Anatomy of a Hate Crime

Where oh where has the Laramie of my college career gone to? Apparently, things have changed in Laramie since I graduated UW last year. There is a gay student union, a large glass student union, statues and art I have never seen, teachers and classroom buildings I have never seen...oh and a bar called the Double D...at least this is what MTV wants me to believe. Oh and how can I forget that everyone in laramie is prejudist, racist and wears cowboy clothes. Everyone down from the lawyers to the limo driver were wearing cowboy hats. I think that the way MTV portrayed Wyoming as a backward state full of cowboys and cowboy emblems is a hate crime. If every other line in the movie wasn't about fearing Wyoming then I wouldn't know what do with myself.

MTV really went out of their way to research the movie before making it. Shepard was a political science major, not an art history major...was that a gay stereotype MTV? Diminishing his major means diminishing the fact that Matt wanted to use the major to pass legislation for gay awareness. The double D? He was taken out of a bar called the Fireside...a very uncowboy place. MTV has over made Laramie into "The Real World" as they do everything, they of course are so hip and still in touch with the teens of today, that they can feed anything to the young Britneys and Timberlakes of the world and call it golden. That is the trouble, they are respected as a place where teens get info, now what do the teens think of Wyoming, of Shepard, of Russ and Aaron. MTV seems to say that the society Aaron and Russ lived in caused them to murder, the society being Wyoming...because hate crimes couldn't happen in forward thinking cosmopolitan towns like New York City. They are too advanced...fear Wyoming and its evil, open space ways!!! That was the problem all through this ordeal that the Shepards, and the students of UW faced.No one gave the people any credit. Where was MTV in '98 to film the peace vigils and the non-violence speeches in Laramie after the murder. There was no violence in Laramie, there were no riots...at the end of this film MTV doesn't explain how the students came together to dialog..instead they throw up footage of when the Rev. Phelp's group came to Laramie for a DAY!!!. I am tired of being painted as backwoods just cause I'm from Wyoming. It can happen anywhere!!!! Wake up!!! Matt Shepard's death was a terrible tragedy that hurt alot of people, and gives nightmares to those who survived its wake. Matt Shepard as a person doesn't deserve to be immortalized through the creative genius that made Road Rules vs. Real World and that took Music Television and turned it into "Reruns of old shows we made, live TV and sitcoms, Total Request Live, reruns of total request live, reruns of the highlights of reruns of total request live and maybe a few videos TV" Let Matt Shepard have the dignity of having his true story be told.

PS The license plate numbers in Wyoming stand for counties...Laramie's number is 5(Albany County), not 2 and 11 as MTV put on the cars...research!!!!! 2 is Laramie County, 11 is Park County

I really enjoyed this made for TV MTV special; and I thought it was a fairly accurate depiction of the real life tragedy. I could have done without the first person comments (supposedly coming from the late Matthew Sheppard) as we don't really know what he would be saying. As for the acting, I'll give a big thumbs up to actor Ian Somerhalder who played the part of one of the murders, Russell Henderson. He played the part so well in fact that I almost found myself feeling some sympathy for the character (Henderson) who was more or less bullied by the other perpetrator who actually did the killing. Somerhalder is just hard to dislike I suppose. The other killer was easy enough to despise though. Overall, I would give the movie an 8 of 10 rating; now if MTV will just put it out on DVD/VHS.

"Don't forget me" is the message of this film about the American tragedy of bigotry and violence.

Matthew Shepard is pictured as a lonely, scared boy trying to connect with people despite his feelings of isolation caused by his homosexuality and HIV status. He hides himself in anti-depressants and alcohol. His attackers are pictured as two lonely, crude, unfocused boys who hide in drugs and macho swagger. Because of his loneliness, Matthew walks right into a deathtrap.

The film uses an unusual method of having Matthew narrate the story of his death after he died. The bittersweet tag line "Don't forget me" is a plea to sanity. The fact that MTV broadcast this film as part of a year-long program to get young people more aware of their own rights and the right of others seems to me to be one of the many good things that has come from the tragedy of Matthew Shepard's death.

I really enjoyed this made for TV MTV special; and I thought it was a fairly accurate depiction of the real life tragedy. I could have done without the first person comments (supposedly coming from the late Matthew Sheppard) as we don't really know what he would be saying. As for the acting, I'll give a big thumbs up to actor Ian Somerhalder who played the part of one of the murders, Russell Henderson. He played the part so well in fact that I almost found myself feeling some sympathy for the character (Henderson) who was more or less bullied by the other perpertrator who actually did the killing. Somerhalder is just hard to dislike I suppose. The other killer was easy enough to dispise though. Overall, I would give the movie an 8 of 10 rating; now if MTV will just put it out on DVD/VHS.

This film showed how wonderful Matt Shepard was, and how brutally he was murdered. Although somewhat inaccurate, for the most part, it was terrific. Every actor involved did a great job portraying their characters. I watch this movie whenever it comes on MTV, but change it when they re-enact the murder. This scene is truly heartbreaking, more so if you knew more about it. Another difficult scene to watch is when they show the real footage of mourners, and protesters. After seeing this movie, you will understand how hard it can be in life. You'll probably want to know more, too.