Harvey Milk

Harvey Milk's Oscars
One of the best documentaries of the 1980s and Oscar winning The Times of Harvey Milk is a gripping documentary that not only tells the real life story of Harvey Milk but isalso one of the films that actually changed peoples’ mind. Milk, the theatrical version of Harvey Milk's life from 2008, also won two Oscars. Although they are sharing the same plot, it's interesting tosee the differences between the documentary and the theatrical version.
The documentary The Times of Harvey Milk relates the life of the first openly gay man who held public office in the UnitedStates through local elections and that's why he became well-known. It tells the story of his fight for equal opportunities for his community, one of the most heated sociopolitical conflicts during theseventies in the United States. It talks about his childhood and his personal life but basically is based on his arrival at San Francisco and his election as a supervisor of 5th district until he wasmurdered in the city council.
It begins with the announcement of Harvey Milk's and Mayor George Moscone's death at the hands of Dan White, another ex-supervisor of San Francisco. Immediately, you canhear Milk's voice in a recording before his death relating his will. You realize that he was conscious about the possibility of being murdered after several death threats. Next, the documentary isdivided in three parts. The first one tells of Milk's political activity, particularly on Castro Street in San Francisco, where gay community was gathered. The second illustrates his administration as apolitician, especially his victory in opposing Proposition 6, a law that tried to dismiss homosexual teachers from the schools. The third and the last one is an intention to explain what happened afterhis death, White's judgment and demonstrations caused by the indulgent ruling.
Furthermore, the documentary includes testimonies of Milk's friends that are a wise tool to know which kind of...