Golden Globes Sleight Milk

Sean Penn is nominated for best actor in Milk, but there's no nomination for best picture, screenplay, or director.

Since most of the nominated films haven't been released, it's hard to compare. Still, having seen Milk, I find it difficult to imagine that all five of those films could possibly be that much better. They would all have to be pretty amazing films - a group of the best movies of all time, ever (in the Best Comedy nominations, for instance, I've seen 3 of the films, and I can tell you some of them are pretty mediocre).

The movie "Milk" is a pretty amazing film, authentically depicting an era as well as movingly portraying the arch of a person's life as it intersects with a greater social movement. A kind of "Ghandi" meets "Brokeback" tinged with a bit of Fincher's "Zodiac."

While Penn's performance is great, how come I get the feeling that the Globes are basically awarding Penn the nomination for "playing gay" - while dismissing the movie itself? This wasn't the reception that Brokeback received...and while Brokeback was beautiful and tragic, Milk is inspiring, lovely, deep, and - in my mind - much more authentic. Yet Brokeback received a much better reception.

Do the Globes have a rule that only straight performers, writers, and directors can be nominated for gay movies?