Shane

SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

Shane, released in 1953, directed by George Stevens (nominated for Best Director) and written by A. B. Guthrie, Jr. (also receiving an Oscar nomination) based on the novel by Jack Schaefer, is a western whose themes center on the western United States moving from a rugged frontier to a territory that is settled and domesticated. Within that context, the movie explores what constitutes a man’s role in this society.

The opening shot shows Shane (Alan Ladd) riding his horse toward the Starett house. The Oscar-winning color cinematography depicts sweeping vistas of the planes with the imposing mountains in the background that show reverence for the appearance of the Old West. Child Joey (Brandon de Wilde, in an Oscar-nominated supporting role) holds a rifle and appears ready to shoot a deer, which implies youthful innocence must soon take a back seat to surviving in the wilderness. But the deer shows alertness as both the animal and the boy see the cowboy approaching. Strangers can be an enemy or a friend since the truth is unsure. That is why the father, Joe (Van Heflin) says, “Let him come,” to see which the man will turn out to be. Shane asks to be able to ride through, saying he didn’t expect to find any fences here. His words show he would rather not encounter barriers to his freedom. The two men represent opposing lifestyles: one is a roamer who fought with his guns to survive; the other, is a reliable, peace seeking family man who would like to be allowed to put down roots, but who may seem dull in comparison. Joe’s wife, Marian (Jean Arthur) looks at Shane possibly as a curiosity, but she may feel instant attraction for the wandering strong handsome man who initially contrasts with her ordinary husband. But, she moves away from the window revealing some modesty since she doesn’t want to be caught observing Shane.

Shane shows his observation abilities by saying how he noticed how the boy, although seeming to hide saw Shane approaching. He compliments Joey by saying, “I like a man who watches things go on around. It means he’ll make his mark someday." This remark makes Joey smile, endearing him to Shane. While dismounting to drink some offered water, Joey cocks his rifle but the sound triggers a startled response from Shane who spins around, ready to draw his revolver. As the father notes, he is an excitable type, and the action hints at Shane’s stressful, gunfighter past. Joey says he just wanted Shane to see his rifle, and says he guesses Shane knows how to shoot. Shane doesn’t want to reveal anything about his past, and modestly says he does a bit.  

Men on horses ride toward the Starett house and Joe initially believes Shane is part of the Ryker group who want to run him off his land. Shane says if Joe lowers the gun he’ll leave because he wants his departure to be his decision. This exchange shows that Shane wants to be in charge of his fate and doesn’t like anyone forcing his will on him. He starts to leave. The riders approach. Rufus Ryker (Emile Meyer) says Joe is a squatter like the settlers, but Joe says he’s a legal homesteader, and the land he lives on belongs to him. Ryker wants him gone before the first snow because he signed a beef contract and needs the land for his cattle business. Ryker says he is giving a warning but could just “blast” him off. Joe says those days are past, suggesting that there has been an evolution away from violent ways, and laws have been passed to incarcerate those who violate the rules. Joe is a man caught between the old belief in the survival of the fittest and the newer, civilized social agreement that promotes peace and resolution through shared community rules and cooperation. Marian tries to calm everyone to avoid hostile behavior. A smiling Shane has not left and appears from behind the house to give support to Joe.

Here we have the old-fashioned role of the wife and mother who her husband calls “the little lady,” as she handles the domestic chores. Marian says supper will be ready soon, suggesting Joe should invite Shane to stay. Joe apologizes and says Joey’s rifle isn’t even loaded, showing how he is still fostering Joey’s childhood while also getting him ready for his adulthood. He shakes Shane’s hand and Joey is elated that he will stay. At supper, Joe goes on at length about how one can make a go of it being a homesteader. Shane seems distracted by Marian. A calf makes a noise, and again Shane is startled and goes for his gun, showing his hypervigilant lifestyle has not given him a sense of peace. When asked where Shane is going, his nomadic response is “one place or another. Someplace I’ve never been.” His life may have adventure, but it may not be deeply fulfilling because the satisfactions are transient. Joe says it’s the first real home his family has had and they will have to kill him before he would leave. Marian is upset by Joe talking about something so disturbing in front of their son. Joe says working the farm is too much labor for him and he had a hired hand once. But the Ryker brothers “knocked out his teeth” according to Joey, so the worker left. This story shows how Joe is up against not only the environment but the men who first arrived in the Old West. Joe comments how the extra plates and forks for the pie make it seem like they’re being fancy, but Marian appears to be trying to impress Shane.

Marian asks Joe to invite Shane to stay the night, pushing to keep the cowboy around. Shane, trying to show that he is worthy of their hospitality, and trying to make a transition to a farm hand, is outside taking an axe to a huge tree stump close to the house. Joe had been fighting for a long time by himself to get rid of the tree remnant. Together they chop at it into the night, and the fit, shirtless Shane and Joe finally are able to use their combined strength to unearth the stump. It’s as if Shane has brought increased manliness to Joe, empowering the man.

The next morning Joey wakes up to see a deer looking for food and water near the house. Showing his desire to grow into a frontiersman, he pretends to shoot it. He comes across the already awake Shane who slept next to the house. Joey wants Shane to teach him how to shoot, and wants him to stay, since his father has delayed showing him how to use a gun. Joey says he heard his dad say to his mother that he wanted Shane to stay to help with the work, but not fight his battles. It is interesting that the male ego is not threatened by needing help to do work, but feels undermined when the man is unable to fight alone, as if violence is a more defining male feature.

While Joey stays with his father as he does chores, Joey asks if Shane will teach him to shoot. Joe says he will do it when he has the time, which shows his desire not to be usurped in his fatherly role, but which also demonstrates how his current role of a family man and tending to the land has taken precedence over other traditional manly activities. Joe admits, however, that he probably can’t shoot as well as Shane, since he knows Shane has probably used his gun more often not being occupied by other activities, and he observed his quick reactions to any threats. Shane went into town to get supplies but didn’t wear his guns, and Joey wants to know why. Joe says he doesn’t wear one himself, but Joey says wearing guns suits Shane, as the boy is aware of the difference between his father and the cowboy. The boy then asks if his dad could beat Shane in a gunfight. Young boys want to emulate their fathers usually, so they want their hero worship to be justified. Joe maturely, though unsatisfactorily, answers by saying there’s no need to know the answer to his boy’s question since Shane is on their side. Joe may be feeling intimidated, however, by his family’s attraction to Shane.

Neighbor Ernie (Leonard Strong) rides up and says the Rykers tore down his fences and let cattle damage his wheat fields. He is ready to bolt because of the harassment. Joe convinces him to meet with others at his place to come up with a plan. Ernie wittily points out his frustration by saying the get-together better come to more than just poking “fingers in the air,” which amounts to angry talk and no action.

At the general store, Shane buys some work clothes and feels strange as he says he hadn’t bought clothes in a while. He is not used to anything resembling a domesticated life. It’s sort of like a skin graft that might be rejected. The Rykers are next store and get wind of a “sodbuster” there, which they derogatorily call “pig farmers.” The desire to settle down and be more civilized draws humiliating insults from the more savage leaning men. Shane just wants to buy “soda pop” for Joey, and the store owner, Grafton (Paul McVey), notes in a sad voice that he wishes more men would drink the harmless liquid, implying the alcohol is fueling repulsive behavior. Grafton is a man who would like to live in a civilized world but must still make a living and so must sell whiskey. When Shane goes to the bar to order the soda, Chris Calloway (Ben Johnson), who is with the Rykers, begins the to inault the Shane. When Shane asks, “You speakin’ to me?” and Calloway says, “I don’t see nobody else standin’ there,” we may have the origin of Robert de Niro’s psychotic version talking to himself in the mirror in Taxi Driver. Calloway then throws whiskey onto Shane’s new work shirt and says now he smells “like a man.” The implications here is that drinking something that submerges one’s rational ability helps to define what constitutes a male. Shane, not giving into his what drove his violent past, stoically takes their derogatory behavior and leaves.

The homesteaders meet at Joe’s place that evening. When Shane shows up, one man says he didn’t like going out at night, and another remarks he won’t move until “the shootin’ starts.” So, there is the suggestion that some of these men have left their violent ways behind them. Torrey (Elisha Cook, Jr.), a man from Alabama, shows up, and he heard about what happened at the bar. He says they can’t count on Shane if it comes to a fight against the Rykers. After they say that Calloway bragged about how he ran Shane out, Joe tries to cover for Shane by saying he told Shane to avoid trouble. Shane walks out saying they can speak more freely without him there, but he really doesn’t want to hear his manliness being questioned. Joe tells them they should go together as a show of force when they need to buy supplies in town. Torrey, who has tried to give up his fighting ways but doesn’t want his masculinity questioned, brags that he doesn’t need any bodyguards and only requires his gun with him. In response, one of them mocks Torrey, playing the rousing “Dixie” and then “Beautiful Dreamer” on the harmonica.

Joey, listening in his bedroom to what the others are saying, tells his mother he can’t believe Shane backed down, since he already has built the stranger into his macho hero. Shane is outside the room in the pouring rain, and Marian opens the window. Joey says he knows Shane wasn’t afraid. Shane says it’s a long story, and Marian has some insight into the man and says she knows, and smiles warmly as she says Shane’s name. She urges him to come in out of the rain, a sort of invitation suggesting he doesn’t have to feel like an outsider here. After Shane walks away, Marian tells Joey not to like Shane too much, because she knows he will not be staying, and then her son will be hurt when he leaves. She can see he is a troubled man and keeps moving to try to escape his past.

Joe and his family are getting ready to head out to meet up with other homesteaders and their families to go into town. Marian is slowing them down, and Joe voices the sexist attitude to Shane that one thing about marriage is a man has to get used to waiting for his wife. He says that it’s worth the wait most times, since Marian looks so pretty, and advises Shane that he should hold out for a woman worth waiting for. Joe doesn’t seem to realize that he is talking up his wife to a man who is attracted to her. But, Shane is also envious of Joe having a family and being settled, while at the same time he is incapable of living such a life.

In town, the families plan an anniversary party for Joe and his wife, and one of the wives says Shane is invited. He is now surrounded by a domestic group of people trying to live decent lives, asking him to join them. However, next to the general store, which represents this settled life, is the underbelly of this world, the bar, where the Rykers and Calloway hang out. Joey gets some candy for returning his soda pop bottle, but Shane deliberately goes into the lion’s den in the bar to return the bottle, trying to redeem his earlier behavior. Calloway starts in on him, reminding him that he should stay out of the bar, and be with the “women and kids, where it’s safe.” Calloway’s words are meant to emasculate. Shane tells him not to “push it,” but of course the man does. Shane orders two whiskeys and says he has to return the favor, so he throws both drinks at Calloway. Shane proceeds to punch him literally and symbolically out of the testosterone laden bar into the “women and kids” area of the store, reversing the castrating image. Some of the farmers tell the others to stay out of it, since it’s not “their fight,” and they don’t want to suffer the ramifications of it. The scene, temporarily, reminds one of Gary Cooper in High Noon, not getting the support of others and having to fight alone. (Although High Noon was released earlier, this movie was completed first, but delayed because of editing).

Shane and Calloway trade punches, but Shane beats him. Joey secretly entered the bar and witnesses the fight. He is eating his candy, showing his youthful innocence, but when Shane lands a hard punch, Joey chomps hard down on his treat, as if his potential for adult brutality is overpowering his childhood. Rufus Ryker sees that Shane would be an asset, and tries to recruit him, but Shane will have nothing to do with him. Rufus, who doesn’t understand honor or loyalty, implies that Shane is sticking around Joe because of his pretty wife. Shane is outraged at the comment. Rufus then says he’ll make Shane pay dearly for his actions. Joey comes up to Shane and says there are too many to fight and he should leave. It is a wise bit of advice, but Shane does not want to show that he will back down again, so he takes on a whole bunch of men. He does well until they finally get a hold of him and Rufus begins to pummel him. Joey tells the others and his dad enters with a club )A phallic symbol?). Together he and Shane beat the others away. Grafton, who continues to represent an evolved male, tries to stop the fighting, and convinces Joe and Shane to leave. Joe seems invigorated as he lets his savage nature surface, spurred on by Shane’s willingness to fight the villains. But Rufus promises the next time they meet up there will be lethal force used.

Marian tends to the men’s wounds, and says they were “wonderful,” which reflects the expected traditional reaction by women who sought protection from men in a hostile situation. The men also show prescribed modest attitudes, with Joe saying Shane did most of the fighting. When Joey says he thought Shane was a “goner” when hit with a chair, Shane says humorously, “It was an easy chair.” Even though Marian says medicating Shane’s head wound will hurt, Joey says Shane won’t complain. The boy is already subscribing to the code of the western hero. Shane can hear Joey telling his mother in the boy’s bedroom that he loves Shane, “almost as much as I love Pa.” Shane looks concerned, because he knows, just as Marian predicted, that he will eventually be moving on. He walks out so as not to embarrass Marian when she comes out of Joey’s bedroom. When she does leave Joey, Joe comes out of their bedroom and Marian asks Joe to hold her tight, almost to reassure herself that she is with the right man.

Ryker sent for Jack Wilson (Jack Palance), a gunfighter, who arrives at Grafton’s store. Torrey visits Ernie, who is ready to leave after the Rykers killed his sow and scared the family. While Torrey is there, the Rykers drive a herd of cattle onto Ernie’s land to damage his property. Torrey still wants to stay, but the fierceness is not as strong in his voice. Shane and Joey see the Rykers as they shout insults across the fields. Joey says that they have cut other farmers’ fences. Shane tells Joey that he would ask them to come through the gate instead if they tried to cut their fences. Shane is trying to model for Joey what peaceful men should do, although he knows that the present world won’t accommodate that behavior. Joey had previously wrapped up Shane’s guns in a blanket, as if putting the violence in Shane’s past to sleep. But the boy now admits that he would like Shane to show him how to shoot. Shane then unwraps the guns, as if awakening the need to use deadly weapons.

Shane agrees to show Joey how to shoot, and demonstrates that he knows quite a bit about being a gunslinger, mentioning the different ways men draw from various holster positions. After Joey asks him to shoot something, Shane fires quickly and hits a target. The sound of the gun is exaggerated, almost sounding like a cannon going off, startling Joey, and Marian, as she approaches. It is the first time a gun is fired in the movie and director Stevens wanted to jolt the audience with the noise. Joey is impressed, but Marian is concerned, and ends the lesson, telling Joey to get ready for the Independence Day celebration. Marian tells Shane that guns won’t be part of Joey’s life. Shane, almost sounding like a representative for the NRA, says that a gun is a tool just like a shovel (not the best analogy, since shovels aren’t meant for killing), and says, “A gun is as good or as bad as the man using it.” Of course the problem lies in the fact that there are many bad men who have access to guns, then and now. Marian, offers the counter argument, saying that they would all be better off, “if there wasn’t a single gun left in this valley,” including Shane’s gun, which shows she is worried about his safety, too. Joe comes riding in and is excited by seeing Marian wearing her wedding dress, and he tells Shane to get ready to celebrate the Fourth of July, which is also the day of Joe and Marian’s anniversary. His entrance stresses Joe is wedded not only to his wife, but to his country’s founding principles of freedom from outside tyranny.

While the celebration takes place, Grafton tries to dissuade Rufus from initiating violence. Rufus says he hasn’t used guns sooner, but he considers the homesteaders to be squatters, and he now must escalate. Wilson has a malicious smile on his face as Rufus speaks. Grafton says he upsets Rufus because, in a way, Rufus is hearing his own conscience bothering him. But Rufus sneers at the word “conscience,” because unlike Grafton, he has no evolved sense of right and wrong. Torrey enters the saloon, and Grafton asks what he wants. Torrey summons up his courage and asks for a drink. He makes a sarcastic toast to Rufus for having run Ernie off of his land. Torrey says that Ernie was a coward, but he is not, and he’s staying. Rufus quietly says that Wilson could easily get Torrey to draw which would give Wilson a reason to gun him down. But, instead they decide that Joe is the one they want, being the leader of the resistance to the Rykers. Torrey, emboldened by getting away with his angry words, breaks the saloon door as he marches out, adding to the atmosphere of violence.

The party has dancing, contests, and fireworks. To emphasize that the United States is a land that welcomes immigrants, Axel (Douglas Spencer), a Swedish farmer, is a friend of the Staretts, and introduces them to the crowd as they have a double reason to celebrate. Joe, demonstrating his domestic bliss, says he wouldn’t trade places with anyone, and gives Marian a kiss. Shane looks downward, showing his envy for what Joe has. Shane does get to dance with Marian, and he is all smiles while doing so. Torrey comes by and describes the gunfighter, whom Shane recognizes as Wilson, noting he’s a fast draw. Torrey suspiciously says that Shane seems to know a lot about the gunslinger business. Torrey says he doesn’t want any part of it, saying the men in that profession are involved in murder. His response seems to be noting it’s one thing to defend your land, but it’s another to make a living out of killing others.

Joe and his family return home from the celebration to find Rufus and Wilson at Joe’s place. Rufus proposes that Joe work for him, and he’ll pay him a good price for his land. Joe refuses, and Rufus says that men like himself “Made this country … with blood and empty bellies.” He says he was wounded fighting Native Americans and fought cattle rustlers. He represents that first wave of tough frontiersmen and is reluctant to give way to the new generation of settlers who benefited from his sacrifices to make the land safe. Rufus says the farmers drain off the water that hurts his cattle. Joe says traders and trappers came before Rufus’s people and tamed the land. He says that Rufus doesn’t have the authority to say nobody else has rights under the law. Joe is making the argument that the settlement of the territory must progress, and the ranchers who came before can’t stop others from settling there.

In town, Wilson sees Axel and Torrey riding up and is ready to gun Torrey down. Rufus doesn’t want any brush with the law, so he wants Wilson to do his dirty work, making it look like a legitimate self-defense if there’s violence. Torrey wants to get a drink, but is confronted by Wilson, sneering as usual, who goads him about the Southern Rebels being trash. Torrey starts to draw, but stops. However, Wilson shoots him, and it justifies the shooting to Grafton after Axel confirmed that Torrey drew his gun.

After Axel tells Joe about Torrey, Joe says he will go into town to confront the Rykers and Wilson. Axel thinks the other homesteaders will leave, so Joe first visits the other settlers, telling them they must stay to attend Torrey’s funeral. After the funeral the others are ready to depart, but Joe says they can have a “settlement” which implies putting down roots. He says they can honor Torrey’s memory by having churches and a school. But one of them notes that also includes graveyards, adding a sense of doom to the talk. Shane says they have a right to stay there and grow, and not give up. Joe says that this land is for more than just people like Rufus, suggesting that things must be allowed to change. After one of their homes has been burned down, the others say they will help as a community to rebuild, stressing the desire to create a place where the preservation of individuality must allow for social responsibility.

Rufus sees Joe as the cement holding the farmers together and vows that he has to go. Joe wants to confront Rufus, which is what Rufus wants. Marian pleads to Shane to convince her husband not to go. But Shane says he can’t tell Joe what’s the right thing to do, since it’s a complicated situation where doing nothing means surrendering his land and his rights. The Rykers invite Joe to a meeting at Grafton’s, saying Rufus is a reasonable man so as to lure Joe into a trap. Calloway, having gained admiration for Shane, doesn’t like an ambush, and admits to feeling a change come over him, and he quits Ryker’s gang. Shane and Calloway shake hands as Shane thanks him for the warning, demonstrating an evolutionary movement away from anger and violence to one of mutual respect.

Joe says to Mariane that he can’t show cowardice that would disgrace his wife and son. It appears, given the circumstances, he feels forced to abandon civilized behavior. Mariane tries to stop him. But if anything happens to him, Joe says that he knows she’ll be taken care of. His words suggest that she will have Shane there for her. Shane shows up wearing his guns and he tells Joe he is no match for Wilson. Marian tries to stop them, saying that the little land and their shack of a house isn’t worth losing life over. But there is a dignity in the code of men that makes it difficult to back down from bullying and injustice. Shane fights Joe to save him. Animals squeal, reflecting the animal instinct in men to fight. Joey is angry about Shane knocking out Joe with a gun, but apologizes when he realizes he was trying to save his dad. Marian asks if Shane is doing this for her, sensing his affection. But, Shane says he is doing it for the family, reflecting a need to use violence in the short term to preserve the peace in the future.

Joey follows Shane to Grafton’s store. Shane tells Rufus his days are over, but Rufus asks what about Shane’s life as a gunfighter? Shane says at least he knows his time is done, illustrating that he has insight into the need to progress away from brutality. Wilson squares off, ready to fight, and Shane calls him “a low-down Yankee liar,” echoing the dead Torrey’s words in a bit of reckoning for how Wilson had killed the man from Alabama. Shane kills Wilson and then shoots Rufus who draws on him. Joey warns Shane about a man with a rifle from the balcony, and Shane takes him out, too.

He tells Joey that he has to ride on because “A man has to be what he is.” By staying with Joey’s family, he tried to “break the mold” but “it didn’t work” for him. But Shane says whether it’s right or wrong, “there’s no going back” from a killing. It brands one, and Shane does not belong in this place where they are trying a way of life that omits that kind of violence. He tells Joey to let his mother know there are no more guns in the valley, like she wanted. In a way Shane was cleaning up that part of land so civilized life could be built upon it. But Joey sees blood on Shane and knows he was wounded. He says the famous line, “Shane! Come back!” but Shane rides away. Will he die? If his time is over, it is a possibility, possibly because sacrifice is needed for a peaceful world to exist.

The next film is Cool Hand Luke.

Milk

SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

The film Milk (2008) is a source of gay pride for those who participated in its making. Both the writer, Dustin Lance Black, and the director, Gus Van Sant, are gay, and so are actors Denis O’Hare and Victor Garber. They, along with the others who participated in this project, depict the life of gay activist and politician Harvey Milk, who, like others who fought on the front lines for justice, sacrificed themselves so that others could be free.

Over the opening credits there is Florida documentary footage about gays and police clashing as cops raided bars and arrested homosexuals. The use of film of actual events adds to the authenticity of this story which is most definitely based on facts. To show how there was the feeling that safety existed in being a closeted gay, one man at the bar who is being photographed throws a drink at the cameraman who filmed this old footage, as the man tried to hide his identity. Other men cover their faces, worried they will be persecuted.

The story moves to San Francisco, California. It’s November, 1978, and Harvey (Sean Penn, who received the Best Actor Oscar for his performance, which shows the full range of the man’s personality, including strength, vulnerability, humor, and intelligence), is making a tape to be played in the event of his assassination. Many crusading individuals who fought the establishment, such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, felt they would be killed. In Harvey’s case he accurately predicts that his killer will be a “disturbed” person who is “insecure” in his own life and is afraid of someone like Harvey who would further upset attacker’s fragile hold on life.

Harvey’s narration is interspersed with dramatized scenes of what happened in the past. He points out that his signature opening remark in his speeches was, “I’m Harvey Milk, and I’m here to recruit you.” It is a plea not just to tolerate homosexuals, but to enlist others into taking action to fight for gay rights. He admits that he initially had to speak to hostile, straight audiences, so he would open with a joke, such as, “I know I’m not what you expected, but I left my high heels at home.” It’s a funny line, but it points to the stereotypical attitudes toward gays and the lack of understanding that each person has an individual personality with behaviors separate from sexual orientation.

He records that San Francisco is the place that attacked sexual prejudice first, and he, being a gay activist, is the soldier at the front of the line of change, and is thus an identifiable person to target. There is then a clip of the announcement that both Mayor Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk were shot and killed. There is no mystery here, as there is none in the movies Malcolm X, Gandhi, and Apollo 13. We know the endings, but what precedes the conclusion of each story is what absorbs us. 

To that end, the film jumps back to New York City in 1970. Harvey is walking down subway steps and sees the hippie-looking Scott (James Franco). Harvey says boldly, but in a high-pitched, halting, insecure voice, that it is his birthday, but has no plans for the evening. He is in a suit and Scott says half-jokingly that his straight look means he works for a large corporation. Harvey says yes, one that is part of “that corporate establishment” that Scott probably thinks is the “cause of all evil in the world, from Vietnam to diaper rash.” Scott adds Harvey, “left out bad breath.” This exchange shows how the two comment on how everyone has their prejudices, and may rush to judgment. But, it also shows the instant chemistry between these two, as they share a sense of humor. Harvey asks not to let him spend his birthday alone, but Scott says, even though he admits that Harvey is very “cute,” that he only dates guys under forty. Harvey says he just gets in under the wire because he won’t be forty for another forty-five minutes. They kiss, and Scott goes with him.

Back at Harvey’s place, after they have sex, and Harvey finds out that Scott is from Mississippi, he warns him that he can’t just go with anybody right away because it’s not safe in a large city like New York. Harvey says that the police are everywhere, stressing the anti-gay atmosphere of the times. He tells Scott he has to be careful, because Harvey knows a lot of people and he has to be discreet or else he can lose his job. Scott says Harvey needs to find a new place and a different set of friends. Harvey agrees and admits he hasn't “done a thing I’m proud of.” As we already know, he will drastically change his life, and his meeting Scott is the catalyst that makes this happen. Scott says Harvey is now an old man at age forty and if he keeps eating his birthday cake he will become fat before he is fifty. Harvey says he doubts he will make it to fifty, which is a foreshadowing of what is to come. Harvey, smiling, says they should run away together, and they resemble a couple of kids looking for adventure.

In his recording, Harvey says that San Francisco was the place to “drop out” of the established society in the 1960’s, a haven for the counterculture at the time. So the two men travel there, and Harvey looks like a hippie himself now, with long hair pulled back in a ponytail, and he has a beard. The filming of their car ride looks like documentary footage, emulating the real film shown earlier to give the fictional scene a realistic feel. The Haight-Ashbury area was the hippie destination in the 1960’s, but in his recording, by 1972, Harvey notes the area turned seedy, filled with crime and drugs and boarded up buildings. Instead, the place to go now for what Harvey calls “refugees,” those outcasts of society, was an eight-block area called the Castro, which in contrast, had a conservative Irish Catholic lineage. (We again have a mixing of actual black and white footage inserted here as Harvey, who is into cameras, takes shots of the neighborhood).

Scott says he cashed his last unemployment check, and used it to buy marijuana, which stresses the anti-establishment culture of the era. Harvey has an idea, and they rent the store on the ground floor of their apartment building and call it “Castro Camera.” The two are outside hugging after painting the name of the store on the window. A man, McConnelly (Steven Wiig), approaches and asks if they are the new renters. Harvey introduces them and he shakes the man’s hand, who immediately wipes it with a handkerchief. This time period is even before the AIDS epidemic, which shows how the bigotry against gays had deep roots. Harvey asks about joining the local merchants’ association. The man says the police will shut down their store because there is “God’s law” as well as man’s law, and the police will enforce both. McConnelly sees no separation of church and state, and is obviously saying that being gay violates absolutist religious doctrine, which emphasizes the enormity of the struggle gays faced when coming out in the open.

Harvey and Scott openly make out in front of their store in defiance of the accepted norms. Harvey tells Scott that they will establish their own gay business association, and ask every customer what they want changed in their city. Scott questions Harvey’s activist interest considering he was a Republican. Harvey says he is a businessman and all businesses should treat their customers the same, no matter if they are gay or not. Despite the American doctrine that declares that all men are created equal, the country did not live up to that belief when dealing with various races, ethnic groups, and obviously women. People like Harvey are in the vanguard in the attempt to bring all groups into the democratic fold. Despite the seriousness of their struggle, these two men are playful throughout this period of early activism, as we see Harvey preparing a dinner for Scott’s birthday, and then hitting him in the face with a pie.

On tape, Harvey says the Castro became a magnet for gays to find a home. There is real footage of droves of young gay men arriving in the neighborhood. Harvey says the cops hated them, as the unwelcoming McConnelly noted they would, and they hated them back. The cops beat them and arrested them, but Harvey said the residents did not give up. Harvey made a list of the businesses that were friendly to gays and those that were not, and made the information public, causing the bigoted ones to lose business and the others to flourish. He is already using his business and political shrewdness to accomplish goals. There is an amusing shot of Harvey entering McConnelly’s liquor store and asking if he likes all the gay customers he now has. McConnelly smiles. Apparently monetary profits outweigh biblical prophets.

Harvey says their store became a place for many gays to congregate as a “home away from home.” Harvey even received help from unexpected straight sources. The Teamsters Union asked Harvey to get gays to boycott Coors beer, and in return the Teamsters hired openly gay drivers. Harvey understands the power derived from making deals involving monetary gain. He narrates that someone, or possibly himself, started Harvey being called the Mayor of Castro Street.

There is a scene where the cops are sweeping the streets attacking gays. As Harvey treats Scott for getting hit in the head when he went with others to resist the police, Harvey says that gays need leaders like those in the black community who look out for their own people. He says politics is “theater,” which is what Gandhi and Martin Luther King knew. You must get publicity to expose the injustice. Harvey’s anger is evident when he learns that a gay man is jumped and killed, and the police say there are no witnesses to identify the attackers. A cop says the man with the victim was his “trick,” as if all gays are just male prostitutes. Harvey corrects the policeman by saying the dead man was with his lover, and that there would be witnesses coming forward if the neighborhood knew that the police supported them, like other citizens. Harvey’s statement reveals that even though gays abide by the laws, they are treated as outlaws, and receive no protection from the true criminals. He notes that the gay residents were so vulnerable to attacks that they carried whistles to call for help when an assault was imminent.

Harvey decides to publicly attempt to stir the community toward activism. He gets up on a wooden crate that he labeled, humorously, “Soap.” Using a bullhorn he announces that the police raided their neighborhood, with charges of “blocking the sidewalk,” and sent citizens to the hospital while covering their badges so they couldn’t be identified, implying admission that they weren’t acting legally. He says that their tax money should go for their “protection, not persecution,” and for “gun control, not marijuana control.” He advocates using tax money to help school kids and seniors. He announces his candidacy for City Supervisor, to help change policies in San Francisco. His speech is smart in that it addresses the universal desire to use taxes for areas that are necessary and not wasteful to help the various groups in society.

Harvey, Scott, and others campaign and try to get people to register to vote. One young man, Cleve Jones (Emile Hirsch), from Phoenix, Arizona walks by, and Harvey tries to get him to sign up. The kid is sarcastic, and doesn’t believe in the political process. Harvey says they can change how he was harassed in Phoenix, but they have to start in San Francisco first, by addressing issues like police abuse, rent control, etc. Cleve says good luck but he’s leaving for Spain the next day. But, he will not only eventually return, but also will become one of Harvey’s most proactive supporters.

While discussing strategy, Harvey is handed a written threat of sexual mutilation, and Scott says he’s going to call the police. Harvey notes with dark humor that the cops probably wrote it. The situation shows how sad the state of affairs is when those who are supposed to protect one can be the real enemy. Harvey continues with his macabre sense of humor by saying if they follow through with the threat, he’ll get the sympathy vote. The note has a stick drawing on it, and Harvey hangs it on the refrigerator, saying it only becomes scarier in our imaginations when you don’t face the evil. His response shows how he is adapting to cope with the dangerous hatred he must face if things are to change. Scott says he’s putting himself at risk and he won’t even get elected. But, Harvey reminds Scott that winning isn’t as important at this stage as drawing attention to the cause. It goes back to the idea of politics being theater and trying to draw an audience to hear what is being said.

Harvey and Scott meet with the established, older gay leaders to get their support. They were David Goldstein (Howard Rosenman), who owned the gay newspaper,  The Advocate, and civil rights lawyer, Rick Stokes (Stephen Spinella). These men say that the job Harvey wants is a city-wide position, and that it’s more practical to back straight candidates who are sympathetic to the gay community. These guys are in suits as they sit at Goldstein’s house next to the swimming pool. In stark contrast to their conservatism, Scott swims nude in the water. Goldstein says Harvey’s extremism will only incite more backlash. Harvey declares they have to have one of their own in office, and the solution is not to go back in the closet. As they leave, Goldstein says Harvey sees the election as a “lark,” like something to have fun with, and he’s too old to be a hippie. Harvey counters by saying he is not the candidate, the gay movement is. His words show that he sees his fight as an advancement for others, not himself.

In conjunction with that unselfish belief, he records that there were thirty-two candidates going after six seats in the election, and he says “we” came in tenth. He goes on to say, “We” lost. He does not say “I.”  He says only a few more votes would have made him the first “queer as a three-dollar-bill man to be elected to public office.” Based on the results, he narrates that “they” tried again in 1975.

For the second race, Harvey cuts his hair, shaves his beard, and wears a suit, saying he wasn’t going to give anyone a reason not to vote for him just because he wore a “ponytail.” But, he also says that he and Scott have to not frequent the “bath houses.” Gay men would go to these places for anonymous sex. (Many believe this promiscuity helped to spread the later AIDS epidemic). Showing he was a political strategist, Harvey obviously wanted to tone down the anti-establishment activity to try to win a supervisor seat. However, he still lost in the 1975 race, but he had more votes. He then ran in 1976 for the California State Assembly. He bucked the Democratic Party by running against their candidate, saying the liberal establishment was not defending gays from deadly attacks. Scott, however, is now feeling that the campaigning has hurt their relationship by leaving little time for them to be a couple. As happened to other public leaders fighting injustice, their family lives suffered since they dedicated their time and energy to their causes.

The day before the election, Harvey is walking at night toward his campaign office, and is scared when a man is left off by a car and starts walking toward him. It turns out to be a false alarm, but it shows how gays lived in fear every day. Harvey discovers young Cleve Jones from Phoenix outside his campaign office. Cleve was in love but the man he was with dumped him. While he was in Spain, there was a memorial to all the gays that died under Franco’s fascist rule. The police attacked the drag queens there, but Cleve was inspired by them as they fought back and rioted, showing courage and determination as they shed their blood in the streets. Harvey says there can be a revolution in the United States, but Cleve has to fight. Cleve, looking for a cause he can be a part of, is fierce in his determination to win, and promises to help Harvey round up a crowd on the day the polls open.

There is real film footage of Anita Bryant, who was a former beauty queen winner, recording artist, and subsequent orange juice spokesperson, who became a fervent religious crusader who was against a Dade County, Florida law that protected gays from discrimination. She called the gay movement part of the forces of evil. Harvey sees Bryant on TV as he finds out he lost the assemblyman spot. But, there is a proposition to change voting boundary lines to join the Haight and Castro areas, and he now could win the supervisor job. There is a repeal of the Dade County law after Bryant’s crusade. A riot is building in the Castro in response to the Florida action. Harvey tells the police that he will get the gays to march to channel their anger so as not to destroy property or break any laws which would give the cops a reason to attack them. Harvey addresses the crowd saying that Bryant united them, and he takes the advice of his opponent in the assemblyman race that a candidate must give the people hope. He gives speeches that call for unified gay action to bring about the changes needed to make things better.

It’s 1977, and there is still a part of the Castro area that is conservative, Irish Catholic, and a person who was an ex-cop, Rick Stokes is running for the supervisor position. But, there is another candidate in a different area, Dan White (Josh Brolin), who speaks against what he considers to be an undermining of traditional values. Harvey says he can’t let Stokes win, but in the process, Scott leaves, saying he can’t handle the toll the political fight is taking on them. Anne Kronenberg (Alison Pill) arrives as the new campaign manager. Harvey wants to show that it isn’t only gay men who must fight but also the lesbians. Anne gets them some newspaper endorsements.

While Harvey is at his campaign office, Jack (Diego Luna), a handsome Hispanic man, looking inebriated, walks by. He falls and Harvey helps him in. That action basically defines their relationship, which is Jack being dependent on Harvey. They are immediately attracted to each other and have sex. Jack says he came there after his father beat him when he found out that he was gay. The film implies that when one’s own family demonizes a person, it can seriously and permanently damage one’s soul.

Harvey wins this election. Now, David Goldstein shows up during the victory celebration, but Cleve won’t let him in, stressing that the man only wants to be part of the win while never being part of the fight. Scott is also outside, but walks away, happy for Harvey, but no longer feeling like an insider. Harvey catches a glimpse of him, calls Scott’s name, which shows that he does miss his old lover, but Scott is gone. Jack is right next to him when Harvey is interviewed by the TV news, as Harvey, trying to broaden his support, says he is someone who represents all the people, not just the gays. Undermining the victory is the fact that Dan White also won a seat.

It’s 1978 and Harvey is sworn into office by Mayor Moscone (Garber). In a TV studio interview, the reporter says there are many news faces on the Board, and asks will the diversity cripple getting anything done. Harvey is there with White. Harvey says six votes are needed to get anything passed, so compromise is necessary and makes a funny statement that whether White likes it or not, they are “in bed together, politically speaking.” Scott sees Harvey on the TV and smiles, showing how he still enjoys his ex-lover’s sense of humor. White says his prior reference to “deviants” referred “more” to junkies than to gays, which doesn’t negate his belief that gays are deviants. He says he is about to be a father and wants to protect his child. After the show is over, Harvey tells White he does want to work together, and they shake hands, but White looks like he is trying to escape.

Cleve shows up in a suit at the building that houses Harvey’s office. Harvey is flamboyant, waving his freak flag in his exhilaration, saying that Cleve should only show up in tight jeans and dance up the many steps leading to the offices of the supervisors. As he passes the different offices, he mugs, letting Cleve know how he feels about the people working there. At Harvey’s office, Anne, the campaign manager, is already there. Harvey tells the staff that they must pass a gay rights ordinance, and hopefully gain national attention by drawing Anita Bryant into the fight. The others there say Dan White won’t vote for it. But, White shows up asking Harvey to attend his child’s baptism. It seems like a strange request from a person who espoused anti-gay sentiments, but White shifts back and forth, because he is an insecure person looking for attention and approval wherever he can get it, and retaliates when he feels rejected.

Harvey is the only supervisor to show up at the White baptism. Harvey tries to convince White to help pass the gay rights ordinance. But, White says his constituents wouldn’t like it. It has more to do with whether he will be liked than what he thinks is right or not, despite what he says later about being brought up to believe in what’s moral and immoral. Harvey learns that the church is where White was baptized, and back then Harvey points out that the Irish Catholics were the outsiders who had to fight for acceptance. White then tries to bargain, saying he would like to stop a psychiatric facility from being established in his district because it attracts “arsonists” and “rapists.” The movie seems to be saying that after some people moved from being the “others” in society to becoming part of the establishment, they then wanted to keep the new “others” at a distance, seeing them as a threat to their existence. This attitude is a form of paranoia, and White demonstrates the characteristics of the condition. White says that the two of them should look out for each other’s interests, which seems reasonable on the surface, but it depends on the interests. When White’s wife comes by, and Harvey apologizes about talking about gay rights to her husband, the wife says it was inappropriate to talk about that subject in the church, as if human decency only applies to certain parts of the population. Harvey, trying to be diplomatic since he is in office now, changes the subject to how nice the event was.

At his office, Harvey contemplates voting against the psychiatric facility, but it will then be defeated six to five if he votes against it. He sees White as a man with no friends, and he suspects he has the look of a closeted gay man. Also, Harvey’s friends are not happy about Harvey’s attachment to Jack, who is unstable and upset about his rejection by the other gays in Harvey’s circle, and is constantly jealous and needy. Anne says that Anita Bryant’s man in California is trying to get a law passed to ban all gay teachers. State Senator John Briggs (O’Hare) says he wants to stop homosexuals who are deviants and pedophiles from trying to sway children toward joining the gay lifestyle. He says his bill can identify homosexuals, which recalls the McCarthy communist witch hunts of the 1950’s. He then invokes the stamp of approval of the Almighty onto his argument by saying that others can argue with him, but not with God. The movie is saying that there can be no discussion if one says his way is sanctioned by the deity, and that this practice can be used as an argument to justify bigotry.  Following Briggs statement, Harvey says in a TV interview that Briggs’s argument is similar to the one used in Nazi Germany, and that Anita Bryant has said the Jews and Muslims are going to hell, so he implies that the gays are being added to her list.

Goldstein, Stokes, and the old guard politicians tell Harvey that Briggs’s ordinance has widespread appeal in the polls. They want to change their city ordinance proposal by talking only about human rights in general and deleting anything specific to the gay movement. Harvey is outraged and tells Cleve that they need to mobilize on their own. Cleve suggests enlisting Scott, too. They have a meeting of the movement's leaders, and Harvey says that they need numbers to vote against the reactionary state Proposition 6. Harvey says the more people who come out of the closet, the stronger will be the resistance to the proposed law. He says they must tell all their friends and relatives that they are gay if they haven’t already done so in order to let people know that the law will hurt them. Scott confronts Harvey after the meeting and reminds Harvey that he was a paranoid closet gay in New York who denied Scott’s existence constantly. He says that Harvey is asking these young men who have not come out before to possibly lose their families if they expose themselves. Harvey, however, is an unyielding militant now, and in this current war argues if those family members don’t love their gay relatives for who they are, then they shouldn’t be in their lives.

At a city government meeting, White is angry that Harvey won’t vote to keep the mental health facility out of White’s district. Harvey argues that he never promised to vote against the bill. After the session, Harvey reminds White that if he convinces one of the other supervisors he won’t need Harvey’s vote. But White has made this lack of support for his opposition to the bill personal, as if Harvey personally betrayed him and he says he won’t help fight for the gay protection ordinance.

Elsewhere in the country, other states, fueled by Anita Bryant’s anti-gay religious crusade, have been successful in getting anti-discrimination laws protecting gays overturned. Cleve becomes Harvey’s go-to man to mobilize the forces to protest. He gives the bullhorn that the unions supporters gave Harvey to Cleve to get the gays to march to San Francisco’s City Hall. When it looks like there will be an angry confrontation, Harvey, showing his political intelligence, appears as a peacemaker, so he will be accepted as the spokesperson who can forge deals to make progress and prevent violence. He tells his group they need a win that all citizens can get behind. Apparently dog owners are not cleaning up after their dogs in the city and it’s a major problem. Harvey proposes fining those dog owners who do not clean up after their pets, and gets TV coverage, that contains some humor in it. By doing so, he shows himself as a representative who is not just centered about gay activism, but also as a person who gets something practical accomplished.

On the vote on the San Francisco Gay Rights Ordinance, all the supervisors except White votes to pass the bill. Harvey approaches White to see if they can agree on another bill. White says that they must maintain the family unit and the gay lifestyle prevents this, which of course, in reality, it doesn’t since gays are a minority of the population, and can still donate sperm for fertilization purposes. But because he keeps pushing the family argument, White says Harvey can sponsor a bill to increase the salary of the supervisors, since he needs more income to take care of his family, and Harvey doesn’t have that problem, being gay. White’s attitude shows the narrow view of the prejudiced who only see things through their point of view and don’t consider the full scope of each individual’s situation.

At Harvey’s flamboyant birthday party, Harvey has a conversation with Scott, who fondly reminds him of how the birthday on which they met years ago in New York was much less lavish. Scott has a boyfriend, now, and he questions Harvey staying with Jack. Harvey says he doesn’t talk politics with Jack, or anything at all, so he gives Harvey some relief from the stress of his public life. Scott repeats that foreshadowing line that was said on their first meeting, by saying that now that Harvey is forty-eight, it looks like he will make it to age fifty. White shows up drunk at the party. He acts like Harvey is a political winner by manipulating issues, like the dog clean up one. White is jealous of Harvey’s success, saying he has issues, too. Harvey says he knew people who committed suicide in his past because of persecution, so coming out for laws to protect people are more important than just political maneuverings. Ironically, it is the weak and insecure who Jack shows up and gets Harvey away from the unstable White.

Actual footage shows gays coming out against Briggs’s proposition to have gay teachers fired. At a gay pride parade, Kathy shows Harvey a postcard that says Harvey gets the first bullet if he goes in front of the microphone at a rally. The threat of death is a constant presence now in Harvey’s life, which is why he is making his “assassination” recording. Of course, he gives his speech anyway, saying how no matter how hard the bigots try, they can’t erase the words of the Declaration of Independence, or those on the Statue of Liberty (despite recent proposals to do just that). Many at the time who protested against the Vietnam War were told, “America, love it or leave it.” Harvey reminds them of the words that “All men are created equal,” and says if they don’t realize that is what America stands for, then they are the ones who should leave.

Harvey gets Briggs to engage in a public debate on Proposition 6, which goes so far as to have a straight person fired if an employee supports a gay person, since that person is assumed to advocate homosexuality. Briggs keeps talking about teachers in a position to “recruit” children to become gay, obviously not accepting that those that are gay are born that way. Gays can’t have their own children so, Briggs argues, they must convert straight kids into becoming gay or there wouldn’t be any gays left. And, that is why gays become teachers, to turn children, almost sounding like he is making an analogy as to what vampires do. Harvey says he was brought up by heterosexual parents, taught by straight teachers, and yet he’s gay. He humorously says that if children so easily mimicked their teachers, there would be “a hell of a lot more nuns running around.”

Afraid of losing the vote, Harvey asked for another debate without his supporters to entice Briggs to show up again. Harvey points out that Briggs’s literature contradicts his stand that child molestations are not the issue. Since sexual assaults on children are far more dominant in the heterosexual community, Harvey says why not ban straight teachers, too, to eliminate the attacks. He asks, if that is Briggs’s goal, why marginally reduce them by banning gay teachers? What he is revealing is that Briggs and his supporters see gays as a deviant group that are preferably expendable.

White is angry that Harvey not only won’t support pay raises, he will oppose them. Harvey points out that even White is against the salary increases for political reasons, which shows how obsessed he is with Harvey’s acceptance of him, possibly showing that Harvey’s instinct that White is a closeted gay may be correct. Harvey says he will come out for the raises if White will back a bill against discrimination in hiring police. White says he doesn’t trade votes, but that is what he proposed doing before. He says he does not want to be humiliated by Harvey, and cautions, “You will not demean me.” He finally shows what is his real concern which stems from extreme insecurity, possibly rooted in guilt over being in conflict about his sexual orientation.

Despite Harvey wanting to save the insecure, weak Jack, trying to help him did not fit in with Harvey’s life and his message of hope did not reach Jack. In a way, Jack is a sort of mirror image of Dan White’s neediness to gain Harvey’s dedication. He comes home to find that Jack committed suicide by hanging himself. Even though he felt devastated, Harvey says in his narration that there was no time for mourning, which shows how Harvey’s crusade was all that he lived for anymore. Even though Ronald Reagan felt that there was no need to pass any more laws to defend children from harm, and Jimmy Carter came out against Proposition 6, this event was the first time fundamentalist Christians became politically involved on a large scale in a governmental issue, according to the anti-gay Anita Bryant. Cleve says he can get 15,000 people to demonstrate if the law is passed, but he is afraid there will be a riot. Unofficially, Harvey tells him there should be a violent reaction if the law is passed. Harvey gets a call from a young man who had called a year ago saying that he felt like he was going to kill himself. He couldn’t run away from the hatred around him because he was confined to a wheelchair. He was now in Los Angeles, met a friend of Harvey’s there, and decided because of Harvey that he would live and he voted against Proposition 6. Harvey, thus, feels vindicated that his message of hope is getting out.

The bill is defeated by a two-to-one margin. In San Francisco, only White’s district voted for it. Harvey in his speech says they have come out to try to protect those who would have been harmed by “this wave of hate.” Mayor Moscone joins him on the stage to celebrate the victory. Afterwards, White confronts Harvey and says he just resigned. But, the police department meets with him, and then soon after White says he wants his job back. In a meeting with the mayor, Harvey says White has been the main opponent against protection for gays, and he threatens that the mayor won’t have gay backing in his next election if he reappoints White. Moscone says Harvey sounds like strongmen Boss Tweed of New York or Mayor Daly of Chicago. Harvey says humorously that it’s scary that there is a gay man with power. He’s pointing out that a gay person finally has some leverage after so many years of being victimized, and it’s the novelty of that strength that is so surprising.

White gets a phone call from a local news reporter who wants his reaction to a source who said he wasn’t getting his job back. He is in the dark about this information. Interspersed with Harvey going to the opera and then talking to Scott, who says he is proud of Harvey, there are shots of White getting dressed in a suit as if going to work, breaking into the Board of Supervisors building, and acting like he still works there. He gets to see Mayor Moscone and then shoots him when he can’t change his mind about rehiring him. Before anyone knows what’s happening he quickly goes to Harvey’s office and shoots him. The last thing that Harvey sees before he dies is the opera house, where he loved to go, where the stories performed there mirrored his attempt to amplify life’s great passions.

Thousands marched in a candlelight vigil after the assassinations in honor of Harvey Milk. The notes before the final credits state that Dan White was convicted of manslaughter, a much lesser offence, and served only five years. After returning to San Francisco he committed suicide. Scott Smith worked to continue Harvey’s work. He died of AIDS in 1995. Anne Kronenberg became a mother of three and was Deputy Director of Public Health in San Francisco. Cleve Jones created The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial quilt, which is an international symbol of the HIV pandemic. He continued working as a political activist.

In his narration, Harvey predicted the assassination, but hoped that the bullet to his brain would destroy all the closets housing gays, which poetically demonstrates the sacrifice of the one for the benefit of the many. He says that hope must be spread so that all the “us’s” can find freedom, which includes blacks, seniors, the disabled, and others who have been short-changed by society’s hatred and disregard.

The next film is Shane.