What "Milk" Teaches Us About Democracy

I just watched the recent Sean Penn movie "Milk" that details the life of Harvey Milk, a gay rights activist who fights his way through adversity to eventually become the first openly gay person elected to major public office. You can debate all you want about the cinematic merits of this movie, but the one element about it that stuck with me was its passionate use of democracy. Yes, it was only a Hollywood movie, but it was based on real events and everything that happens in the movie surrounding politics shines a light on the real world, letting us know that we too can direct our destinies if we know how the game works. Here are a few select points that I took away from the movie that helped me realize how tangible the concept of democracy really is. This article is written for everyone who has ever wanted to make a difference in their world. (It also contains spoilers.)

Note: The movie takes place in the 70's, which was a totally different social landscape from today, but there were still many similarities. The biggest difference is the existence of the internet. The influence of the internet has changed the way we look at politics, and I intend to address those changes herein.

Local politics have a larger impact on your life than national politics. As a child of the internet, I frequently find myself in debate with people who want their opinions heard in every corner of the world. We can't help it because that's what the internet promises us; from our tiny home offices we can broadcast our ideas across the ocean. Now, when we think of an issue, we think of it as a national issue. We look to President Obama to fix our problems when we should be looking a little closer to home. The reality is that most legislation passed in Washington D.C. does not affect you nearly as much as the ordinances passed in your local town hall, co-op board meetings, or home owners' association. Those are the real policies that affect your lives. The beauty here is that once an example is made on a local stage, it can easily spread to wider consideration with the right momentum.

In the movie, Harvey Milk sees his livelihood threatened by a vote that takes place on the clear other side of the country, but he realizes that he can still protect his own turf. Though he cannot save the many people affected in other cities and states, he can still stick up for the gays in his own city. He also realizes that his fight has the potential to set a national example, but he doesn't take the fight to Washington, he takes it to the City Hall. After having taken City Hall with his influence, the fight is brought to the entire state of California, where the war of Proposition 6 became a culmination of many local battles fought all over the world.

Local politics are easier to influence than national politics. Let's start by saying that before you go national, you have to start local. Once again, the internet has warped our sense of locality and the debates that we start are aimed at people spread out in many different geographic and cultural areas. We start arguments that cannot be settled by a single resolution that pleases everyone. This is why local politics are both necessary and easier to resolve. When you act locally, you are appealing to more people who share something in common with you. You are also trying to convince a LOT less people, which should do wonders for that ulcer you'll develop as you spend your life in constant debate.

In the movie, several failed elections go by before the district that Harvey is running as supervisor for gets redefined and he realizes that his constituents are a mix of hippies and gays. If you're going to run on a platform of tolerance and progressive ideas, you couldn't ask for a better public to answer to. Sometimes, to get your voice heard, you don't need to convince the non-believers, you just need to gather enough support from your own kind.

You have to be willing to fight for what you believe in. Sometimes politics can get ugly. Most people who get into them are there because they want to make life better for others, not just themselves. They are willing to give the hours of their lives and sometimes even their own blood to make sure that their kind is protected. Rioting, a fact of life, occurs when the people are angry and are not given a proper forum to demonstrate their views. The internet, I believe, has taken us out of the streets and set us comfortably in our chairs, but this dispersion of passion can only serve to weaken the collective voice. Taking a message to the streets presents the government with a tangible point that it must address directly.

In the movie, there is mention of riots at every turn. The public gets angry and begins to gather in the streets. Milk sees it as his responsibility to prevent riots by giving his public an outlet for their anger by marching them to City Hall to deliver a message to city officials. This is true passion in action; a gathering of people whose only resort is to demonstrate. There is also mention of riots that happened, in which seriously wounded demonstrators continue to fight, showing that they were prepared to stand up to anything in support of what they believed is right.

Minorities matter because they are people too. Democracy is not about a majority taking over and making decisions for everyone. It is about the majority's responsibility to recognize and uphold the needs of its minorities. Democracy is not about one right solution trumping all others; it is about a balance that allows many different people to live in the same country together. This is why we have states, counties, cities, and districts. Those of us petitioning for our opinions to be heard and heeded need to do so with the understanding that we share this world with many people who have different viewpoints than us. Though we may be compelled by our creeds to exclude others in our considerations because they defy our ideals, it is important to understand that we are all living, breathing, feeling human beings and we share this land together whether we like it or not.

In the movie, Harvey Milk is a guy who just wants to lead a life like any other person while being true to himself. He cannot help that everywhere he turns he is shunned, ridiculed and blacklisted because of something as private as sexual orientation. His strategy for combating this is to make the ignorant people realize the impact that gay people have on their lives by showing them that they all know someone who is gay. This minority may only be 10% of the population, but their influence still touches everyone. They are, for better or worse, part of the society that we are all proud of.

To conclude this, there are many aspects of democracy that allow us, as individuals, to make a larger impact than we know. Because the national stage is often over-emphasized, we begin to feel as if the balance of power in this country lies with a few key players resting at the top of Capitol Hill. The truth is that the power in a democracy begins with the informed individual and their knowledge and use of the system. If we learn to use what we have available to us on the local stage, through grit and perseverance, we can make a difference in our world. No matter where we want to get, though, we always have to start with the block we live on.