to question Leno's motives because I have watched him work for several years and he is genuinely a nice person. Who knows? Maybe Cleve Jones brought the idea to Leno (you'd have to have seen the movie to get that one). 

These were just some thoughts I had while watching Milk. I allocate this movie four stars. ****