When I thought of a rebel to describe in this essay, a lot of historical personalities came to my mind. However, I could not choose any of them, as I realized that my knowledge of these characters’ lives was very limited. Suddenly, I remembered a movie I had watched several weeks ago. The film was a biopic Milk directed by Gus Van Sant. The protagonist of this film named Harvey Milk, a real historical figure, seemed to me as a perfect rebel character. In this essay, I would like to characterize this outstanding man as a true rebel. Similarly to Matt Labash’s character, Milk became successful without assimilating with mainstream politicians and continued defending his values and liberation principles.
Indeed, Harvey Milk is, perhaps, the most extraordinary politician in the history of the U.S. He is known for being the fist political and social activist who openly outtells his homosexuality. During the 1960s, Milk takes active part in many social liberation movements and stands for the rights of gays, racial and ethnic minorities. At the age of forty, he decides to start his political career to defend the principles of freedom and justice at the official level. In contrast to many other politicians, Milk does not pursue his own interests, but tries to represent the worldviews of all American who feel oppressed in their country. Though in the 1960’s homosexuality is no longer considered as a mental deviation, most social attitudes to gays and lesbians remain very biased (Parker, 2010).
Being a true rebel, Harvey Milk has enough courage to transgress the boundaries of archaic social rules and norms. He is an opponent of all the manifestations of conservatism, political hypocrisy, and social inequality. The character of Milk can be considered as that opposing to the image of a typical American politician. The idea of freedom is Milk’s only ideology. He says what he thinks without being afraid of anyone. Being a sharp-witted intellectual with a broad outlook on life, this character is always by head and shoulders above any of his boring and narrow-minded political opponents. Milk is also known as an outstanding orator: he is intelligent, charismatic, and persuasive. No wonder, many people follow this great leader during his entire political career.
In the trailer of Gus Van Sant’s movie, the character declares that: “All men are created equal. No matter how hard you try, you can never erase those words” (Milk, 2008). In fact, Harvey Milk, as a real historical figure, proves this idea by everything he does in his life. He is not shy to be different and not afraid of any social biases or prejudices. His life story can be considered as an example of life a true rebel must have. Harvey Milk is a cult personality not only for sexual minorities, but also for many other representatives of social movements struggling for the rights of the oppressed. This character still inspires many people for rebellion against any manifestations of injustice or inequality.
The conclusion can be …