This movie is so biased that it actually condones and justifies the SF rioting. I understand that the verdict in the White trial was viewed by many as a failure of the justice system, but it doesn't justify rioting. I would think anybody with a level head on their shoulders would admit that...but not the director or talking heads in this film. Harvey Milk would be ashamed. How on earth did this manage to win an Oscar? Ridiculous.
shareREAD THIS, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Night_riots#Riots
This is just a little of what the cops were up to,The San Francisco Police Department had, in conjunction with the fire department, raised more than $100,000 to defend White.
Excellent film because it did not fall in the usual Hollywood trap of trying to appeal excessively to the viewers emotions, either in screaming against gay teachers, or personally mourning Harvey's death. In this, it was surprisingly objective.
However, it ruined this at the end when it pointed out that White "received no psychiatric treatment in prison", definitely implying that the psychological defense was false. But they deliberately omitted that he committed suicide two years after leaving prison, proving that he did indeed have severe psychological difficulties.
Also, the rioters against White were using violence to object to White not being fully punished for his violence. And then they didn't show the police counter-violence later that night at gay bars. Sigh, maybe White isn't the only crazy one. Maybe this is why Gandhi insisted on total non-violence.
I think you're right about the line regarding no treatment in prison. When I heard that, I thought that maybe it was meant to be sympathetic-- that if the guy was nuts, locking him up wouldn't help unless he was treated, and he wasn't. But I do see what you are saying that it does show a bit of bias against White.
The film was produced in 1984, when White was still alive. So it is unfair to suggest that there should have been a segment on his suicide since that hadn't happened yet. And when he was released from prison, he spent the first year on parole in Los Angeles (probably when this film was being put together).
They say that White was released after 5 years, but decided not to tell that he committed suicide 1 year after he got of the prison.
The film is biased, by no means. But for me it shows how corrupt is the system, and how bad people can be. Justice is not only blind but also deaf