Sunday, November 23, 2008

Harvey Milk, Politics, Prop 8 & The Oscars

Obviously, 2008 has been a big year for politics. America has embraced a candidate who campaigned on the concepts of change, but at the same time when they voted on individual issues they tended to vote "no" to change, and yes to more traditional values, especially when it came to states that had same-sex marriage ban...and no state has created, or continue to create more press than California with it's state initiative, proposition 8 which passed with overwhelming support to ban gay marriage and support a traditional interpretation of marriage between one man and one woman.

I've wondered what effect Prop 8 will have on the award and press attention associated with the film Milk. Milk tells the story of Harvey Milk, one of the first (if not the first) openly gay elected officials, who was elected to the board of Supervisors in San Fransisco in 1977. (Milk along with Mayor Moscone where both assassinated shortly after by another elected official to the board, Dan White).

From the earliest Oscar predictions for this upcoming award season, it has been largely expected that Milk would be one of the top 5 films come Oscar time, and that along with a nod for best Picture Sean Penn would receive an Oscar nod for his role as Harvey Milk.

Yet, being that Hollywood stars are right at the center of much of Prop 8 debate, I have to wonder what effect the larger political debate will have over the small group of Hollywood elite who get to vote for the Academy Award nominees and winners.
I think it is very likely if the Academy decides to reward Milk with multiple nominations, I think it will also open up the opportunity for many celebrities to "get political" about their belief about gay/lesbian rights.

Harvey Milk was not just a gay-politician, he was a politician who was fighting for the rights of his gay constituents in the Castro district of San Fransisco. Harvey Milk has a time in the spotlight over an issue, Proposition 6, the Briggs Initiative which was championed by Senator Jason Briggs, and this proposition was to ban homosexuals from teaching in Public Schools. Milk also sponsored initiatives to stop anti-gay discrimination in the work place.
I'm not sure what role the political debates of the time play in the film, but sure Hollywood celebs who are strong champions of gay rights will make a film connection with Milk and embrace the film.

In fact, it takes pretty minimal searching to come up with a list of names of celebrities who have spoken out against Proposition 8 this past year and have championed the rights for gay marriage. (It's much harder to find celebrities who favored the ban).

Some celebrities who spoke out against prop 8: Pink, Drew Barrymore, Rose McGowan, James Franco (who plays Harvey's long-term partner in Milk), Heather Matarazzo, Chad Allen, Wanda Sykes, Alec Mapa, Lucy Lawless, Ricki Lake, Christina Aguilera, America Farrera, Samual L. Jackson, Molly Ringwald, Ellen Degeneres, Melissa Etheridge, Portia De Rossi, James Cromwell, Patricia Clarkson, and Anjelica Huston...and surely many more.

It's hard to tell, and even once all is said and done, really measure how this political hot button issue will play a role in Milk's nominations and recognition in this upcoming award season...but it's certainly something I've been wondering, and I certainly expect as the film is released to wide audiences and award accolades begin coming out, this bio-pic will be part of context for bringing to topic of even more.

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm sure Milk would have received a share of nominations alone because it sounds like a quality production, Sean Penn stars in the film, and the movie glorifies a anti-establishment politician who is gay. The only thing missing from this movie to make it an Oscar lock is a beautiful actress making herself ugly or the actor going partial "retard."

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It is really surprising information for me to know that Harvey Bernard Milk was an American political leader who became the first openly gay person to be selected to public office in California. And my students are also wonder who are also taking dissertation writing help from the experts of Quality Dissertation to see that on his victory , Milk fil also been produced and it received eight Academy Award nominations.

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Harvey Milk come to be one of the first flexibly gay officials in the United States, when he was selected to the San Francisco Board of Administrators. Unfortunately, he was murdered, when he gained an armchair on the San Francisco Board of Administrators. Since I am EliteAssignment writer as my view politics and gay involvement were not his initial benefits, he was not exposed about his homosexuality.

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It’s such a Shocking information that Harvey Milk’s ground breaking election in 1977 as one of the world’s first willingly gay selected officials and its most perceptible one symbolized the freedom to live life with authenticity to lots of LGBT women and men around the world. At PersonalStatementFolks, I am personal statement writer and would like to share this post with my writer team and see what they say. Harvey’s passion, courage, and intelligence of impartiality rocked a country and stirred the very core of a put downhearted and pushed out community, getting forward new hope and a new vision of freedom.

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San Francisco city politician Harvey Milk facilitated open the door for gays in the United States by supporting civil rights for homosexuals. During his terribly short political career, Milk battled for a wide range of communal changes in such areas as public transportation, child care, education, and low-income housing. I would like to share this surprising information with my students who come to seek help in writing assignment from me at Secure Assignment Help. Milk has become an icon for the gay community of both what has been accomplished and what remains to be done.

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Harvey Milk, a San Francisco city politician, helped exposed the door for gays in the United States by bringing civil rights for homosexuals. San Francisco's Board of Supervisors conveyed a message of hope to gays. As a CV writers UK I read somewhere that he was helpful in bringing the gay human rights agenda to the attention of the American public. Milk shortly became well known and liked surrounded by neighborhood.

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Grand-Essays Service said...

I wonder if it was difficult for Sean Pen to play the role of Harvey Milk or not? Is there his interview?