Birth of an actor

Berlin, Potsdamer Platz, in a villa hotel not far from the Berlin Film Palace, Roland Emmerich, chairman of the jury of this year's film festival, raised his wrist to check the time. There are three and a half hours before the closing ceremony.

"Do you want a cup of coffee?" He asked the other eight judges.

The other eight people nodded one after another. Since early morning, they have been in this room for almost a day, discussing endlessly about the ownership of each award. There are unification of opinions, disputes and reconciliation. Now there is only one award that has not been decided yet. Still ample, you can take a little rest and relax.

Roland Emmerich opened the door of the hotel suite, and gave a few instructions to the security guards outside. After a while, the takeaway coffee arrived, but it was still delivered by the bodyguards—from the moment he entered the suite From the beginning, until the results of all the awards were released, the nine judges including Emmerich were not allowed to leave the room. Of course, they were also not allowed to communicate with the outside world using communication devices such as telephones and mobile phones.Outside the villa suite, including the entire yard, there are dedicated security personnel to guard, three meals are delivered directly to the room, and after each award has been assigned, the judges will go to the movie palace under the escort of the bodyguards, and the results will be announced directly at the awards ceremony .

All the judges were in a relaxed state while enjoying the mellow coffee while communicating leisurely.

The award process of the three major European film festivals is similar. Among the nine judges, some are not the first time to participate in the three major film festivals, and some are not even the first time to be the judges of the Berlin Film Festival, like now In this way, it is very rare that all the awards can be decided three or four hours before the closing ceremony. Most of the time, the judges have to argue until the last minute, and even have to vote to make a decision, but Who made the preferences of the judges so similar this year?It feels great to be able to finish work early.

Roland Emmerich put the empty coffee cup on the table, and the other judges also finished their tea time one after another. "Everyone, let's go to the last item." Emmerich looked at the others and said, "As for the winner of the Silver Bear Award, I personally still stick to my previous opinion. Of course, if you have a better candidate, you can It can be raised and the reasons explained, and if everyone cannot reach an agreement in the end, it can be decided by voting."

The first to express her opinion was Susan Kodak, an American editor who immediately said, "I agree with Mr. Emmerich, almost as soon as Emmerich finished speaking."

Another German judge, the famous actor Franka Potente also said: "Emerich's choice is perfect, I have no objection."

The judges Bo Weida and Bai Ling, representing the Asian market, nodded, "No objection."

Italian judge Nino Cerruti originally wanted to support his fellow countryman, the director of "Italian Town" Stefano Modini and other Italian actors, but he thought hard and went through the whole thing in his head. Neither movie could come up with a convincing enough candidate.

And not to mention his hometown, even the leading actors of all the popular films in the competition section of this year's film festival, although there are a few who performed well, but how to say it, "When the sun travels, the light of all other stars shines." Covered." And it's the same now.

In the end, Nino Cerruti and two other judges from the Netherlands and Ukraine also agreed with Roland Emmerich's proposal one after another.

As for the Argentine judges Gabria Tagrivani and the Lithuanian judges Ingeborg Dakunet, their presence in the jury has not been strong because they are not very assertive. The opinions of the votes were unanimous, and they also recognized the candidate very much, so they agreed with the crowd.

The last award turned out to be a unanimous vote.

No disagreement and no voting.

Roland Emmerich was a little surprised at first, but felt that it should be taken for granted.

"I declare that the judging work for the five Berlin International Film Festivals is over." The chairman of the jury said: "Sirs and ladies, we have only one last job left - put on the gowns and send congratulations to the winners Bar!"

……

The Berlin Film Festival lasted for a total of two weeks. The crew of "Milk" flew to Berlin twice. For the first time, all members were present to participate in the opening ceremony and film premiere of the film festival. After the premiere, they collectively returned to Los Angeles. The second time, only William and Spielberg, as well as some behind-the-scenes personnel such as the producer, screenwriter, and soundtrack artist, came to Berlin.

There are not many awards at the Berlin Film Festival, and the acting awards are only the Silver Bear Award for Best Actor and Actress, so Leonardo and Toby don't need to turn down other jobs, and come here to participate in a show they are destined to play. The closing ceremony of the sauce is over.

After walking the red carpet in the sub-zero wind and dealing with media interviews, Steven Spielberg breathed a sigh of relief when he walked into the movie palace and felt the warm indoor air. In a suit and overcoat, he saw William, who was wearing only three sword-collar suits, but still talking and laughing freely, without even the slightest trembling, and couldn't help feeling envious.

"Berlin is too cold. I miss Cannes, which has sunshine and beaches. Venice is also good. The sea water there is much clearer than Los Angeles." Spielberg couldn't help but said.

"What if I win an award? Can even the cold Berlin become a little cute?" William asked.

"Of course, and Berlin will become my favorite European city." Spielberg said with a laugh: "Our film will probably not be popular in Cannes or Venice, and Berlin is the best place for it. "

The Berlin Film Palace has about [-] seats. It is usually used to perform various musicals. The projection hall is mainly black and red, and the decoration is also very exquisite. At this time, the projection hall is full of guests and audiences. Looking at it, there is quite a grand feeling, and the sense of ceremony is no less than that of the Kodak Theater.

Although the closing ceremony hadn't started yet, the stage was no longer empty. A golden bear, seven silver bears and other trophies were placed on the left side of the stage, and a beam of light was specially shone on it, illuminating the gold and silver bears in a dazzling light. Shenghui, they are the first thing that everyone who walks into the screening hall sees.

After William and Spielberg took their seats, they chatted with other crew members sitting nearby for a while, when suddenly the lights around them changed, and a male voice sounded from the stereo to start the curtain call: "Gentlemen and ladies, welcome to the 55th Berlinale The scene of the International Film Festival."

The hostess in a champagne-colored gown swayed onto the stage, and the words "55th Berlin International Film Festival" were printed on the big screen in front of her, and the awards ceremony officially began.

Unlike Oscar, which has a variety of programs and lasts for three or four hours, the awards ceremony of the Berlin Film Festival has neither musical performances nor spoofs of competing films. Even the award presenters are the judges themselves. Everything is very concise and formal.

First, there was an opening speech by the host, and then Berlin Film Festival Chairman Dieter Koslick delivered a speech, and then officially entered the awards ceremony. The best short film was awarded to "Milk" in the UK, and the Blue Angels Best European Film Award was presented. To the Israeli film "Heaven at This Time", the Alfred Bauer Award and the Best Artistic Contribution Award were both won by "A Cloud in the Sky" from Taiwan, China, as well as the best film music... These awards are It's like warming up for the next big meal.

When the Best Actress Award was presented, the auditorium began to have a more fiery atmosphere, and this Silver Bear trophy was unsurprisingly won by the German actress Julia Yench - the film that won her award is "Hope and Resistance", the name of this movie is very long, the direct translation is "The Last Days of Sophie Sauer", which describes the arrest, trial and execution of Sophie Sauer, a member of the anti-Hitler organization during World War II. The story of is a work commemorating the [-]th anniversary of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War. It is a film of phenomenal significance for Germany and even Europe. It is also a big hit at this film festival. It can be said that there is no suspense.

After Julia Yates finished her acceptance speech and stepped off the stage, the words "Besterdarsteller (Best Actor)" were printed on the big screen in German. The hostess invited the chairman of the jury Roland Emmerich, Murridge walks to the microphone with a card in hand.

The atmosphere at the scene was suddenly a little tense, and many people cast their eyes on William intentionally or unintentionally.

Since "Milk" was selected as the main competition unit of the Berlin Film Festival, under the publicity of many media, everyone knows that William Bradley has already won a statuette, a Volpi Cup (Venice) and a Cannes best actor With only one Silver Bear award missing, he will be able to achieve the grand slam of the three major actors in Europe plus an Oscar.

The grand slam of the three major European competitions and the Oscars!Only Jack Lemmon and Sean Penn have achieved this achievement in the whole world, and Sean Penn only collected four movie stars last year. Now only one year has passed, will another one be born?

All eyes were on the card in Roland Emmerich's hand.

Not only the audience at the scene, but also German and European audiences watching live TV. There are also TV stations in North America who bought the broadcasting rights. There are also many journalists from other countries who cannot watch the live broadcast and can only wait for the news on the spot. They are relaying the news through text and photos Pass the first-hand news to the country.

"The winner of the best actor award is—"

Roland Emmerich paused for a moment, looked under the stands, approached the microphone and said, "William Bradley, actor of the American movie "Milk"!"

There was a commotion in the audience, screams and applause immediately broke out.

Under the announcement of Roland Emmerich, the Berlin Film Palace, no, Germany, the whole of Europe, and places outside of Europe are all boiling.

……

A beam of light hit the area where the "Milk" crew was sitting. Steven Spielberg stood up first, reached out to William, pulled him up from his seat, gave him a hug, and took another shot. Pat him on the back: "Congratulations, Will, you've made history again."

People around also stood up one after another, applauded non-stop, shook hands with William, and tried their best to get a hug for themselves.

At the same time, the picture of this area was also broadcast live on the big screen on the stage, which caused more screams and applause.

This is the warmest applause tonight, and the sound seems to be able to blow off the roof of the auditorium.

No one was particularly surprised, they were all applauding for this as it should be.

It's not that the other actors are not good enough, but that William Bradley is too powerful. The score of "Milk" has already explained everything. There is no strong leading actor in a biopic like this. Unable to get a high score in the crushing level.The film festival's catalog score is the best compliment to William Bradley.

Under the eyes of everyone, William stepped onto the stage, and Roland Emmerich had already prepared a silver bear in his hands. William took it, shook hands with the other party to thank him, and walked to the podium.

The Silver Bear trophy is not big and can be held with one hand, but it is full of weight and a bit heavy to the hand, because it is fired from copper water and then plated with silver - the Golden Bear trophy is plated with real gold, and the value of the trophy alone , but it is taller than the Oscar statuette made of tin and ammonium alloy, covered with 24K gold leaf, and then coated with a layer of luminous paint. Of course, it is also heavier.

Before taking the stage, William had always had a sense of illusion, that kind of unreal feeling that he knew that he was about to (is) making history, but because the dust had not yet settled, he had been hanging in mid-air.

Now, this illusory feeling has disappeared and turned into a heavy weight, which is the weight of the Silver Bear Award.

"Thank you Berlin Film Festival, thank you jury and all the judges." Putting the silver bear on the stage, William said thanks in German, then switched to English: "Thank you my friend Jonathan Bates, you are the one who made this film The biggest reason and reason for the birth of the movie, I hope you are in good health. Thank you to the residents of Castro Avenue in San Francisco, you have provided us with a lot of help and protection during the filming. Thank you director Steven Spielberg, you used Brilliant work to resonate with society and promote freedom and equality. Thank you Leonardo DiCaprio, my on-screen counterpart and off-screen confidant, and you have been a joy performing in front of the camera. Thanks to the writers Dustin Black, Larry Kramer and everyone on the team, this is a brave movie and you are a bunch of brave people."

""Milk" is a biographical film, but it is not a one-man show. It describes a marginal group that is not recognized by the mainstream society, and their desire for equal rights. And fear, it will make people reflect on whether they have made any mistakes. But no, we just faithfully portrayed a character and told a history, and we have encountered so many difficulties. Those marginalized groups, it is hard to imagine that they have ever , and what they are encountering. I hope that everyone who has watched the movie will have more independent thinking, more equality and tolerance for the so-called heterogeneous and marginalized people in society. I would be very grateful.”

"Finally, thank you Harvey Milk, who has left us for 27 years. Your thoughts and spirit will never go out of style. They will live on forever."

William finally faced the audience and raised the Silver Bear trophy in his hand.

Everyone just stood up, applauded, and cheered for another God's darling who won the Oscar and the best actor honor of the three major European film festivals.

Amidst another wave of high-decibel sound, countless reporters desperately pressed the shutter to capture this moment.

This is also the most shining photo of this year's Berlin Film Festival. Countless media used it as the front page photo of the awards ceremony, and finally it was fixed as a classic memory of the five Berlin Film Festivals that will never fade.

……

This night was not only a Grand Slam night for William, but also for Steven Spielberg.

Though missing out on the Best Director Silver Bear - which was won by "Hope and Defiance" director Mark Rothman - "Milk" unexpectedly won the Berlinale's top honor, the Golden Bear, and William made another appearance , received the Golden Lion trophy together with Spielberg and the rest of the crew, and took a group photo.

Counting the Best Screenplay Award at the Cannes Film Festival, the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Venice Film Festival, and the well-known Oscar statuettes, although not all of them won the best film or director, Spielberg can be considered complete Three European awards and Oscar honors.

And this also gave Spielberg confidence that he can also gain something at the Oscars a year later.Maybe it took a long time to wait, but he could afford it.

On the other hand, "Milk" can be called the biggest winner of this year's Berlin Film Festival, but the glory is mutual, and the Berlin Film Festival has also got what they want-successfully held a film with the highest popularity and attention in the past 20 years. The first film festival, even overseas audience ratings have set a record.

This point was personally admitted by the chairman of the jury, Roland Emmerich, at the press conference when the jury met with the media: "It is impossible to describe "Milk" with too many beautiful words. It is definitely the most eye-catching work of this year's Berlin Film Festival, a well-deserved masterpiece... In fact, we have hesitated about the decision of the Golden Bear Award. The theme of this year's film festival is "Africa", and we should pay attention to more African films The South African film "Carmen of Kayarisha" is also an excellent work, but "Milk" also has a huge vision. The thinking about people, society, and social development in the film is so attractive, so in the end most of the judges still Faithful to my subjective choice, "Milk" won the Golden Bear, "Peacock" won the jury award, and "Carmen of Kayarisha" won the jury special award, the result is perfect."

Regarding the selection of the best actor, Roland Emmerich even said: "The best actor is the last award we decide on, and it is also the most uncontroversial one. There is no disagreement, no controversy. All the judges, the nine of us unanimously agreed to win the Silver Bear Award To William Bradley."

"This kind of situation is very rare. I have participated in the judging work of the Berlin Film Festival several times, and I have also been fortunate to serve as a judge at the Cannes and Venice Film Festivals. We have always been extremely cautious about important awards. Usually it takes several It took one or even ten hours to decide after endless proposals, discussions, voting, and voting. But this time, we reached a consensus very quickly, and it took less than 10 minutes, which is enough to show that How William Bradley's performance is convincing."

Judge Susan Korda added: "We didn't propose a second choice at all, and we couldn't think of anyone who could compare to him. In fact, each of us has seen the film at least twice, and I have seen it three times, and it is ready for the official release. Then continue to go to the cinema to support."

Another judge, Franka Potente, also said: "William Bradley was chosen not because of his fame, nor because he had a high rating from film critics. In fact, we judges look at the movie The point of view is often different from that of the media and film critics, and the choices are often completely opposite to them. Vote for Bradley, one is because his performance has touched all of us, and the other is for the reputation of the Berlin Film Festival, If the Best Actor is not him, obviously the fairness of the film festival will be questioned like never before."

……

With the help of the Berlin Film Festival, the release of "Milk" in North America has officially started to build momentum.

The nature of independent films, the lineup of super commercial blockbusters, no matter how much resistance and slander it faces before its release, "Milk" is destined to be an epoch-making LGBT film.

Unexpectedly, before the film was judged by the market and the audience, William set a new record. As early as when the Berlin Film Festival awards were being held, the news related to the awards had already passed through the pens of the "uncrowned kings" and through the Internet. It spread to all parts of the world, and then through the secondary fermentation of TV and paper media, it created unprecedented boiling heat.

Best Actor in Venice, Best Actor in Cannes, Best Actor in Oscar, Best Actor in Berlin!

William Bradley achieved the grand slam of three major European actors plus Oscars, becoming the third person in the world's film history to complete this achievement after Jack Lemmon and Sean Penn!

Moreover, what makes many people feel suffocated is that if you count the American Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series, which is only slightly worse than the three major European actors and the Oscars, and the BAFTA Best Actor, then William Bradley is even more It is possible to set an unprecedented Grand Slam record - Jack Lemmon and Sean Penn are somewhat unsatisfactory in both awards.

Sean Penn won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series, but only received two Oscar nominations in the UK, while Jack Lemmon was the Best Actor in a Golden Globe Award for a Musical Comedy. The gold content of the Ball Awards musical comedy awards is generally slightly lower than that of the drama awards.

However, fans in the media are just discussing and gossiping. No authoritative organization really engages in the selection of such a grand slam of awards, because for many years the world has recognized that the honors of the three major European awards and the Oscars are at the same level, and they are also the most authoritative. The most famous and influential, other film festivals or academy awards are always slightly less than them.

Moreover, if the British Academy Film Awards and the American Golden Globe Awards are to be included, should the awards from the Montreal International Film Festival and the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival be included?What about the European Film Awards, the César Awards in France and the David Awards in Italy?

No one counts the number one in the world in the Grand Slam of Best Actors. It is a huge and complicated project that involves various national historical and cultural factors, and it is too complicated to complete. But in another aspect, William has won a well-deserved "" Number one"—that's age.

Jack Lemmon won these four trophies at the age of 67, Sean Penn won the full honor at the age of 44, and William Bradley did it at the age of 28!

This is truly unprecedented!

Moreover, as the judging tastes of the three major European film festivals and the Oscars are gradually drifting away—European film festivals always take artistry as the highest indicator and insist on the artistry of the film itself, but the Oscars are becoming more and more like a Vanity Fair, with only a dozen of them on one side. The judges can boldly take the route of minority elites, while the other side is subject to a voting team of thousands of people, and they are increasingly favoring popular movies with mass communication attributes-such a grand slam is likely to be unprecedented. .

At such a young age, yet having achieved so many honors, William, who was already quite legendary, embarked on the road of coronation and apotheosis under the watchful eyes of film practitioners all over the world.

As a result, the release of "Milk" in North America went much smoother. Under the deliberate publicity of the distributor, the film was turned into a showmanship of Steven Spielberg and William Bradley, The political color has been diluted to a certain extent, and it is easier to win the favor of neutral audiences, so that they have the desire to enter the cinema.

The day after the Berlin Film Festival ended, "Milk" released the ultimate trailer and a brand new poster. Unlike the previous North American posters, most of them used William and Leonardo, and sometimes they were group portraits. The promotional poster this time only used a photo of William alone, and chose a photo of Harvey Milk wearing a pure white T-shirt with a wreath around his neck and cheering when he delivered a campaign speech after participating in a gay parade. It's time.

Moreover, drawing on the lessons of "Brokeback Mountain", "Milk" abandoned traditional media and placed its main publicity channels on the Internet, directly targeting the millennials who grew up with the Internet. Websites have been cooperating to put trailers more online for publicity, such as Facebook, Yahoo and Apple websites, as well as the recently popular video site Youtube.

On these social networking and video sites, it is not without the abuse of "Milk" and some discriminatory remarks, but because most of the users of these sites are open-minded and tolerant young people, there are always netizens who replace them. Rebutting back, gradually, the negative comments became less, and the messages of encouragement and support accounted for the majority.

The cooperation with Youtube has enabled "Milk" to set a number of historical records, for example, the first film to use social networking and video sites for publicity, the first video hit rate in Youtube history to exceed 100 million, 1000 million (24-hour hits) , 2000 million (clicks in the first week) and 3000 million (cumulative clicks after one year) movie trailers, the 2005 YouTube video click list topped the list, and at this point in time, although YouTube already had more than 2000 million videos, But the number of users is less than 1000 million, and the number of page views per day is only hovering between 800 and [-] million.

In other words, while the "Milk" trailer was logged on YouTube, it also brought huge traffic and exposure to the website.

The same is true of the facts. Along with the rising click-through rate of movie trailers, the number of registered users of the website has also increased rapidly. In just 24 hours, the number of registered users of the website has increased by more than 100 million. Two weeks later, the total number of registered users of YouTube has exceeded 2000 million.

Like YouTube, there is also Facebook, which has developed and grown through viral transmission, and "Milk" has achieved the best publicity effect through the viral transmission of these websites. All in all, this is a win-win business.

It is worth mentioning that Google was finally listed on NASDAQ last year. At that time, the company’s valuation was 230 billion U.S. dollars, and the stock price rose all the way after the opening, from 85 U.S. dollars to more than [-] U.S. dollars today. Started to spend dollars recklessly, and when Youtube just revealed the infinite possibilities of video sites, it spent hundreds of millions of dollars to acquire it, and in a very short period of time, it reached a relationship between Youtube and traditional TV media, record companies and other professional programs. The cooperation of producers has resolved a series of copyright disputes that Youtube will face in the future.

And because William is a shareholder of Google, the biggest winner is probably himself.

What can best reflect the effect of this Internet promotion is the online pre-sale box office of the movie.On the two major online ticketing platforms in North America, Fandango and MovieTickets.com, the pre-sale box office of "Milk" is very impressive. It exceeded 1000 million US dollars soon after it was launched. It even caused the website to crash due to excessive traffic. .

The online pre-sale box office of "Milk" finally reached 600 million U.S. dollars. This figure seems to be nothing at first glance, but at the moment when the vast majority of movie fans are generally more accustomed to buying tickets offline, this year and "Milk" With the same box office pre-sale results, it is George Lucas' "Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith".

Because the pre-sale results at the box office are so good, many theaters have decided to expand the scope of the screening, from the original hundreds of theaters to about a thousand, and the movie theaters have also increased the number of screenings of the film.However, these theaters are basically concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, and there may be only one movie theater in small cities. This is also to avoid risks. After all, LGBT movies still have more audiences in large and diverse cities.

This has also set a perfect example for other Hollywood movies. Countless studios and distributors have realized that using the Internet for publicity seems to have a smaller investment and higher benefits. They have gradually turned their attention to Facebook and Youtube. In the future, There are many movies, including "Brokeback Mountain", that put their first stop on social networking sites and video sites.

……

The North American premiere of "Milk" was held at the Castro Theater.

That's right, it is the Castro Theater that often flashes in the movie. It is on Castro Avenue in San Francisco. It has been built for nearly 100 years. The Spanish colonial style building has carried the past glory of San Francisco's film history. It is a holy place in the hearts of LGBT groups in the United States today.

Harvey Milk belongs to Castro Avenue, it belongs to San Francisco, so of course "Milk" also belongs to the Castro Theater, the people of this city will not allow the film premiere to be held elsewhere .

As early as a week before the premiere of the movie, local residents hung huge movie posters on the outer wall of the Castro Theater. Anyone who walked into this street could see it at first sight. At night, William's face flashes with the neon signs of the theater, full of the atmosphere of the 70s.

The 4000 seats in the theater were not enough. On the night of the premiere, there were at least [-] people on this street, creating an unprecedented hot atmosphere for the premiere of "Milk". , not just on Castro Street, but in San Francisco.

Jonathan Bates was invited to the world premiere of "Milk" in San Francisco, and at the meeting between the creators and media fans after the screening, he shared his mental journey with people, including when he Realizing that he is gay and coming out bravely, what he experienced after being attacked and severely injured by anti-gay people, and his future plans, he will continue to work hard to be himself proudly.

Jonathan Bates, who had an important impact on the birth of the movie "Milk", seemed like a hero on the night of the premiere, and countless people applauded and cheered for him, as if he was regarded as a new generation of group celebrities and gay icons.

But only Jonathan Bates knows that after leaving Castro Avenue and San Francisco, not only will his aura of "hero" disappear, but most ordinary people who know his sexual orientation will also stay away from him. Even hostile.And he, in fact, has been suffering from PTSD symptoms since the attack, and still needs to see a psychiatrist regularly.

Jonathan Bates also told his boyfriend about these thoughts, and his boyfriend comforted him by saying: "Society is improving and it will get better and better."

Thinking about it carefully, this sentence is also true. Take Hollywood movies as an example, gay characters range from invisible people, murderers, perverts to comedic characters, ordinary supporting roles, and now they can even become the protagonist of a movie with a positive image. The world The view towards the homosexual group is indeed more and more tolerant and equal.

Over the past year or so, Jonathan Bates and her boyfriend have experienced a lot together, and their relationship has grown deeper. They originally planned to wait for the anniversary to go to Massachusetts to register their marriage, but now they decided to wait until New York State legislation passed gay marriage , and then register in this state.They believe that they can wait until this day after all.

Jonathan Bates attended the premiere of the movie, but his boyfriend hadn't seen "Milk". After returning to New York, Jonathan decided to accompany his boyfriend to the cinema again.

They drove from downtown, crossed the Brooklyn Bridge and entered Brooklyn, where there was a movie theater they often went to, and it was now the movie theater that showed the most screenings of "Milk" in New York.

When there was still a crossroads away from the cinema, they had already seen far more people than usual, and there was a long queue in the lobby of the cinema with posters of "Milk" and "24-hour screening" lights on. The queue extended to On the road outside, there was a queue even at the corners.

Jonathan Bates didn't speak, neither did her boyfriend, they just drove the car silently to another chain movie theater showing "Milk", and then another... There was a neat and crowded long queue in front of each movie theater , Later, there was a drizzle in the sky, and no one turned around to leave. Instead, they held up umbrellas one after another and continued to line up.

A few reporters were taking pictures, and a TV station was interviewing the audience in line. It was a reporter from FOX News.

"The FOX news anchor will definitely say in tomorrow's morning news that "Milk" has attracted all the gays in America to the movie theaters to create such a scene." Jonathan Bates couldn't help but sarcastically said. FOX News has made a series of special reports on his attack, but it is from the perspective of sympathizing with the murderer, and it also quotes a lot of original words from the Bible, which makes people feel that this TV station is biased .

"But we both know that's not true," said the boyfriend, his voice tinged with hope: "Milk is going to be as successful as it's ever been, I've never seen an independent movie line up like this — — except for those B-movies — that would definitely change a lot of things.”

Jonathan Bates looked out the window. The rain was still falling, and the cinema hall was still crowded. People kept walking in, and people continued to stay at the end of the line. The length of the entire line was always maintained at a constant level.

"Yes, this will definitely change a lot of things." Jonathan Bates held his boyfriend's hand tightly and said: "Maybe this will lead to some huge changes, maybe we are witnessing history."