STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. --- We got a call today from an irate reader wanting to know why the film "Milk," about the late San Francisco city supervisor and gay-rights icon Harvey Milk, had not yet found a screen on Staten Island.

We wish we had thought to check the local movie times before we hung up on the caller -- "Milk" is playing this week at the Atrium in Eltingville. But, why did it take so long? The movie first opened in Manhattan on Nov. 26.

The suggestion behind such complaints is that homophobia is once again at work here. Does it exist on Staten Island? Sure, just as it does in the population centers of a similar size all across America that also haven't had a chance to go see this movie until now (Sean Penn winning the Best Actor Oscar for playing Milk is why the film's release has widened this week).

This is about business. It begins there and ends there. "Milk" is a small movie released by a small studio, Focus Features -- incidentally, the same studio that was behind "Brokeback Mountain" a few years back, which also took its time getting to Staten Island.

This isn't to suggest that Focus is homophobic, in fact quite the opposite. And the bottom line? This is a studio without deep pockets, and it has a history of going slow on its release dates, waiting to see if theaters fill up before distributing it to still more theaters. It's just that simple.

It was refreshing to see the Ocars reward "Milk" for work well done. Voters didn't appear to shy away from it because of its content, or rush to embrace it for the same reason.

It's a fact that certain film critics heaped praise on the film last year because they wanted to show their support for gay rights after California voted to prohibit gay marriage in November. This bothered us a great deal, and we said so at the time -- review a motion on its merits alone, please.

We don't see a agenda in "Milk's" slow release pattern. We do see a agenda on the part of those who are quick to label their community homophobic because the movie isn't (or wasn't) playing there. And that's fine; some agendas are necessary. But just because you have an agenda doesn't mean another party is harboring one as well.

Rather than embrace the negativity that results in Staten Island once again being dragged through the dirt, it may be more productive if those making such charges just go see "Milk." Fill the theater. Your ticket sales will eventually end up on the desks of those responsible for deciding who gets to see what and when, we guarantee it.