UJ: laramie project

I have wanted to see the Laramie Project since it came out, but since I didn't have HBO....I had never had the opportunity. Well, I had a credit at Blockbuster and decided it was time that I saw it....so, I rented it. I am very glad that I did...I felt the film was phenomenal.

The Laramie Project was based on this theatre company who went to Laramie, Wyoming after the murder of Matthew Shepard. They focused on the town and their reaction to the events, which is so different from all the other movies and stories which focused on Matthew and what happened to him. Obviously it centered on what happened to Matthew....but it focused on the aftermath and how it effected the town of Laramie. They interviewed 300 people in Laramie and made those 300 interviews into a play called "The Laramie Project." The debuted this show in NYC and then brought the play to Laramie for the people of the town to see.

I cannot say how much I recommend this play to be seen by people...it really showed the town's reaction....and it wasn't just one sided. It showed so many perspectives. It showed how people were enraged, embarrassed, upset, etc.... I do wonder how the people see the interviews and the movie. I heard that the interviews were shown word for word....so, I hope the town is happy with how their words were protrayed.

I was pretty quiet....and quite sad when the movie was finished. The one main thought is that this tragic story of a boy being beaten to death just because he was gay....it could happen ANYWHERE. Laramie isn't this evil little bigoted town where something like this was just waiting to happen. Laramie could be any town in the dear ol' US of A! I think that got to me most....since I didn't want that reality. I didn't want to see how this town reminded me of middle America in so many ways....it was a college town...a town full of some very progressive people and also some very conservative ones. I just hope that a lessson was learned from this....and also saddened that a young man had to lose his life in order for this to be seen.

And two of the last snippets of interviews really got to me. They just summed up so well what I had just seen in the last 90 minutes in the film.

The first interview I am going to quote is from a gay man who lives in Laramie:

"Change is not an easy thing and I don't think people were up to it here. They got what they wanted. Those two boys got what they deserve and we look good now. You know, it's been over a year since Matthew Shepard died and they haven't passed shit in Wyoming. They haven't passed it at a state level- any town, anybody, anywhere has passed any kind of laws. Anti-discrimination laws or hate crime legislation. Nobody has passed anything anywhere. What's come out of it? What's come out of it that's concrete and lasting?"

And the second quote is the snippet that immediately follows it in the movie. It is a quote from the play, "Angels in America" which is a play about the gay experiences. This play was produced and shown on the University of Wyoming campus in October of 1999 (the year after Matthew died). The professor of theatre arts said in the film, that she felt this play needed to be made in Laramie...it is an experience that needed to be seen in every community, especially this one. The final quote is from the play...it is a monologue by the main character, who is a gay man:

"The dead will be commemorated and will struggle on with the living. And we are not going away. We won't die secret deaths anymore. The world only spins forward. We will be citizens. The time has come."

To me...this is what concretely came of the whole event. In all its sadness...a community like Laramie got to see a play such as "Angels in America" at the campus. I don't think they would have been able to show this play beforehand. It's only a small step...but an important one. This film really got to me...more than I expected.

If you haven't seen it...rent it...and enjoy....well...learn more than enjoy. I feel more enlightened today than I did yesterday....