Source: Film: The Laramie Project (2001)

From WhyNotWiki

USA-Docudrama

http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=259521

Laramie, WY, is a small town which became infamous overnight in the fall of 1998, when Matthew Shepard, a gay college student, was found tied to a fence after being brutally beaten and left to die, setting off a nationwide debate about hate crimes and homophobia. A month after the crime, Moises Kaufman, a writer and director with the New York City theater troupe the Tectonic Theater Project, traveled to Laramie with a handful of actors to interview people who lived in and around Laramie in preparation for an upcoming production; Kaufman's goal was to create a play that focused not on the assault on Matthew Shepard, but on the community where such an attack could happen, and how many of the citizens reacted to the crime. [...]

From an e-mail sent out by Amnesty International at WWC on 2007-04-23:

Moises Kaufman writes and directs this dramatized montage of Laramie, Wyoming, in the aftermath of the brutal murder of 21-year-old Matthew Shepard, widely considered to be a hate crime motivated by homophobia. Stunning and profoundly moving, the film portrays Laramie's complex reaction to Shepard's murder based on over 200 interviews. Through their own eyes as well as through news footage, re-enactments, and eyewitness accounts, Laramie and Kaufman's crew experience Shepard's kidnapping and beating, his discovery tied to a fence, the vigil at the hospital, his death and funeral, the trial of his killers, and the both violent and sympathetic feedback from the country. The film exposes the raw nerves of prejudice and fear, deconstructing the assumption that they are benign.

— Tyler (2007-04-23 23:25)

I found this film to be very educational, because it makes me realize how little I understand hatred, fear, what motivates people to commit violent crimes, and homosexuality and its origin in people's lives. They did a great job of interviewing a lot of people as well is reenacting this story -- it's made to the story seem very real and current. I was impressed by the large number of opinions and viewpoints that were represented. I found myself resonating and sympathizing with a number of the viewpoints, but of course there were others, whose prejudice was very evident, that made me embarrassed to be of the same species as them. There were those who, although they admitted that they thought homosexuality was wrong, nonetheless it was very evident that they honestly loved and accepted Matthew Shepard and other gays, and were outraged by this violence. These people I respect. And while I too do not condone a homosexual lifestyle, I also respected the comments of some of the gay people represented in the film. When they paraded out into the park wearing white angel costumes and stood in front of a group of self-righteous out-of-town protesters who were loudly proclaiming that all homosexuals would end up in hell, I couldn't help but think that their silent but determined statement was a much better reflection of God's character than those callously yelling out their opinion about homosexuals.

There were a few opinions given about the "live and let live" and "don't ask, don't tell" philosophies, which see to sound innocent enough, but which several people seemed to believe can be actually covering up deep resentment.

I can't be sure whether they were genuinely remorseful for their crime are not -- I surely hope they ask for and find forgiveness from God -- but I would have to say I think the two defendants got the punishment they deserved (life in prison). I suppose that is one good thing about this story -- that justice was served. But it still leaves one with many questions, like why did they do it? How could they have let themselves do it? How could such seemingly nice people and up committing such senseless acts of violence? And one question that the residents of Laramie surely have asked themselves again and again: how could something like this happen in our little town? Could we really have raised our kids to be like this?

Some of the reactions from the townsfolk include (1) wanting to distance oneself as much as possible from the incident, not serve on the jury, basically pretend it didn't actually happen here and our town. (2) admitting that it really did happen, owning it, and feeling remorse for it.

The filmmakers certainly did a good job of making you feel like you were in the midst of the town, wrestling with the same questions as they were in those days.

One of the unfortunate things that I think came out of this event was the huge media attention that it garnered. And much if not most of that attention was on the fact that it was a crime committed by 2 heterosexuals against a homosexual. One of the (female) interviewees, whose husband was a [state trooper], really highlighted how out of proportion this event was blown by noting that during the same time (day? week?), a [state trooper] was killed and he barely received even a blurb in the news/paper; his death was so overshadowed by the media attention given to this "hate crime", and yet his life was just as important, and his loss probably affected them even more. Other Laramie residents didn't seem to like the large amount of attention being placed on this incident being motivated by sexual lifestyle. ~"You'd think 10 people had been killed here, the way they're talking about it."

Several feared, like me, that this incident was being taken advantage of by the homosexual agenda pushers. They seized on this moment and used it to press for "hate crime" legislation. They basically made a martyr out of this victim, even though, as one interviewee pointed out, he didn't seem to be one to them.

My humble opinion (and one voiced by at least one participant in the film) is that all murders are hate crime, and there's nothing particularly special about a murder committed by a heterosexual against a homosexual. No doubt about it, the death of Matthew Shepard was tragic and wrong, and it sure did seem like a sickening, hateful act on the part of the killers. But it was no more a "hate crime" than the everyday heterosexual-kills-another-heterosexual-in-anger murder. So please don't make legislation that protects any one group more than another. Laws that breed one kind of discrimination in order to prevent another kind of discrimination are no better than having no law to begin with. I just don't see why additional laws are necessary -- can't "hate crimes" be tried and punished the same way violent crimes have been punished for centuries? Were the killers of Matthew Shepard not brought to justice? What necessitates creating a new set of laws just for a certain kind of motivation (hatred/discrimination/insert-your-own-buzzword)?

There were some pretty unkind (do I dare say it? "hateful") feelings and words from homosexuals towards heterosexuals, recorded in this film. The hatred can go both ways. So let's not make one side more protected than the other.

I believe we should be very careful not to let homosexual activists manipulate us in the aftermath of tragic events like this when we're all searching for answers and thinking of prevention. Be careful that you don't support laws which take away protection from heterosexuals so that it can be given to homosexuals. Be very careful not to allow laws which allow homosexuals to turn anything into a "hate crime" that involves heterosexuals opposing the homosexual lifestyle (even peaceably opposing it -- are we no longer allowed the freedom of opinion, and the freedom of conscience, and the freedom to voice our opinions??). Be careful that the homosexuals don't pass a law which automatically makes any homosexual or minority "sexual orientation" the automatic victim and any heterosexual involved into an automatic perpetrator.