MILK

What premiere's this week across the nation? MILK, the film about the first openly gay official elected to office. Have been waiting for this for a while. When the filming was going on I must admit, I did not get all excited and join in as an extra. However, as more trailers have come out and the whole passage of Prop 8, it has really ignited an interest in the legend of Harvey Milk.

Perhaps I am falling into the trap of "advertise it and they will come" for gays but I have to say, I really am up to see what ol' Gus Van Sant has done with this. Hopefully it won't be as obscure as "End of Days", the one about Kurt Cobain. That shit was just weird and way too artsy for me to sit through. And I usually like the artsy stuff. But what I have seen thus far, I am certainly intrigued by what MILK will have to offer.

I was listening to NPR a few weeks ago and on All Things Considered, they were doing interviews with gay people about if there are enough gay leaders, if there is a gay voice in politics, and what Harvey Milk meant to them. The interviews were focused around the Castro and the LBGT Center on Market Street. One individual said that Harvey Milk didn't mean much to him and it was so long ago that it didn't really matter. In his opinion, there were plenty of gay examples and the relevance of Harvey Milk didn't apply any longer.

I would disagree and was disappointed to hear this. Harvey Milk stood up in a time when being gay was not okay. And it's not to say that it is throughout our country today either however it's much better off because of people like Harvey Milk who came out and wouldn't hide who they were or how they lived their lives. There was no more apologizing for being gay. And why should we? It's just the way that it is. In my mind, Harvey Milk was a pivotal figure who helped to shape gay rights and the world we live in today. Perhaps I am being nostalgic but it's how I feel and suspect will feel even stronger about it once I see the film.

So with that, it's playing at the Castro theater starting tomorrow, 11/26. Miss B and I will go to a show at some point during the day. She doesn't have to work and I am skipping out, taking a vacation day. Who else wants to go?