I love Sean Penn the actor. And I would love nothing more than to see Milk, Gus Van Sant's new biopic about Harvey Milk, the first openly-gay elected official who was gunned down by a fellow politico in San Francisco in 1978.
But Sean Penn's support of Hugo Chavez disgusts me, and for that, I refuse to support his film.
Let's put aside the fact that Hugo Chavez's socialist revolution would leave Sean Penn and other limousine liberals like Kevin Spacey and Danny Glover and Naomi Campbell penniless, or the fact that Hugo Chavez has made it his life's mission to undermine democracy, or the fact that Hugo Chavez actively supports the FARC rebels in Colombia - you know, the terrorist, drug-smuggling group that still has 700 hostages and held a few Americans hostage for nearly six years - let's put all of this aside for a moment and focus on Chavez's alliance with Mahmud Ahmadinejad, President of Iran.
What would Harvey Milk have thought about a man who is BFF with a terrorist whose government persecutes and kills gays? What would Harvey Milk have thought about a man whose mentor is Fidel Castro, a dictator who sent gays to concentration camps?
When Hollywood celebs get on their soapbox to rally behind the leftist flavor of the month they need to make sure they have all of the facts about the world in which these figures live and operate. Hugo Chavez' Bolivarian revolution is complicit in the drug trade and in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians - it's that simple. Chavez is not the polar opposite of George Bush, he's the polar opposite of human decency and democracy - he shouldn't factor into the conservative/liberal debate.
For his irresponsible comments and anti-American values, not only should Sean Penn have his citizenship revoked, he deserves for his movie to tank.
DP, I hear your point. But before we boycott movies that will help educate about gay issues, perhaps we should consider boycotting movies that actively generate revenue for the hateful Mormon church.
ReplyDeleteWhile it hasn't been officially confirmed, the strong suspicion is that the director of Twilight, a devout Mormon, will tithe 10% of her earnings from the movie to the church.
I know you're passionate Chavez, but I think we need to chose our battles - otherwise you're going to limit your holiday entertainment options to SATC and The Golden Girls.
AP - conjecture about what the director of a movie will do profit is one thing, well-documented fact about an actor's irresponsible forays into foreign policy is another.
ReplyDeleteIn short, "the most important film of our lifetime" as some drama-happy members of the gay community will breathlessly call Milk, is headed by a talented but misinformed actor who is promoting the agenda of a dangerous dictator who supports the anti-gay, anti-semitic ways of the Iranian President.
It is not OK to support political figures who are committed to the destruction of America which still continues to be our home and provides a far better way of life for us gays than say, Iran, Cuba or Venezuela.
I'm sticking to my guns on this one and you're more than welcome to come over for SATC, GG and champagne whenever you want.
It's fair to note that Fidel Castro has changed his position on gay rights pretty much 180 degrees from where it stood at the beginning of his reign, which was, after all, 40 years ago, around the time of Stonewall.
ReplyDeleteThese days, Raul Castro's daughter is actively campaigning for queer rights. I'd be interested in knowing who in Miami's anti-Castro Cuban community is doing the same.
As far as I can glean, the most putatively antigay thing Chavez has done is cancel a Cyndi Lauper concert. In fact, anti-discrimination measures were proposed for the 1999 constitution that was pushed by Chavez, but they were dropped at the insistence of the - surprise! - Catholic Church. Several years later, he expressed regret over their exclusion. And in 2007, Chavez's defeated constitutional rewrite included pro-queer protections. If you have an instance of his actually supporting "the anti-gay...ways of the Iranian President," please bring it forth. Homophobia-by-association is so...Palinesque.
Yes, Chavez is friends with Iran, but then, the Bushes - Chavez's mortal enemies -are best pals with the queer-hanging Saudis, no?
Chavez and Castro may not be the best friends queers ever had, but their fiercest enemies CERTAINLY aren't our allies. Fidel and Hugo may be objected to on any number of fronts, but accusations of outright homophobia seem rather tenuous at best.