Presupposed Meaning in Counter-Factual Presupposition
PageScene Characters
Utterances
84116 Art Agnos
Harvey Milk Conversation
58-5988 Anne Kronenberg
Harvey Milk Conversation
87119 Harvey Milk
John Briggs Conversation
99140 Harvey Milk
Mayor Moscone Conversation
Table 6. Utterances with Structural Presupposition In the table above, it illustrates that all structural presupposition can be
found in a conversation between Harvey Milk and other characters in the film script. The first
utterance is found in Scene 40, portraying Harvey Milk‘s conversation with Rick Stokes.
1 Rick Stokes: You can‘t demand acceptance overnight.
Harvey Milk: Why not? How can we ask them to respect us if we don‘t show ourselves some self respect, David? p.26
Harvey Milk and his gay community demand a respect. Based on the conversation above, it presupposes that Harvey Milk and
his gay community demand a respect, indicated by the question how can we ask them to respect us.
The question implies the intention of Harvey Milk and his gay community to ask for respect from the people in San Francisco, which is doubted
by Rick Stokes that believes it cannot be demanded overnight, which implies that getting an acceptance and acknowledgement to Harvey Milk‘s gay community
will require a long journey to go to. The second utterance is found
in Scene 116, portraying Harvey Milk‘s conversation with Art Agnos.
2 Art Agnos: Mr. Milk, I‘ve worked for years as a social worker in
this city. I know Sacramento. I know how to get done what we all need done there.
Harvey Milk: Tell me Mr. Agnos. . .right here in the Castro, Robert Hillsbourough was murdered for walking home with
his long time partner. Stabbed, fifteen times. The last words he heard were ―Faggot, Faggot, Faggot. . .‖
And you say you‘re outraged, but why won‘t your liberal establishment return our calls?
Why won‘t they bring these murderers to justice?
The murderers of Robert Hillsbourough will not be brought to justice. Based on the conversation above, it presupposes that the murderers of
Robert Hillsbourrough will not be brought to justice. It can be indicated by Harvey Milk‘s question that asks for a reason why the murderers are saved from
the criminal justice system in San Francisco. It means that the murderers were not punished during that era even though they had imposed an irreparable harm to
Robert Hillsbourough by taking away his irreversible life without his consent at all. This presupposed meaning elaborates the unfair treatment to the gay society in
which the gay murder case is not being processed in court, thus implying an improportional implementation of criminal justice system in San Francisco during
that era. The third
utterance is found in Scene 88, portraying Harvey Milk‘s conversation with Anne Kronenberg.
3 Harvey Milk: Good or Bad?
Anne K.: Not great. State Senator John
Briggs is Anita Bryant‘s go-
to guy in California for sure. He‘s filed his petition for a statewide referendum to fire all gay teachers and
anyone who supports them. Harvey Milk: How many signatures will he need to qualify for the
ballot? p. 58-59 John Briggs needs signatures to ratify a petition advocating for a
statewide referendum to fire all gay teachers. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Based on the conversation above, it presupposes that John Briggs, as Anita Bryant‘s avid supporter, needs signatures from San Francisco society to
ratify a petition advocating for a statewide referendum to fire all gay teachers. This presupposed meaning is indicated through the way Harvey Milk asks how
many signatures that John Briggs needs to validate the petition, which confirms that the information is true.
The fourth utteran ce is found in Scene 119, portraying Harvey Milk‘s
conversation with John Briggs. 4
John Briggs: No, I‘m saying that we cannot prevent child molestation so let‘s cut our odds down adn take out
the homosexual group and keep in the heterosexual group
— Harvey Milk: --Sir, in your own drive for personal power, how
many careers are you willing to see destroyed? How many lives will you destroy in your lust for power,
and when will you stop?
There are many careers that John Briggs is willing to see destroyed. There are many lives that John Briggs will destroy in his lust for
power. Based on the conversation above, it presupposes two kinds of meaning.
The first one is there are many careers that John Briggs is willing to see them destroyed. The second one is there are many lives that John Briggs will destroy in
his lust for power. Those two kinds of presupposed meaning can be indicated by the way Harvey Milk asks John Briggs using how many which aims to ask the
degree of quantity in an action instead of whether or not the action will be taken. It means that it is already confirmed that John Briggs would like to blatantly
destroy the lives and careers of gay people for the sake of maintaining his power in the authority.
The fifth utterance is found in Scene 140, portraying Harvey Milk‘s
conversation with Mayor Moscone. 5
Mayor M.: A man has the right to change his mind. Give me
some peace. Harvey Milk: How many of our propositions has Dan shut down?
We could finally settle this police desegregation nonsense. Cememt rent control. It‘s his vote on this
Board that stands in our way.
Dan White has shut down Harvey Milk‘s propositions Based on the conversation above, it presupposes that Dan has shut down
Harvey Milk‘s propositions. It can be indicated through the way Harvey Milk also asks the degree of quantity in Dan‘s action of shutting down his propositions
instead of asking whether or not Dan White has done such an action. As a result, it depicts the fact that Dan White is truly an opposition of Harvey Milk by
channeling his stance of disagreement through shutting down Milk‘s propositions that are
―gay-friendly‖ and supportive towards the gay liberation movement.