The Castro Theatre

San Francisco, gay capital of the United States, home of marines who were thrown out of the army for their sexuality and never returned to their mothers and fathers! When I decided to move here, my professor (who also happens to be the head of Gay and Lesbian studies at the University of Amsterdam) said the climate in SF wasn't very good. I replied: 'I guess Los Angeles weather is warmer!' But apparently he was talking about the sexual climate. For people from Amsterdam, where there is at least an idea of complete gay tolerance (even though I still feel there are quite some problems there still) San Francisco is probably not very innovating. But for the rest of the U.S., it certainly still is.
Last Tuesday I finally went to see 'Milk'. I had wanted to see it earlier, but it only played in the Castro Theatre for a week or two, and I missed it. Somehow it seems like the only place to see this movie, when you live in this city. So, as I sat on the 24 bus on my way home from the spa, I spotted that the Castro Theatre had decided by popular demand, to return it to the screen for two more weeks.
I took my friends Femke and the Experimental Jetset there for a real San Francisco experience, and it was absolutely wonderful. I had never been to this theater and it reminds me in a way of the Tuschinski, mainly for being so old. Tuschinski is much more in the style of the twenties, whereas the Castro is built in baroque style. As we sat down, an old man started playing the organ, while pictures of the old Castro days were being shown. It was a strange feeling, watching a movie while sitting in a theater which is in almost every shot. And by the end we were all in tears. I really feel that had this movie come out a few months earlier, we might have been able to stop Proposition 8. But it gives us hope for the future. Now let's hope Sean wins an Oscar for his role as Hervey Milk this next Sunday!

Here's a grainy picture of the old man playing:

Here is a great NY Times review for the film.