Milk

sexybadpnomamma and I saw Milk today at the Coolidge Corner theater. I was blown away by Sean Penn's performance - I hope he wins an Oscar for it. He really disappears into the role of Harvey Milk, and I completely forgot I was watching Sean Penn.
Before I saw Milk, I had known who Harvey Milk was and a little about his assassination, but I didn't know quite how much he achieved. Despite the tragic ending, the weight of what he accomplished made the movie feel positive.
It was a little eerie to be watching this film in the shadow of Prop 8. A large part of the movie deals with the fight against Prop 6 (legislation that would have barred queer people or anyone who supported them from teaching in public schools). Listening to the rhetoric of the Prop 6 supporters, I got a feeling of deja-vu, or, more to the point, same shit, different decade. Milk gave me a lot to reflect on regarding the progress that's been made and the distance left to go.
As a side note, I also knew who Anita Bryant was, but I had had no idea that she was such a raging homophobe. Milk includes news footage of her out campaigning in support of Prop 6 and the repeal of an anti-discrimination ordinance in Florida. There is some justice in the world, though. Her anti-gay activism contributed to the decline and eventual collapse of her career. Also, her efforts came to naught. Prop 6 was defeated, and many of the other measures she championed were repealed or overturned in the 1990s.