Hollywood Celebrates 'Milk'

Matt Lewis | November 26, 2008 8:24 AM

A new movie about gay rights pioneer Harvey Milk is set to open in a theater near you. Here's how the NYT describes the main character (who is played by Sean Penn):

... Milk, among the first openly gay elected officials in the country, had a profound impact on national politics, and his rich afterlife in American culture has affirmed his status as pioneer and martyr.

Whether it's Larry Flynt, Hunter S. Thompson, or even Che, Hollywood has done a very good job of glamorizing the lives of leftists. These movies usually fail to show the down-side of the protagonists' lifestyle, however. (Of course, I'm not even mentioning all the "hit jobs" that have been targeted toward undermining conservative leaders).

Meanwhile, conservative films tend to be either overtly political Michael Moore-esque documentaries -- or wholesome family films that reinforce family values, but shy away from overtly discussing politics.

One possible exception was "Amazing Grace", about antislavery pioneer William Wilberforce. This was a terrific film that both conservatives and liberals could lay claim to. "Charlie Wilson's War" was also a fine film which both conservatives and ~~liberals~~ Democrats could be proud of. Wilson, of course, was a Democrat who was instrumental in

Ronald Regan's efforts to win the Cold War via Afghanistan. Having met him, I can tell you the real Charlie Wilson, however, believes the movie drastically under-played Reagan's role in the effort.

Still, Hollywood is unlikely to produce a movie which makes a hero out of a deserving conservative, and conservative films have also failed to do this. Might I suggest we make an effort to change this?

One could argue that conservatives who live normal lives tend to make for "boring" stories, and so there really is no bias at play here. This, of course, is patently untrue. If they are looking for a glamorous and exciting story about a pioneering conservative, I suggest they begin with Claire Booth Luce (I realize there is a documentary about her. I'm talking about a film which will be widely-seen)...