Harvey Milk

Previous lesson we watched the American biographic film ”Harvey Milk.” (You may watch the trailer here!)The film is about a man by the same name who fought for the rights of the gay in America in the 60s and 70s. Early in the film, Harvey Milk and his boyfriend Scott Smith move to San Francisco, which is the only city in the US where gays can be more or less open about their sexuality. They buy a shop in which they in addition to running a business in engage homosexuals in different campaigns. In line of other accomplishments, the gays manage to boycott the beer label Coors and the gays are hired to do other types of campaigning as well. As the gays manage to get their voice heard through leading boycotts Milk realises he can expand his little gay community. He wants the acceptance for homosexuals to sweep the nation. As persistent as he is, he starts with the Castro Street where his shop is. He runs to for an election to be a supervisor for his constituency. His well-known statement: “It’s not just about winning” was important, as he did not win until the third time he ran for an election. Harvey Milk became a supervisor of San Francisco in 1977 and showed the US that homosexuals are well capable of running politics.

I have watched “Harvey Milk” twice and I really like this film. It shows us how it is possible to make a difference. As opposed to other films, “Harvey Milk” emphasises the difficulties and antagonism of trying to reach out in politics. This makes the film different to former films I have watched about making a difference. For Harvey Milk it was a long way to political importance but his activism never faded. This film can definitely be an inspiration and encourage people who wish to spread their opinion. Harvey Milk put down a lot of work and effort to reach the success he finally had which paid off for so many people other than himself. In my opinion, the most important message in “Harvey Milk” is that the people are the ones with the power to reform a society. You cannot expect the government to be rational. If you as a part of a minority feel as if you are treated unfairly, YOU are the person who has to do something!