Liberty Ideologies in the Character’s Utterances
No. Presupposed Meaning
Uttered By
2. There are thousands upon thousands of frustrated, angry people such as yourselves waiting to
unleash a fury that will eradicate the malignancies which blight our beautiful city
Dan White 3.
Harvey Milk could be assasinated at any moment Harvey Milk
Table 9. The Emphasis on Negative Other Presentation through Factive Presupposition
In the factive presupposition above, it presupposes three facts that may lead to the internalization of liberty that wants to be advocated by Harvey Milk in
the film Milk. The first fact that There is a person who stands for what Harvey Milk stands for, such as an activist or gay activist that becomes the potential
target of a person who is insecure, terrified, afraid, or disturbed themselves is
used by Harvey Milk in order to reveal the ugly truth that a gay activist who is under the wing of Harvey Milk to accelerate the agenda of gay liberation
movement becomes the main target of insecure, terrified, or afraid people per se. In relation to the context of gay discrimination in 1970s, those insecure, terrified,
or afraid people can be referred to the conservative homophobic society. The second fact that There are thousands upon thousands of frustrated,
angry people such as yourselves waiting to unleash a fury that will eradicate the malignancies which blight our beautiful city
is used by Dan White in order to reveal that there are thousands of oppositions conservative society that are
frustrated and angry towards the existence of the gay society. The presupposed meaning Harvey Milk could be assasinated at any moment means that there is a
possibility of Harvey Milk to be assasinated by anyone. This possibility is manipulated by Harvey Milk to show the fact about harsh treatment that may be
addressed to Harvey Milk, including the assasination to himself. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
No. Presupposed Meaning
Uttered By
1. Harvey Milk has not organized a revolt when he
lost the vote to beat Prop Six. Harvey Milk
Table 10. The Emphasis on Negative Other Presentation through Non-Factive Presupposition
In the non-factive presupposition, Harvey Milk presupposes he has not
organized a revolt when he lost the vote to beat Prop Six in order to initiate a
plan in order to organize a revolt as a backup plan in the event that he fails to ban the ratification of Prop Six. It gives the impression that the opposition of gay
liberation movement is too dominant, which triggers the sense of urgency to his followers to proliferate the idea of liberty. Through his intention, it indicates that
Harvey Milk will do any means possible to ensure that a revolt would be organized. The aim of organizing such a revolt is to ensure Prop Six will not pass
to prevent any further systematic discrimination to gay society.
No. Presupposed Meaning
Uttered By
1. People never take Harvey Milk seriously
Harvey Milk 2.
He Dan White will not vote for Harvey Milk‘s
gay rights ordinances Harvey Milk
Table 11. The Emphasis on Negative Other Presentation through Counterfactual Presupposition
The counterfactual presupposition presupposes two kinds of meaning that can be related to dominance, power abuse, and inequality which are People never
take Harvey Milk seriously 1 and
Dan White will not vote for Harvey Milk’s gay rights ordinances
2. By depicting the ugly truth about what happened in San Francisco during the 1970s, Harvey Milk wants to make sure that the society
realizes the severe condition undergone by Harvey Milk and his gay community. By implying that people never regard Harvey Milk seriously, it sends a notion
about the harm of letting the absence of liberty to be proliferated. Thus, such ugly PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
truth juga jadi strategy to internalize liberty. He also attempts to depict the homophobic resistance of his opposition, Dan White, in which he will not vote for
Harvey Milk‘s gay rights ordinances which signifies his abuse of power by giving a constant negation to the proliferation of gay rights advocated by Harvey Milk
and his alliances.
No. Presupposed Meaning
Uttered By
1. Harvey Milk and his gay community demand a
respect Harvey Milk
2. The murderers of Robert Hillsbourough will not
be brought to justice McConnelly
3. John Briggs needs signatures to ratify a petition
advocating for a statewide referendum to fire all gay teachers
McConnelly 4.
There are many careers that John Briggs is willing to see destroyed
Dan White 5.
There are many lives that John Briggs will destroy in his lust for power
Harvey Milk 6.
Dan White has shut down Harvey Milk‘s propositions
Anne Kronenberg Table 12. The Emphasis on Negative Other Presentation through Structural
Presupposition All of the kinds of presupposed meaning based on the structural
presupposition convey the devastating truth about what happened to the gay community during the 1970s. The devastating truth can then be related to the
dominance, power abuse, and inequality that are exposed. The first one is The murderers of Robert Hillsbourough will not be brought to justice
2. This fact is conveyed by Harvey Milk in order to depict the injustice that occured to the gay
society, in this case the murderers of a gay person named Robert Hillsbourough is saved from the prosecution and trial process which are the procedures of a
criminal justice system for perpetrators, including a murderer. The second one is Dan White has shut down Harvey Milk’s propositions 6. This information is
presupposed by Har vey Milk in order to show the danger of Dan White‘s success
of prevailing against Harvey Milk‘s attempt to accelerate the gay rights through his propositions. The third one is John Briggs needs signatures to ratify a petition
advocating for a statewide referendum to fire all gay teachers 3.
Based on the presupposed meaning mentioned previously, Harvey Milk wants to use this fact to warn the society about the agenda of John Briggs to gain
signatures for the eligibility of his referendum to fire all gay teachers. The blatant intention of John Briggs can be strengthened through another presupposed
meaning informing that There are many careers that John Briggs is willing to see destroyed
4 and Many lives that John Briggs will destroy in his lust for power 5. These two kinds of meaning are used by Harvey Milk to persuade the society
that John Briggs has a blatant intention to sacrifice the survivability of people‘s life for the sake of maintaining his power in the authority. Responding to all of the
blatant truth, Harvey Milk presupposes that the gay community and himself demand a respect
1. The demand of the respect is executed in response to the disrespectful act that has been addressed to the gay community during that era.
No. Presupposed Meaning
Uttered By
1. New York City cops are behaving in an
unpleasant way Harvey Milk
2. Police officers sent fourteen gay people to the
hospitals, and to jail Harvey Milk
3 The gay community were outcasted, arrested, and
committed suicide. Harvey Milk
4 Anita intends to put all gay people back in
concentration camps. Cleve Jones
Table 13. The Emphasis on Negative Other Presentation through Lexical Presupposition
Based on the presupposed meaning above, it depicts an unpleasant truth inside the gay community, starting from them being outcasted. arrested, and
committed suicide 3, and the cops are behaving in an unpleasant way 1. For
instance, Police officers sent fourteen gay people to the hospitals, and to jail 2 because they feel like those gay people need to be cured in hospitals or sent to the
jail due to the violation towards the law enforcement in San Francisco. In relation to the context of gay liberation, this event occurs because the gay society has not
obtained the sense of liberty yet. Thus, they have no choice or freedom but to succumb to the homophobic rules and treatment by the police officers.
Even further, Cleve Jones emphasizes that Anita Bryant intends to put all gay people back in concentration camps
4. The concentration camps can be classified as a form of blatant truth because it is stated by Haggerty and
Zimmerman that ―France has a history of repression of sodomy and homosexuality and collaborated in the deportation of homosexuals to German
concentration camps‖ 2000: 524. The emphasis by Cleve Jones is to show that Anita Bryant has a blatant intention to put gay people back in the harsh and
unforgiving persecution offered by German concentration camps Nazi, in which gay people are treated inhumanly as slaves. That is why all of the power abuses,
dominances, and inequalities are addressed by Cleve Jones and Harvey Milk in order to establish a sense of urgency to uphold liberty for the society.
No. Presupposed Meaning
Uttered By
1. Harvey Milk convinces all gay society to confess
their sexuality. Cleve Jones
2. Proposition Six has been rejected.
Harvey Milk 3.
Harvey Milk considered gathering an army of queers to become independent, separating
Harvey Milk PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
themselves from nation Table 14. The Emphasis on Positive Self Presentation through Lexical
Presupposition Resisting to the unpleasant truth, it is presupposed that Harvey Milk
convinces all gay society to confess their sexuality 1. The presupposed meaning
is used by Cleve Jones to inform that Harvey Milk does not bow down to the cunnifying homophobic nuance created by John Briggs and Anita Bryant.
Furthermore, Harvey Milk conveys that Proposition Six has been rejected 2. This information is used by Harvey Milk in order to depict the achievement of gay
liberation movement advocated by Harvey Milk and his ally to prevent the further discrimination to the gay society, gay teachers in particular. In response to Anita
Bryant‘s intention to put all gay people back in concentration camps, it is presupposed that Harvey Milk considered gathering an army of queers to become
independent, separating themselves from nation 3. This consideration is taken to
direct all the gay communities in San Francisco to establish a separatist movement to liberate themselves from the nation that constantly oppresses them socially and
systematically. Liberty is a state of freedom to live as you choose without too many
restrictions from government or authority. It is a condition where the society can have their sense of freedom or rights for actualizing themselves. In relation to the
context of gay liberation, the realization of liberty is enacted through the sense of freedom, the state of being free from any restriction or discrimination, and the
acceptance and acknowledgement to their sexuality. In relevance to the issue of the film Milk.
The liberty is manifested through the way gay community can gain the adequate number of votes to support Harvey Milk to be the Supervisor for San
Francisco in order to gain a political leverage to alleviate the systematic gay discrimination in 1970s. The alleviation of the systematic gay discrimination
would eventually expand their liberty in political and social spheres. For example, fair policy making, rights to live and have a job, anti-discrimination.
In order to communicate this belief to the audience, that is why Harvey Milk and the other characters utter the ugly or blatant truth of gay discrimination
which triggers the initiation of freedom, liberty, and respect by the gay community. In the framework of CDA, these kinds of presupposed meaning are
the realization on how dominance, power abuse, and inequality occuring to the gay community during the 1970s. Thus, presupposed meaning serves as a medium
to internalize the ideology of liberty to the audience.