Milk: A Biographical Film

Harvey Milk, though he had “known since high school that he was gay” (Biography), was initially outwardly ambivalent to legislation passed against the LGBTQ community. This all changed after he befriended a group of “gay radicals” in his mid-forties. They propelled him into the politically charged world of activism, in which he developed his voice, and stood out as a leader in the LGBTQ community. Milk stood on the steps of the San Francisco’s City Hall to celebrate Gay Freedom, but also to

Actor Sean Penn also delivered an outstanding performance playing the main character Harvey Milk. From the beginning to the end, Penn gave a believable presentation. In the film, Milk starts a camera business which then becomes a salon for homosexuals. While noticing that his surroundings are less than approving of the gay community, Milk decides to be a voice for those who are, metaphorically speaking, trapped behind closet doors. In 1977, Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Being in a place of power, Milk used this

In the book called Spilled Milk, it talks about a little girl her name is Brooke. She lives in New York with her dad, mom, bother, and sisters. Brooke has kept a secret. The secret was that she had been sexually abused by her father, from a young child to about the age of sixteen. The act of being sexually abused by her father is terrible. Brooke also, took more abuse in the effort to stop her father from abusing her siblings. All her life she knew something was off about her dad and didn’t understand why until she realized she was being abused. Brooke’s mother read Brooke’s journal about the problems that her and her siblings were having. She made a promise to Brooke to try to help.

In the fast paced world of today, advertisers have to keep up with the times. One of the best ways they do this is through the Got Milk ads. Milk is a part of everyday life and the advertisers for Milk show this through modern tactics and popular celebrities. By putting familiar faces on magazine ads and using interesting T.V. commercials, companies sell their products. The ways in which they sell the products is not by just stating that their product is good, they appeal to the human emotions, ethics and most of all what is logical. There are many ad campaigns out there that strongly target one area, such as your emotions, but the Got Milk advertisers campaign has all three of these factors.

In this world, there are a lot of people who showed great courage and tried to make the world a better place. Among these people, one of them is Martin Luther King Jr. He made the world a better place for black citizens by doing non-violence movements and marched the way to freedom.

Homosexual people have been misrepresented and refuted their basic civil rights in America over the years, especially during the late 1970s. During this time, Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California, was one of the most prominent spokesman on the issues surrounding gay rights. In 1978 he gave a speech impacting the gay citizens of San Francisco and America, the anti-gay right wing movement supporters, straight allies of the gay movement, and politicians in general. His speech known as the “Hope Speech” resonates with people even today as Milk attempted to address gay rights and the importance of electing gay officials in office, using various rhetorical strategies such as pathos, logos, and elevated diction.

The movie The Breakfast Club was released in 1985, and is based on a group of five high school students from stereotypical cliques; the popular, jock, nerd and the outcasts, who all wind up stuck together for Saturday detention. Throughout the movie many themes present themselves such as teenage rebellion, peer pressure and family issues as the students get to know each other. The most prominent theme throughout the movie is the student’s placement in the social structure of the school. From the very different reasons why they are in detention to the way that they are all treated differently by the principle, their social placement is evident.

Although the scenes of Harvey Milk recording his voice were split up throughout the film, I felt it to be the most powerful. Not only does he address the substantial probability of being assassinated, he does so calmly and courageously. He stated that, “a gay activist is the target for someone who is insecure”. As he did throughout his encounters with all kinds of people, he also stated that he often broke the tension when giving a speech to mostly straight men by telling a joke. Milk accomplished a lot for the gay rights movement, one that is still fighting today, and he did so with integrity, hard work, and sporadic humor.

Gays were forced to stay under the shadow. They were afraid to show their own true colors. Harvey Milk was a gay activist who had encouraged people to come out of the closet and join their organization to fight for their rights. He says “Burst down those closet doors and stand up once and for all, and start to fight.” (Document G) In the the quote he explains that people who are scared and haven’t come out of the closet should and help join the movement for equal rights for homosexuals. Harvey Milk’s encouragement had a big impact in the past organizations, his voice and words have impacted the LGBT society in a big way. In document H it shows how people were doing riots to express how they felt. This helped make people aware of their movement and what they want. They were able to express how they felt through these riots. Today, all these riots and LGBT activist work have made an everlasting impact. They had finished their goal and had legalized gay marriage, something they have been fighting for a long time. Even though they face discrimination, they have had made a huge step for equality because of their hard work in the past and

Undoubtedly, Bill Cosby remarkably influenced the 1960s civil rights movement. Through television, comedy, and by fathering a charming family, Cosby taught America that all black families are not how Americans typically perceived them: broken, lower class, and prone to delinquency. He became an authentic hero to the African-Americans, giving them hope for a future of equality and respect. In the Vanity Fair article by Mark Seal, “The One Accuser who might bring Bill Cosby down for good,” Seal elaborates on Cosby’s heroism: “by implanting such a positive image of black family life in the

The Stonewall Riots in 1969 taught homosexuals that it was important to create and maintain a visible, out of the closet, LGBT counterculture that was inseparable from other underrepresented groups (Rimmerman, 24). This was the goal of most LGBT activism after the riots. This was done with grassroots organizing. As Harvey Milk said, "We must continue to educate" (The Times of Harvey Milk). It was the job of each and every homosexual to come

California Proposition 6 was an initiative in the 1978 election, and was more commonly known as The Briggs Initiative. Sponsored by John Briggs, a conservative state legislator from Orange County, the initiative would have banned gays and lesbians, and possibly anyone who supported gay rights, from working in California's public schools. (Briggs Initiative. From Wikipedia) Milk spearheaded the entire No on 6 campaign, with gays and lesbians shouting "Come out! Come out! Wherever you are!" as well as canvassing their local neighborhoods to tell people the harm of the bill. It worked: The bill was crushed; even Briggs home county, Orange, voted no on the bill. Harvey Milk's nonviolent practices prevailed after his death. After the lenient sentence levied against Dan White for coldblooded murder, this sparked the White Night riots, a violent series of protests in Castro and the Civic center, a warning to police that homosexuals may be dangerous. That following evening, May 22, City officials had considered revoking the permit for a rally planned for that night, but decided against it for fear of sparking more violence. Officials stated that the rally could channel the community's anger into something positive.. Officers monitored the crowd from a distance, however the crowd engaged in a peaceful celebration of Milk's life. Attendees danced to popular disco songs, drank beer, and sang a tribute to

Harvey Milk move to a tolerant neighborhood in San Francisco's Castro District were apparently Gay, Lesbian, and bisexual people were accepted. In this tolerant neighborhood Harvey Milk was living a life with his partner being openly gay. Nevertheless, in that same neighborhood they began facing discrimination again, moment in which Harvey Milk set an idea in his mind that he wanted to gain equality in rights and that it would not matter if someone is gay or not. So he tried to get in important elections that could make country more tolerant and less discriminated to gay people.

Milk processed to make homosexuals civilized by getting attention, stepping out, and making his clear point to everyone. He was trying to be the leader of politics to announce the gay rights to everyone. Visiting houses, volunteering, and shaking hands, he grabbed many attentions and got appeals. His speech emphasized on being proud and open. Milk compared gay rights movement to civil rights movement and wanted to prove that he can make a change like in the civil rights movement. He begun campaign for gay men in August 1973. Because he was gay, there were many oppositions, and it

During the Cold War, the Soviets were trying to spread communism throughout Europe and Asia by exalting its achievements, and undermining democracy. Part of their approach was by launching ‘Hate-America’ propaganda. “As the Cold War intensified, the Truman administration launched an aggressive “Campaign of Truth” […] to counter the Soviet Union propaganda machine (Ubah, 2012).” The Campaign of Truth was created to help convince the world that the United States has “no purpose of going to war, except in the defense of freedom. (Vaccaro, 1950)” Truman encouraged the media to show the world that the United States was ‘wholly dedicated to the cause of peace (Vaccaro,