Monday, May 4, 2009

"Hope will never be silent." - Harvey Milk

Well, I finally made myself watch the film Milk tonight. I was dreading it as I remember dreading Boys Don't Cry and The Laramie Project a few years back. Certain life stories just hit too close to home - they don't just dig at my heartstrings, they challenge me to figure out who I really am, how I feel about that, and what I'm going to do with that. Certain life stories force me to not accept this world, for I learn from them that there just has to be a better world out there. Life stories such as Brandon Teena, Matt Shepard, and Harvey Milk snap me out of every single minute complaint about my daily life - and they show me that what I see as a small part of my identity is, in fact, a common bond to greatness.

My struggles feel so small and so common, yet tragic and earned just the same. I hope that someday, everyone I talk to will have seen these tremendous films - they're a good place to start.