In 1985, "The Times of Harvey Milk" won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. It's an exceptionally moving film about the political life and assassination of Harvey Milk, America's first openly gay politician. The film consists of lots of archival footage and interviews with people who knew and worked with Milk. Overall, it's a very, very good film--quite moving whether you are gay or straight and I can understand why it won the Oscar. However, one part of the film bothered me. While I know the film was about Harvey Milk, he was NOT the only one murdered that day by the evil Dan White. Before Milk was killed, Mayor Moscone was butchered as well--yet he is barely mentioned in the film. Now I am NOT saying the movie should have focused equally on Moscone (since it's called "The Times of Harvey Milk") but to focus again and again on JUST the murder of Milk seemed insensitive--the killing of both men was tragic. Still, it's well worth seeing--and quite sad.

By the way, since this film came out in 1984, the story did not end with White only serving five years in jail and was then paroled!! This IS mentioned in the film. BUT, what isn't is that two years later, he killed himself (no great loss to the world).

A better film would have focused on BOTH men...as today, few even remember that Moscone, too, was killed that day.

The movie opens on November 27, 1978, with Dianne Feinstein as president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors announces the murder of mayor George Moscone and supervisor Harvey Milk by rival politician Dan White who resigned two weeks earlier. In the 70s, he and his lover Scott Smith opened their camera store. He became the unofficial mayor of Castro Street as he helped and organized the disenchanted. With Moscone, he reforms the voting process and becomes a driving force in San Francisco politics. This is a big significant life. The style is very traditional documentary. This is illuminating and it is obvious material for a movie. Harvey Fierstein does the narration in a deep voice. It's informative and compelling.

On November 27, 1978, Daniel James White walked into San Francisco's city hall. White had been elected to the city's Board of Supervisors in the 1977 election, Espousing what have become known as 'family values', he found himself increasingly in the minority on votes, and unable to to raise his family on the salary. He resigned on November 10, 1978, then changed his mind four days later. It was not up to him; Mayor George Moscone would have to reappoint him.

Moscone did not. On November 27, 1978, Daniel James White snuck into San Francisco's City Hall. He shot Moscone four times, killing him. White then walked across City Hall to Supervisor Harvey Milk's office and shot him five times, likewise killing him. Harvey Milk was the first openly gay elected official in California. White's trial introduced the term "Twinkie Defense" to the the judicial lexicon.

This movie won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. In its examination of Milk's life and the aftermath of his murder, it is a model of how to tell such a story.

White served five years of a seven-year sentence, was paroled, and killed himself on October 21, 1985.

Current Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson was listed as a member of the Dan White Society in his college yearbook.