film | Sean Penn: Milk-ing It For Everything It's Worth

So I'm back in the sprawling 'burbs. Not to be an urban elitist, but let's just say it's an entire different world of Guess jeans and horrendous Express printed tees. Yet, it is home and the quaint town of Allendale, New Jersey does offer its home-y amenities: snow-filled landscapes, classic New Jersey diners, endless roads to drive your beat-up sedan, and most importantly, cable (to watch all the Top Chef you missed over the semester).

And, thank God for movie theaters -- an oasis in the barren cultural desert. I saw Milk last night and needless to say, it was amazing.

Even though Sean Penn has been ingrained in my mind as the mentally challenged father in I Am Sam and even though he will always sound a little mentally deficient, he was able to break out of the tightly-made parental mold. Sean Penn was charming, charismatic, and dare I say, adorable (?); hands-down, it is his best role yet, him capturing the essence of Harvey Milk.

And James Franco, though not giving a Oscar-worthy performance, was memorable, not to mention constantly exuding hotness -- one of the few that can pull off a mustache and look downright, banging.

Emile Hirsch, the lovable boy next store, also deserves a shout out as the cute, snarky, hipster-glassed political activist.

Gus Van Sant artistically combined historical footage and modern re-creation. It is an effective mix of documentary and entertainment that conveys the historical significance of Milk's victory as the first openly gay politician and the hardships that the gay community faced in the past. Eerily, the parallels to Proposition 8 and the current fight to endow gay Americans with full rights of citizenships are striking: the political milieu and jargon of middle, evangelical America, calling to preserve "the family" and "traditional values." Van Sant comedically portrayed Anita Bryant, Floridian politician and ex-Citrus advertisement model, as the 70's version of the modern Sarah Palin. Bryant proposed a series of referendums that picked up momentum across the country and that struck down gay discrimination laws in various states. During the 1970's, Proposition 6 in California proposed to kick out all openly gay teachers and their "supporters" in public schools because they were infiltrating our youth.

It is a movie that touches on personal stories and mass movements: the Minnesota boy who was going to commit suicide because his parents wanted to "fix" him, the Castro riots against police brutality, the series of Milk's speeches which called on America to not denounce homosexuality as a "sickness." Honestly, even as a person who rarely tears up at movies (minus the dry-eyes), I felt a few rogue droplets; the movie hit on the universal and personal feeling of estrangement and exclusion right on the head.

Any ways, bottom line, you should all see it.

I leave for Japan, soon. So, a search for the good in the Orient? I think, yes.