My wife, Helen, and I had a friend and Grand Rapids’ neighbor, Dick Stien, as a guest for eight days in our Tucson home early in December. Dick tells people that he is “post gay,” so it didn’t come as a surprise when he told us he wanted to see the new movie Milk sometime during his visit.
At a dinner party the night of his arrival, we introduced Dick to two of our friends, Jeff and Ed, who have been partners for seventeen years. During the course of the evening, we set a date for the five of us to see the movie and then afterwards dissect it over a dinner meal at The Feast, one of our favorite restaurants.
I thought it was a bit ironic that my wife and I would be watching this flick outnumbered, because this time we as heterosexuals would be in the minority. I must admit that I’m very naïve about the history of the gay activist movement, having been totally immersed in my business career for over thirty-three years.
While I was a bit squeamish with some kissing scenes, this movie rates a nine on my scale of one to ten, ten being as good as it gets. The story is real, the actors superb, and Sean Penn makes you believe that he is the real Harvey Milk. What a performance! Penn should have no trouble winning the Best Actor of the year awards.
While I was growing up, my mother, an Anita Bryant clone, and her Club, which she called Jehovah’s Witnesses, boldly stated that God condemned homosexuality and firmly believed and taught that it is “a disease spread by the Devil himself.” She was totally convinced that the only cure would come from reading the Watchtower magazine and regular association with her fellow JW inmates.
During dinner I thought about this absurdity, and yet I kept silent. My preference was to just enjoy a delicious meal and listen to three very upbeat, emotionally healthy, happy, intelligent gentlemen critique a very positive cinema experience.
I am still struck with the fact that all three of the guys knew where they were, what they were doing, and what was going through their minds when Harvey Milk was assassinated, the gay world’s Martin Luther King.
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John, thank you for the pictures and video that you included with my post. Your creative visuals for the articles that you, Bob, Craig, Chi, and I write add so much to our stories. I was particularly impressed with the vintage movie clip that you added to Chi’s Language Barrier post. Your intuitive grasp of the entertainer’s (that’s you at heart) opportunity never fails to amaze me. And when you strike, it’s always unexpected and most entertaining. Again, thank you so much for your passion and unique talents. For me, our collaboration on JOO is a work of joy.