This entry is part of a collaboration with Erin Dorney to express our thoughts about Harvey Milk.

Today marks the annual Hollywood vaudeville known as the Oscars.  Movies are such an integral part of American culture, it might even be safe to say the Oscars are an unofficial-holiday.  After all, moving pictures are one of our biggest exports, and the windows through which both our friends and enemies see us.

Lately, the selection process for Oscar nominations and winners have become quite controversial.  Ratings for the event have been dropping due to lack of interest from viewers who haven’t seen the lesser known films.  So, the committee is faced with a decision - do we choose the films we think are best? Or do we pick films that were blockbusters so the viewers on February 22nd will have some idea of what is going on?  How absurd.  A good film is a good film.  Sadly, I think The Dark Knight got the bad end of this bargain.  Perhaps the members were concerned that the public would say they nominated The Dark Knight a million times because it generated 533 billion dollars in revenue.  No, The Dark Knight was the best film of 2008 because IT WAS the best film.

I was fortunate to see 4 of the 5 pictures nominated for this year’s best picture.  I missed Frost/Nixon, so Benjamin Button?  Ugh, visually great but, if “you see one Forrest Gump movie this year…” The Reader?  Ugh.  Just because Americans can’t handle subtitles means whenever A-List actors work in settings that take place in foreign countries, they still speak English.  Here’s a thought.  Maybe she can’t read because you are speaking English and trying to read German in Germany.  Oops, I hope I didn’t spoil that for you.  Ah, Slumdog Millionaire.  There’s a picker-upper.  Great soundtrack, too.  Jai-ho!

One of my favorite parts of seeing a film in a theatre isn’t the aroma of popcorn, the Dolby Digital surround sound, hearing the faint ticking of the projector, the giant screen, or the culmination of the activity itself which enables you to forget your life for a while.  It is the car ride home.

When a film is over, there is that awkward point where you don’t know if you should stand up and leave, wait for other people, or just sit and wait until your friend goes first.   After that, you meander through the isles, discard your trash, and exit the theatre.  You get in the car and discuss.  If a movie is good, the conversation lasts the duration of the ride.  If a movie is really good, the conversation can last for days.  This is particularly the case with the final nominee for Picture of the Year, Gus Van Zant’s biopic, Milk.

Harvey Milk was a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and the first openly gay man elected to such an office.  He was brutally murdered by former supervisor member Dan White.  His agenda included gay rights, but Harvey Milk made himself out to be a man of all people.  He is known for accomplishing two acts.  The first was a dog ordinance law that required citizens to clean up after pets.  Milk was also quintessential in denying the passage of Proposition 6, or the Briggs Initiative, in California.

Prop 6 aimed at banning gays and lesbians from teaching in public schools.  State legislator John Briggs and many other conservatives formed an absurd link between being gay and child molestation.  They also feared that if students were being taught by gay teachers, they too, would become gay.  An accusation to which Milk cleverly replied, “If it were true that children emulate their teachers, we’d have a lot more nuns running around.”

The fact that this bill was almost passed blows my mind.  But that was not my first reaction as we drove home that night.  After leaving the theatre, I felt sad, ashamed, and embarrassed.  Embarrassed because prior to Hollywood bringing me this story, I had never heard of Harvey Milk.  Nor had my friends in the car.  Nor had my roomate, who is even from San Francisco.  Alarmingly, I began to wonder what else has been left out of my education.  (I’m so thankful to have learned evolution.)

Now, don’t get me wrong.  I understand that it is not realistic to learn “everything” in school.  I don’t believe in total spoon-fed knowledge.  I’m an advocate for self-motivated learning, and it’s something I have done my whole life.  However, how did we not learn about Harvey Milk!?

This man was as influential to rights in the gay community as Martin Luther King, Jr. was to the African-Americans.  He belongs in the same category as Susan B. Anthony, Rosa Parks, Frederick Douglas, and many other great patriots of civil rights.  We may be a little foggy on the details behind these people, but we know they share some significant part of social progress in this country.

Along with being ashamed, I was also a bit angry.  The parallels between Prop 6 and 2008’s Prop 8 are hauntingly similar.  Prop 8 is of course, another absurd law that bans gay marriage.  If we had learned about Harvey Milk, or if he were still alive, would 2008’s Prop 8 still have passed?  What if the film Milk came out before the vote?

After the ride home and a good night’s sleep, I was still thinking.  I saw the movie again a few weeks later.  I watched the Oscar winning documentary, “The Life and Times of Harvey Milk.”

I don’t know if Milk will take home the best picture Oscar.  In my opinion, this film is great not only in terms of production, accuracy, writing, cinematography, acting, and editing.  It goes beyond that.  This film is a message.  A powerful story.  An impetus for more action.

Within the next few weeks, I am going to draft a letter which will be addressed to my high school Board of Education and the New York State Board of Education asking them to integrate Harvey Milk into the curriculum.  I hope you will join me by either signing the letter with me or mailing one yourself.

“All men are created equal. No matter how hard you try, you can never erase those words,” said Milk.   We will certainly keep fighting for that.

This entry is part of a collaboration with Erin Dorney to express our thoughts about Harvey Milk.  And yes, Erin was involved on the car ride discussion home.  I invite you her post, here.

*Upon editing this I realized I used the word absurd multiple times.  Normally a good writer would use a thesaurus or word something in a different way to diversify things up a bit.  But you know what?  I chose not to do that.
*I also acknowledge that I did not solely write about Milk, but also went on a rant about the other nominated films.  By the way, how did Gran Torino get left off!!

*Below are a few resourceful links.  And if you haven’t seen the movie or documentary yet, do it!

Hulu - The Life and Times of Harvey Milk
Courage Campaign
Offical Website

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