Author Topic: Milk: After 30 Years, a Film Returns to a Harrowing Time in San Francisco  (Read 39095 times)

Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Re: Milk: After 30 Years, a Film Returns to a Harrowing Time in San Francisco
« Reply #10 on: October 28, 2008, 06:17:28 pm »

By the way, in the trailer, there is the unveiling of a giant rainbow flag. I thought the rainbow flag wasn't around back then. It came about in the 1980's. Am I wrong?

It seems to be correct.
The (original) Pride Flag was flown on June 25, 1978;
Harvey Milk was assassinated five months later, on November 27, 1978--
see below:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_flag

Rainbow flag
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


A rainbow flag is a multi-colored flag consisting of stripes in the colors of the rainbow. The actual colors used differ, but many of the designs are based on the traditional scheme of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet, or some more modern division of the rainbow spectrum (often excluding indigo, and sometimes including cyan instead).

The use of rainbow flags has a long tradition; they are displayed in many cultures around the world as a sign of diversity and inclusiveness, of hope and of yearning.

There are several unrelated rainbow flags in use today. The most widely known is perhaps the pride flag representing gay pride. The peace flag is especially popular in Italy and the cooperative flag symbolizes international cooperation. It is also used by Andean people to represent the legacy of the Inca empire (Wiphala) and Andean movements.

(....)

LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) Pride (1978)

The rainbow flag, sometimes called 'the freedom flag', was popularized as a symbol of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) pride and diversity by San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker in 1978. The different colours symbolize diversity in the gay community, and the flag is used predominantly at gay pride events and in gay villages worldwide in various forms including banners, clothing and jewelry. For the 25th Anniversary of the Stonewall riots held in 1996 in New York city a mile-long rainbow flag was created and post-parade cut up in sections that have since been used around the world.

Originally created with eight colors, pink and turquoise were removed for production purposes and as of 2008, it consists of six colored stripes, which should always be displayed with red on top or to left. Aside from the obvious symbolism of a mixed LGBT community, the colors were designed to symbolize: red (life), orange (healing), yellow (sunlight), green (nature), blue (harmony), and purple/violet (spirit). It is most commonly flown with the red stripe on top, as the colours appear in a natural rainbow.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pride_flag_(LGBT_community)

Rainbow flag (LGBT movement)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


History

The original gay-pride flag was hand-dyed by Gilbert Baker. It flew in the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade on June 25, 1978. (However, it was not the first time that spectrum or rainbow colors had been associated with gay and lesbian people.) The flag consisted of eight stripes; Baker assigned specific meaning to each of the colours as follows:

hot pink: sexuality
red: life
orange: healing
yellow: sunlight
green: nature
turquoise: magic/art
indigo: serenity/harmony
violet: spirit



Original eight-stripe version designed by Gilbert Baker in 1978



Version with hot pink removed due to fabric unavailability. (1978–1979)



Six-color version popular since 1979. Number of stripes reduced to an even number to prevent middle color from being hidden when hung vertically on lampposts, indigo changed to royal blue


After the November 27, 1978, assassination of openly gay San Francisco City Supervisor Harvey Milk, demand for the rainbow flag greatly increased. To meet demand, the Paramount Flag Company began selling a version of the flag using stock rainbow fabric consisting of seven stripes of red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, blue, and violet. As Baker ramped up production of his version of the flag, he too dropped the hot pink stripe due to the unavailability of hot-pink fabric. Also, San Francisco-based Paramount Flag Co. began selling a surplus stock of Rainbow Girls flags from its Polk Street retail store, which at the time was San Francisco's main gay neighborhood.

In 1979, the flag was modified again. When hung vertically from the lamp posts of San Francisco's Market Street, the center stripe was obscured by the post itself. Changing the flag design to one with an even number of stripes was the easiest way to rectify this, so the turquoise stripe was dropped, which resulted in a six stripe version of the flag - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet.

In 1989, the rainbow flag came to nationwide attention in the United States after John Stout sued his landlords and won when they attempted to prohibit him from displaying the flag from his West Hollywood, California, apartment balcony.

The rainbow flag celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2003. During the gay pride celebrations in June of that year, Gilbert Baker restored the rainbow flag back to its original eight-striped version and has since advocated that others do the same. However, the eight-striped version has seen little adoption by the wider gay community, which has mostly stuck with the better known six-striped version.

In autumn 2004 several gay businesses in London were ordered by Westminster City Council to remove the rainbow flag from their premises, as its display required planning permission. When one shop applied for permission, the Planning sub-committee refused the application on the chair's casting vote (May 19, 2005), a decision condemned by gay councillors in Westminster and the then Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone. In November the council announced a reversal of policy, stating that most shops and bars would be allowed to fly the rainbow flag without planning permission.

Today many LGBT individuals and straight allies often put rainbow flags in the front of their yards and/or front doors, or use rainbow bumper stickers on their vehicles to use as an outward symbol of their identity or support.

On the 14th of June 2004, gay activists sailed to Australia's uninhabited Coral Sea Islands Territory and raised the Gay flag, proclaiming the territory independent of Australia, calling it the Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands.
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Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Re: Milk: After 30 Years, a Film Returns to a Harrowing Time in San Francisco
« Reply #11 on: October 28, 2008, 06:28:41 pm »

It's been interesting to see the audience response to the trailer for MILK. It's been shown before BURN AFTER READING, THE DUTCHESS and W. So the crowds are a bit more sophisticated then typical the typical moviegoer.
 
I've actually heard some hostile comments from ppl in the audience ("Oh, I certainly won't be seeing this!").   Some ppl have been more receptive.

It's a very impressive trailer though I don't know how it's going to do at the cinema.  I think a film needs to gross USD 30,000,000 for it to have a shot at being nominated for best picture.

Sad.
 :-\
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Offline oilgun

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Re: Milk: After 30 Years, a Film Returns to a Harrowing Time in San Francisco
« Reply #12 on: October 29, 2008, 11:09:44 am »
Did anyone attend the premiere at the Castro yesterday?

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/28/BA2J13Q99C.DTL

excerpt:   In an interview on Monday, Milk's campaign manager Anne Kronenberg, who is now a San Francisco public heath administrator, said, "I just saw the movie yesterday, and I still haven't recovered from it. Gus (Van Sant) and the production team caught the era exactly. It's very accurate. What really comes across is that feeling of compatriots and being family that we felt."

Here is a (not great) set of photos from the event:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/georg_lester/sets/72157608467323689/


Offline Aloysius J. Gleek

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Re: Milk: After 30 Years, a Film Returns to a Harrowing Time in San Francisco
« Reply #13 on: October 29, 2008, 07:21:36 pm »

Did anyone attend the premiere at the Castro yesterday?

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/28/BA2J13Q99C.DTL

excerpt:   In an interview on Monday, Milk's campaign manager Anne Kronenberg, who is now a San Francisco public heath administrator, said, "I just saw the movie yesterday, and I still haven't recovered from it. Gus (Van Sant) and the production team caught the era exactly. It's very accurate. What really comes across is that feeling of compatriots and being family that we felt."

Here is a (not great) set of photos from the event:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/georg_lester/sets/72157608467323689/




Thank you so much!

Yes, any news in re the premiere, anyone?

In re the photo: LOVE Mayor Newsom! Yum!
"Tu doives entendre je t'aime."
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Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne)
and Pee-wee in the 1990 episode
"Camping Out"

Offline Ellemeno

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Re: Milk: After 30 Years, a Film Returns to a Harrowing Time in San Francisco
« Reply #14 on: October 30, 2008, 12:23:14 pm »
This trailer showed at a movie I saw the other day, and I heard nothing from the audience, in a good way.



Offline Kd5000

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Re: Milk: After 30 Years, a Film Returns to a Harrowing Time in San Francisco
« Reply #15 on: October 30, 2008, 12:32:57 pm »
This trailer showed at a movie I saw the other day, and I heard nothing from the audience, in a good way.




Well that's how ppl responded at my cinema when they saw the trailer for Brokeback Mountain. It was a bit more cryptic. NO RAINBOW FLAGS. NO mention of the word homosexual.  Of course, a friend of mine in Los Angeles said the audience laughed when they saw the trailer for BBM. I guess the L.A. crowd was more in the know about what Brokeback Mountain was going to be about. Of course, by Oscar time, nobody was laughing. 

Offline Artiste

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Re: Milk: After 30 Years, a Film Returns to a Harrowing Time in San Francisco
« Reply #16 on: November 04, 2008, 06:37:33 pm »
Interesting posts !

And, merci, that's thanks for description of what each colour means !

More please...
au revoir,
hugs!

Offline Lynne

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Re: Milk: After 30 Years, a Film Returns to a Harrowing Time in San Francisco
« Reply #17 on: November 07, 2008, 11:59:50 pm »
Thanks for your posts, John - especially the clip of Harvey Milk's last words.

In one of those 'small world' or 'six degrees' ways, it turns out that my best friend since junior high is connected to Charles Baker of the Baker v Carr decision, which led to the redistricting that ultimately resulted in Milk's election for the Castro district.

When I went from the Don Wroe trip to TN last month, she picked me up at the airport and on the drive home I was telling her about our weekend, including watching the Milk documentary.  It turns out that her mother and Charles Baker grew up together - he was a bit older and 'babysat' her.  While in law school, she interviewed him about this for a class project.  I have not seen it yet - she's in the process of getting the video converted to digital.  When she does, she's happy to make it available to anyone who is interested.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baker_v._Carr
« Last Edit: January 23, 2009, 02:43:41 pm by Lynne »
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Offline Artiste

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Re: Milk: After 30 Years, a Film Returns to a Harrowing Time in San Francisco
« Reply #18 on: November 08, 2008, 07:29:55 pm »
I long to see this movie !

Any more information about it ?

Please !

Au revoir,
hugs!

Offline oilgun

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Re: Milk: After 30 Years, a Film Returns to a Harrowing Time in San Francisco
« Reply #19 on: November 09, 2008, 11:10:15 am »
From http://weblogs.variety.com/hal/2008/11/did-milk-miss-t.html

Did "Milk" miss the opportunity to change history?

In the election aftermath, Kristopher Tapley poses an intriguing question: "Could an earlier ‘Milk’ release have killed Prop 8?" As he points out, much of "Milk" is dedicated to the fight against Proposition 6, a 1978 ballot measure that would prevented gay people from working as educators. "The parallels between the campaign chronicled in the movie and the real-life battle over Proposition 8 are striking," he writes. "Harvey Milk (Sean Penn’s career-best portrayal) makes the point, to paraphrase, 'We have to make them understand that they know us.' That message, I think, might have carried a lot of heft if voters had made it to the polls four weeks later.... A studio’s priority is, of course, to shareholders, and 'Milk' is likely to make more money in its current release plan than something earlier in the season. But you can’t help but wonder what might have been. And you can’t 'give ‘em hope' after the fact." (As I posted this, an email from Focus Features arrived to remind me that "Milk" release dates begin November 26.)