I’m really glad Sean Penn got the Oscar for Best Actor.

He deserved it. His performance as Harvey Milk was astonishing. After about two minutes, I forget he was Sean Penn and totally bought in to the character.

And what a character it was. The Harvey Milk story is the best kind of an American story. It’s about an individual who fights against all odds for equality and liberty. The movie took this hero, who had fallen almost into obscurity, at least for heterosexual America, and not only revived him but made him fully human.

I wanted “Milk” to win for best picture over “SlumDog,” with its gratuitous torture and trendy appeal. “Milk” was the best movie I’ve seen in years.

But I’ll settle for Sean Penn.

And I’ll settle for him also because he used the occasion to such good effect.

He tweaked the Academy for being a “commie and homo-loving” crowd, thereby taking the sting out of those epithets.

He applauded the country for electing an “elegant” man President.

And he scolded the homophobes who voted for Prop 8.

He told them to “sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame and the shame in their grandchildren's eyes if they continue” to oppose gay marriage.

Brave, combative, but betraying some sweetness and vulnerability, Sean Penn was the best actor last night.