There is a lot to dissect when examining a film like The Laramie Project. For such a straightforward narrative it manages to delve into so many different aspects, perceptions, opinions and succeeds in spinning all of these views into a compelling and coherent narrative while at the same time presenting things in a unique way. The writer’s opinion comes through all of this without getting overly preachy or muddled. This is a film about a real-world tragedy and it explores how that tragedy impacted the lives and world views of the townsfolk of Laramie, Wyoming in the late 1990’s.
The film delves into the aftermath of the torture and murder of Matthew Shepard, a young gay man living in Laramie. One evening he was lured away from a bar and was tied to a post in the country-side, pistol whipped, robbed and left for dead by two young men from the community. He was found the following day but eventually succumbed to his injuries, dying and leaving behind a shocked community who had no idea how to deal with such a viscous crime. Almost immediately after Matthew was discovered, alive but in a coma, two men, Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, were arrested and charged with assault. These charges were raised to murder a few days later when Matthew died and both men would eventually get sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.
The film takes place shortly after the attack on Matthew and focuses on the reactions by the people of Laramie to the news of the attack and what came afterwards. It is presented like a documentary with actors standing in for the actual townspeople, utilizing hundreds of interviews to reconstruct the responses of the general public. This effectively steers the focus away from any one performance allowing instead for that focus to be on what is being said, or, even more importantly, what is not being said. The responses of the locals runs the whole gamut from sorrow and disgust all the way up to savagery against Matthew simply for being gay.
A few locals use this new rounded focus to out themselves as gay, admitting to those around them in a way they couldn’t before. Added into that mix is a hefty bit of religious bigotry coming from two main sources, the local minister and a famous preacher, Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church, who has come to town to spout hatred and intolerance, rallying people to stand outside the courthouse with signs denouncing homosexuals and condemning them to hell, even celebrating AIDS as a punishment handed down by God. A small group of citizens uses this protest as a means to launch one of their own, lead by Romaine Patterson (Christina Ricci), dressing up as angels and standing against the onslaught of hatred and intolerance.
The performances are excellent all around. Perhaps the most touching portrayal, though, comes from Terry Kinney. Terry is playing Dennis Shepard, Matthew’s father and gives a heart-wrenching speech during the trial of Russell Henderson. In it he has to get across not only the heartache of losing his oldest son to the unrepentant hands of Russell, but also the sheer rage that has pent up to the point that the death penalty isn’t enough anymore to satisfy it. It’s a chilling speech that hits all the right notes in conveying just how much pain has been inflicted.
This is a well made film about a very real tragedy that upended a community in the rural state of Wyoming. It rightfully assumes that had the victim not been gay this murder would not have received the publicity that it did. Had Matthew been a straight white male it probably would not have received the media coverage that it did. However, because Matthew was gay it brought to light the persecution and intolerance many gay or lesbian people, as well as the whole LGBTQ+ community in general, face everywhere. Matthew Sheperd’s death started a chain reaction that led to changes in laws against the discrimination against homosexuals as well as legislation against hate crimes. It took a particularly heinous act as the ones performed by McKinney and Henderson to finally wake up the nation to the discrimination that was happening everywhere.
As a banner for the events that happened in Laramie this film does an excellent job of showing not only the mentalities of those who were there at the time but also the political angles that sprouted out of it. As a film it also serves the duo purpose of being thought provoking and horrifying at the same time. The two perpetrators, McKinney and Henderson, while given limited screen time, are very different people. McKinney fears for his own life, pleading guilty to avoid the death penalty, showing outwardly, at least, that he felt sorrow for his actions. Henderson, however, is unrepentant. His recorded interview played in court is filled with homophobic responses and a distinct lack of remorse for his actions. Hearing his confession is sickening and calls out just how much hatred some people can have for someone different from them.
The unique way this film is put together gives it an authenticity that would largely be absent had it been filmed conventionally. It’s not a documentary in the sense that no one being filmed is the actual person they conveyed. But filming it documentary style and utilizing the words a hundreds of individuals to paint a mosaic of the time and place is brilliant. It was used originally as a stage play and was kept for this film version and that was the right decision for this subject. This is a powerful message that will open the eyes of those who have not faced bigotry in any of its many forms. Everybody, regardless of age, gender or sexual orientation, are fellow travelers to the grave and the brutal acts of two young men were what it took to bring this to the light . This film portrays all of that in such a way as to further humanize the victim and help us see what should have been obvious from the start.
Matthew Shepard
December 1, 1976 - October 12, 1998
Release Date: January 10, 2002
Running Time: 97 Minutes
Rated TV-14
Starring: Nestor Carbonell, Christina Ricci, Dylan Baker, Terry Kinney and Lou Ann Wright
Directed By: Moisés Kaufman
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