As always, I’ll be polling you folks to determine my next Reviews By Request column. To vote, see the poll at the end of this review.
When I floated Rob Epstein’s documentary The Times of Harvey Milk as a possibility for a Reviews By Request column, I did so primarily in anticipation of the upcoming biopic Milk. The principal reason for this is because I generally have a rule against getting my history from “fiction” films, so I wanted to learn about Milk’s life beforehand, the better to concentrate on the performances and filmmaking in Gus Van Sant’s film. Not having seen Milk yet I can’t be sure, but to my eyes, The Times of Harvey Milk, though relatively undistinguished as filmmaking, is invaluable as a cinematic account of the life and legacy of Harvey Milk. It doesn’t tell everything about him- what movie could?- but it’s a great jumping-off point.
One of the biggest misconceptions that The Times of Harvey Milk cleared up for me was that Milk was more or less a one-issue politician. I knew going in was that Milk was the first openly gay man ever elected to major civic office in the United States, so I jumped to the conclusion that his political interests revolved around gay-centric issues, like his successful campaign against 1978’s hateful “Briggs Initiative”, which would have forced California’s openly gay school teachers out of their jobs. However, this was hardly the case. Milk was a vocal advocate for the rights of senior citizens and minorities in San Francisco, and also was a proponent of stricter “pooper-scooper” legislation in the city. One of the film’s most vivid moments is an old news report in which Milk discusses the poop law and dramatically steps in a pile of droppings he’d strategically placed there earlier that day.
But The Times of Harvey Milk isn’t just about the man, but about, yes, the times in which he lived. San Francisco became a haven for homosexuals during the 1970s, including Milk himself, a former Wall Street analyst who moved West during the sixties. Already into his forties, Milk unsuccessfully ran for public office three times before being elected city supervisor, a beneficiary of a new San Francisco policy that required supervisors to represent specific districts rather than the city as a whole. As one of the interviewees states, “we had finally elected one of our own.” Indeed, this same election would also elect the city’s first Chinese-American, the first African-American woman, and the first committed feminist to the city board.
The fifth (and final) newly-elected city supervisor was named Dan White, who of course would eventually kill Milk and Mayor George Moscone. White’s trial and the fallout from the verdict take up most of the film’s final third, and this is its most troublesome aspect. Most of The Times of Harvey Milk is devoted to historical accounts of Milk’s work and impressions of his life by people who knew him, but in the section on White’s trial, Epstein includes some unfortunate editorializing by the people he interviews, in which they posit that White’s reduced charges (for voluntary manslaughter rather than murder) were the result of homophobia among the jurors. While this was no doubt a factor, so too was the boneheaded move by the prosecution to play White’s taped confession for the jury, which only served to humanize him and make him seem penitent. But whatever the reason, White’s verdict- predicated on the now laughable “Twinkie Defense”- remains a colossal blunder by the courts.
Much more interesting, and illuminating to Milk’s legacy, is a pair of public events that followed Milk’s death, the first a candlelight vigil a few days after Milk was shot, the second a full-scale riot in reaction to the White verdict. It’s in the second case that Milk’s absence is most profoundly felt. The Milk we get to know throughout the course of The Times of Harvey Milk was not about violence or fear, but a positive inspiration to others- as someone else once put it, “a uniter, not a divider.” In one of his most famous speeches, Milk said, “you gotta give ‘em hope,” a message that seems particularly relevant today, considering the hopeful message of change put forth by our recent President-elect. How unfortunate, then, that there was no Milk-like figure to lead the movement to defeat California’s Proposition 8. With anti-gay marriage laws being passed across the country, will we soon see the times of the next Harvey Milk? Only time will tell.
The end of the year is fast approaching, and with that the time to make end-of-year lists and awards. However, ever since I went and got myself a life, I haven’t had time to catch all the movies I’d like to see. So for the next couple of months, I’ll be devoting the Reviews by Request polls to 2008 releases only. This week, five acclaimed- and very different- movies from which to choose. Should I see the latest documentary from the great Herzog, which sadly never made it to my area? The weird-looking kids’ movie from Kung Fu Hustle’s Stephen Chow? A Berlin Golden Bear winner from the director of the awesome Bus 174? A lightweight French cinematic bonbon starring Amelie’s own Audrey Tautou? Or would you like me to review the latest from cinematic enfant terrible Harmony Korine? Ball’s in your court:
As always, the comments section is open. See you in two weeks!
