The Laramie Project; thoughts and feelings?

[fromolwyoming]

So I watched this movie a few weeks ago, and being only 9 years old at the time, the entirety of it all didn't really sink in. What do you guys think about the whole thing and the portrayal of Wyomingites in the movie?

 

[Wyokie]

Was this the movie about Matthew Shepard and his murder?

 

[fromolwyoming]

Was this the movie about Matthew Shepard and his murder?

Yeah.

 

[Wyokie]

Was this the movie about Matthew Shepard and his murder?

Yeah.

Saw a few minutes of it on MTV a few years ago while I was flipping channels. I don't think much of it. If MTV rebroadcasted it again, I might watch it.

Speaking of MTV, I miss the days of it showing music videos 24/7.

 

[fromolwyoming]

Was this the movie about Matthew Shepard and his murder?

Yeah.

Saw a few minutes of it on MTV a few years ago while I was flipping channels. I don't think much of it. If MTV rebroadcasted it again, I might watch it.

Speaking of MTV, I miss the days of it showing music videos 24/7.

It's been on either HBO or Showtime the last few weeks, so I decided to watch it. It was a movie in a documentary style. Based on real people's interviews (some of whom I've been acquanted with), but with actors playing the interviewed people. I think they confused what "Live and let live" actually means for us though.

 

[Wyokie]

Was this the movie about Matthew Shepard and his murder?

Yeah.

Saw a few minutes of it on MTV a few years ago while I was flipping channels. I don't think much of it. If MTV rebroadcasted it again, I might watch it.

Speaking of MTV, I miss the days of it showing music videos 24/7.

It's been on either HBO or Showtime the last few weeks, so I decided to watch it. It was a movie in a documentary style. Based on real people's interviews (some of whom I've been acquanted with), but with actors playing the interviewed people. I think they confused what "Live and let live" actually means for us though.

I don't have either HBO or Showtime so.....

 

[fromolwyoming]

Okay.

 

[MrTitleist]

We had to watch it in my theatre class when I was at UW.. I'd like to have those two hours back.

 

[TheRealUW]

It's important to make the distinction of dramatic film vs. documentary. As a dramatic film, which is what this film is, I thought it did a very good job of raising awareness and questions at a time when American's viewpoints about the LGBT community were rapidly changing. It's no secret that dramatic films "based on true stories" take liberties with the facts of the event the film is based upon. Film is a form of art that, at it's best, is designed to be thought provoking and challenge the viewer on their unconcious biases and prejudices that may or may not be valid.

Documentaries, when done well, present the facts of a situation and allow them to speak for themselves. I'm sure we've all seen the documentaries with obvious bias towards a given viewpoint on a subject, but they still aim to present real facts. Sometimes the facts they choose to present are picked carefully while others are ignored to further an agenda, but it is generally accepted that documentaries should not take any liberties with the facts that are presented in the film. The Laramie Project, if presented as a real documentary, would be an utter failure. However, the film is clearly not a documentary and should not be viewed as such.

Admittedly, the documentary format of this dramatic film could lead to some confusion among viewers. Just my thoughts, of course.

 

[fromolwyoming]

It's important to make the distinction of dramatic film vs. documentary. As a dramatic film, which is what this film is, I thought it did a very good job of raising awareness and questions at a time when American's viewpoints about the LGBT community were rapidly changing. It's no secret that dramatic films "based on true stories" take liberties with the facts of the event the film is based upon. Film is a form of art that, at it's best, is designed to be thought provoking and challenge the viewer on their unconcious biases and prejudices that may or may not be valid.

Documentaries, when done well, present the facts of a situation and allow them to speak for themselves. I'm sure we've all seen the documentaries with obvious bias towards a given viewpoint on a subject, but they still aim to present real facts. Sometimes the facts they choose to present are picked carefully while others are ignored to further an agenda, but it is generally accepted that documentaries should not take any liberties with the facts that are presented in the film. The Laramie Project, if presented as a real documentary, would be an utter failure. However, the film is clearly not a documentary and should not be viewed as such.

Admittedly, the documentary format of this dramatic film could lead to some confusion among viewers. Just my thoughts, of course.

Yeah, that makes more sense why they would substitute actors for the actual people, making it a dramatization of a real event.

 

[Asmodeanreborn]

It's been a long time since I saw it, but I thought it was okay. It obviously portrayed Matt as a far more innocent kid than he probably was (as in that many people who knew him claim he was into some pretty messed up drugs, including meth). That said, the crime itself was pretty heinous, and I think the film described that pretty well. Likewise, it did well showing the overall support from the community and that the real idiots were the inbreds from Kansas.

 

[fromolwyoming]

It's been a long time since I saw it, but I thought it was okay. It obviously portrayed Matt as a far more innocent kid than he probably was (as in that many people who knew him claim he was into some pretty messed up drugs, including meth). That said, the crime itself was pretty heinous, and I think the film described that pretty well. Likewise, it did well showing the overall support from the community and that the real idiots were the inbreds from Kansas.

Though their take on our motto of "Live and let live" had me scratching my head.

But yeah, no one here disputed it was a horrific crime (something that the interviewers seemed surprised about). Even at St. Laurence, we learned about it, what happened to him, and everything. But being 9 years old, the whole gay/straight/bisexual thing really hasn't sunk in, and all you know is that a kid not a whole lot older than you was brutally killed in your hometown. And if not for Matthew's father, the two killers would have gotten the needle instead of life sentences.

 

[kdwrightuwyo]

It's been a while since I watched it...but I remember it making Laramie look like a hick town. I don't remember seeing much of the good side of town, but lots of the older/rundown parts of town. I also remember feeling that it left those of us in Laramie look like hillbillies. I may have to watch it again sometime.

 

[alyssa]

I started reading this but I don't know when I will finish it. :lol:

http://www.advocate.com/print-issue/current-issue/2013/09/13/have-we-got-matthew-shepard-all-wrong?page=full" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[fromolwyoming]

I started reading this but I don't know when I will finish it. :lol:

http://www.advocate.com/print-issue/current-issue/2013/09/13/have-we-got-matthew-shepard-all-wrong?page=full" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Some of those comments...

 

[laxwyo]

I was too hung over to go to class when all the angels were there to block the signs from that Christian crazy group

 

[alyssa]

I started reading this but I don't know when I will finish it. :lol:

http://www.advocate.com/print-issue/current-issue/2013/09/13/have-we-got-matthew-shepard-all-wrong?page=full" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Some of those comments...

I should look at the Laramie Project, I guess.
I know one of my musician friends used to do things that raised money and such for the MS thing. She is lesbian and would do things like that and for LGBTQ stuff. She used to sing one of my songs....
I also remember telling a gay guy who loved showing off in his Daisy Dukes in small town life to be careful in public like that. And he said something like that he could do what he wanted to do. And I said something like people like me don't mind if that's what you want to do around us ........and then I said something else. Anyway I was telling him that he did not want to attract someone's attention in a small town and end up like MS.
Then he said something like he had never thought of it that way. I'm thinking think things through better.

 

[fromolwyoming]

I started reading this but I don't know when I will finish it. :lol:

http://www.advocate.com/print-issue/current-issue/2013/09/13/have-we-got-matthew-shepard-all-wrong?page=full" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Some of those comments...

I should look at the Laramie Project, I guess.
I know one of my musician friends used to do things that raised money and such for the MS thing. She is lesbian and would do things like that and for LGBTQ stuff. She used to sing one of my songs....
I also remember telling a gay guy who loved showing off in his Daisy Dukes in small town life to be careful in public like that. And he said something like that he could do what he wanted to do. And I said something like people like me don't mind if that's what you want to do around us ........and then I said something else. Anyway I was telling him that he did not want to attract someone's attention in a small town and end up like MS.
Then he said something like he had never thought of it that way. I'm thinking think things through better.

I'll tell you this: what happened to MS was a horrible thing. People here in Laramie do not jump people because they are gay or anything like that. If they're an asshole, drunk, or some combination, no garuntees on that. But before and after especially after that, people here did not and do not attack homosexuals for being homosexuals. What MS's killers did probably shocked the town more than the rest of the country. Although not everyone here may agree with homosexuality, other than the few real bigots that are everywhere, it's their private life and not anyone else's buisiness, and that's the commonly held view here. If they make it public, whatever. But that goes for straight people too, and I've seen more than a few criticized (criticized someone myself, but he was going out with a horrible person, which is another story altogether).

But still, what happened to Matthew Shepard was an out of the ordinary event that shocked and hurt Laramie and Wyoming greatly.

 

[alyssa]

OKAY. I watched 10 minutes of the movie. I don't know if I will watch the whole movie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1qiTmF0p4A" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[McPeachy]

what happened to MS was a horrible thing. People here in Laramie do not jump people because they are gay or anything like that. If they're an asshole, drunk, or some combination, no garuntees on that. But before and after especially after that, people here did not and do not attack homosexuals for being homosexuals. What MS's killers did probably shocked the town more than the rest of the country. Although not everyone here may agree with homosexuality, other than the few real bigots that are everywhere, it's their private life and not anyone else's buisiness, and that's the commonly held view here. If they make it public, whatever. But that goes for straight people too, and I've seen more than a few criticized (criticized someone myself, but he was going out with a horrible person, which is another story altogether).

But still, what happened to Matthew Shepard was an out of the ordinary event that shocked and hurt Laramie and Wyoming greatly.

Correct, what happened to Matthew was a tragedy, gay or not gay.

The film is a piece of shit though - and as others have pointed out, tends to portray Laramie like it was right out of the movie Deliverance. And further, so few people really know what happened, and what triggered those 4 assholes involved to do what they did - but it wasn't because Matthew was gay.