Milk

There is no doubt about it, gay has gone mainstream. Lindsay Lohan has her own Jewish dyke girlfriend while Ellen Degenerate has her own show where straight women worship her (the ultimate lesbian fantasy?). Special laws now protect gays from “hate” crimes. Crimes against gays always make front page news. Talk about “progress,” now grade school students even learn about how being gay is completely normal. Gay revolutionaries such as Harvey Milk paved the way from mainstreaming the gay "community" and giving them special protection against evil homophobes. It is no surprise that gay filmmaker Gus Van Sant has decided to cinematically immortalize the homosexual martyr with his film Milk.


Gus Van Sant is a filmmaker I have mixed feelings about. I am no doubt a fan of his films such as Drugstore Cowboy and My Own Private Idaho. Van Sant has also directed repulsive trash such as the Psycho remake and Last Days. Hell, the commercially and financially successful Good Will Hunting isn’t nearly his worst film. Milk is a film that combines Gus Van Sant’s notorious Queer New Wave artistry and his knack for mainstream productions. It makes me wonder whether Gus Van Sant is more proud of his gay art films or his gay power films. I wouldn’t be surprised if Milk was Van Sant’s proudest achievement yet.

I never wanted or expected to ever see a make out session in a film between Sean Penn and James Franco. I watched Milk with a special lady friend and she couldn’t help but cringe. It makes me wonder whether the two popular actors agreed to be in Milk for subversions sake (Penn is a Commie sympathizer) or to prove they feel secure with their sexuality. Teenage girl favorite Emile Hirsch also stars in Milk as a smart ass disgruntled gay nerd. Unsurprisingly Penn, Franco, and Hirsch have no problem pulling off “gay.”

Protesters are Gay

Gus Van Sant took it upon himself to make up a little historical fiction with Milk. The man that killed Harvey Milk, Dan White, is portrayed as a self-loathing gay in Milk. Was this fictional portrayal of Dan White an attempt by Gus Van Sant to show that gay repression leads to murder? Maybe Van Sant’s next film should be the ultimate Jeffrey Dahmer bio-pic. It could have been the pervert killer film that Gus Vant Sant wished Psycho could have been. Gus Van Sant had no problem having school massacre shooters in his film Elephant have a gay shower moment.

Is Milk the best gay mainstream film since Brokeback Mountain? Probably. Is Milk worthy of all the hype and praise that the credits keeping giving it? Probably not, but Milk is better than most of the films that Hollywood pollutes the world with. Milk has its moments and is well acted, but it’s more a film about power. As brought up in Milk, is gayness really responsible for the breakdown of the nuclear family? Probably not, as there are a lot worse subversive “movements” going on that are completely hostile to the western family tradition. I just wonder if Gus Van Sant decided to name his Harvey Milk film “Milk” for more than just after the subject of the film. Something tells me that Milk is not the only white substance on Gus Van Sant’s mind.

-Ty E