“We don’t play gay or straight, we play human beings. This is a story about equal rights for human beings.”
-Sean Penn at the SAG Awards after winning best actor for Milk
At least the Screen Actors Guild gave Milk some credit (unlike at the Golden Globes). Even though the Academy will most likely go with the cliche choice of Slumdog Millionaire for best picture, I think that Milk deserves to win. Not only do I think that it probably was the best film I saw all year, I don’t think it would hurt the Academy to give the award to something socially relevant and important. Why not make a statement at the Oscars, especially in the aftermath of Prop 8?
Advertisements
I still haven’t seen “Milk”, and I really have to get on that. I’m sure I will love it. But surely the Oscars should not make a business of giving awards to make political statements. If a political movie wins on its merits as a film, all the better, but it shouldn’t win (or even get a boost) just for dealing with a hot issue. That would unfairly disadvantage all those wonderful films that deal with day-to-day life, which can often be harder to make a good film about anyway.
(I do LOVE the Sean Penn quote, though.)