Analysis of the Laramie Project - Essay Example

?The Laramie Project When Matthew Shepard from Laramie, Wyoming was tied up to a fence and beat up to his death, the biggest reaction from everyone was shock - and then denial. No one was willing to believe that someone could be this heartless, this cold, this cruel. Most people were hoping that the offenders were from some place else, but as the case unraveled, the matter was clear – Mattew Shepard had been kidnapped, tied up to a fence and beaten mercilessly to his death by two people from their very own town. All because he was gay and had allegedly made a pass at them. From watching this movie, certain things are clear. People of Wyoming are not as tolerant of homosexuality as they like to proclaim. They seem derogatory of the lifestyle and say it is a sin, no matter how much they like to proclaim that they believe in the philosophy of live and let live. This has affected the gay community of the state very much. They are all terrified of being who they are openly since they could be the next victims of such a heinous crime. We don’t really know what happened with Matthew Shepard that night, whether he really propositioned and thus offended his murderers. But one thing is for sure, no one deserves to meet their end the way he did. The Laramie Project covers the murder of Matthew Shepard. It is based on over two hundred interviews that were conducted by the Tectonic Theatre Project in this regard. The movie clearly shows how most people were absolutely unwilling to talk about the incident. They didn’t want anything to do with the members of Tectonic Theatre Project. They were angry, depressed and in denial. And they obviously believed that getting involved in this case would put them in danger as well. The members of the Tectonic Theatre Project however, did find people that were willing to talk to them – about Matthew, how he was, his characteristics, his dreams and what he was doing just minutes before he was kidnapped. It is nice to see that people were willing to speak up about Matthew Shepard. The movie takes us through the entire case by showing news reports, interviews from friends and relatives to people who hate homosexuals to supportive and unsupportive priests, interviews with the boy who found Matthew Shepard in the morning, tied to the fence, interviews with a group of gay and lesbian people talking about how nervous the entire episode had made them, the court case and interviews with people who were close to the criminals – Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson. The film also takes a close look at the turmoil that the film crew underwent. The members of the Tectonic Theatre Project, who wanted to convey Matthew’s story to the world. It shows what they went through, not just the difficulties in getting people to speak to them, but also in terms of how they had to convey Matthew’s story to the world without being biased and without offending people. It also showed the hardships they went through, being homosexuals, as a lot of the people of Laramie were not very welcoming of them and were blatantly rude and insulting about their sexuality. The film also covered the story of the police officer who rescued Matthew and was exposed to his HIV. All in all, the movie is a complete telling of what happened that night and how the people dealt with later. The only thing missing from it was – Matthew’s version of the events, which obviously no one will ever know. Matthew Shepard was a very well-known young boy from Laramie. For this movie, the group cast a great set of people to play the interviewees and characters that were affected by Matthew’s death. Matthew’s close friend, Romaine Patterson was played by Christina Ricci. She greatly captured the essence of being best friend to Matthew. She was strong and her belief in Matthew never wavered. She knew he hadn’t done anything wrong. Christina Ricci played the part very well, especially when she and the others dress up as angels to protest the bad mouthing of the gay community. Joshua Jackson plays the bartender who was possibly the last person who saw Matthew alive before he went off with Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson (played by Mark Webber and Garrett Neergaard respectively). Joshua captured the essence of the bartender very well. From the constant thinking of the case, to the guilt that comes from thinking that he could have saved Matthew that night, Joshua played every emotion beautifully. Your heart would go out to him when he rendered the scene when he said that he shouldn’t have looked down for those twenty seconds and Matthew would be alive. From the serious scenes to the emotional ones, Joshua brings a humorous quotient to the film, that could very well be a part of the character’s personality. Reggie Fluty, the officer that rescued Matthew and was exposed to his AIDS virus is played by Amy Madigan. As the first person on the scene that had to touch and rescue the victim, she has captured the trauma of the police officer very well. One is completely shocked when they learn that she could have contracted HIV and when finally she is tested negative for good, the joy she portrays is brilliant. Other characters that made great impact were Bill Irwin as Harry Woods, with his in-your-face opinions, James Murtaugh as Reverend Fred Phelps, Terry Kinney in his courtroom speech as Dennis Shepard, Matthew’s father and Camryn Manheim as Rebecca Hilliker. Steve Buscemi also did a great portrayal of Doc O’ Connor as did Ben Foster who played Aaron Kreifels, the boy found Matthew Shepard and who is probably scarred for life and Dylan Baker who plays Rulon Stacey, the representative that talks to the media about Matthew’s medical condition. All characters were chosen very well and portrayed their characters in a very true and moving way. There are very few times when you realize that this is a movie and not just something that is actually happening. Moises Kaufman, director of The Laramie Project, has done a brilliant job in ensuring the realism of the Matthew Shepard Story. Throughout the movie, your emotions are on the surface, as you get to see the hate of people towards homosexuals, their denial that their town was actually home to villains like Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, shock at what happened to one of their own, disgust that the media was blowing it out of proportion, sadness at the plight of the poor boy and pride when people were willing to make a stand for what was right. The film not only helps to inform people about what happened to an innocent, young boy, but also spreads the message of gay pride and tries to educate people about being more accepting of homosexuals. The scenic elements of The Laramie Project seem very realistic. The fields, the fence, the bar where Matthew was last seen drinking, his house, the courtroom, the hospital, the cafe, the University of Wyoming, everything just added a touch of what Matthew lived in when he was alive. All this added a sense of reality in the film as opposed to if the movie had been made by having the interviews in closed rooms, with one interview at a time. The lighting throughout the movie matched the area of shooting. Whether it was the low lighting in the bar, the bright sunshine on the fields, the rain on the street or the strong lighting of the courtroom, everything about the lighting also played a very important role in telling the story. The people in each frame dressed as you would expect them to. The bartender, a bit scruffy, the drama teacher, a little colorful, Matthew’s parents, in black, his best friend, simple, the angels however were the best costume. They were simply dressed in white, with large wings that could block the protest about the wrongness of homosexuality, ensuring that they didn’t have to say a single word, but just needed to stand in front of the unfair protest. The sound of The Laramie Project was appropriate based on every scene. Clear when two people were talking, a little hazy when they were checking over recorded conversations. There is no sign of morphed sounds or fake sounds. Even when the speeches are played, they are clear when shown directly and when shown through a television, the sounds is appropriately changed. The Laramie Project is a very well made film. There are various reasons I really appreciate it for. For one thing, it not only tells the world what happened to an innocent young man, but also goes on to explore the situation of hate crime, gay hate and other affected scenarios. It explores the positive and the negative of Matthew, shows the people who support him and are against him. It is not biased and does not paint Matthew Shepard as a hero. It just shows him as a young boy who was kidnapped, tied to fence, tortured and eventually murdered, for being who he really was – happy and gay. Works Cited The Laramie Project. Dir.Moises Kaufman. Prod. Declan Baldwin. Home Box Office (HBO). 2002. 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