Anatomy of a Hate Crime Theatrical Release (Not Yet Available on DVD)

 Anantomy? Not. Dramatization, yes.
[The state in question is not Wisconsin, but in fact, Wyoming--you should probably chage this in the description.] The facts speak for themselves, the story of the murder of a young gay man, clearly a picture of dysfunctional crime and the social factors that perpetuated such hate; however, the Television production was merely informative of the incidents as were noteworthy of the press, as an educational and/or historical document it was shortsighted and myopic. Certain aspects of the story were dramatized and others were sacrificed in an effort to be timely marketed to the MTV audience. As a theatrical release, it was original only in so far as the focus here was on Homosexuality in American History/Culture. Sadly, the movie leans more toward entertainment and shock value than to documenting social reality. The truth is, bigots are hateful people, when they abuse others based on their own warped conception of morality they commit not only murder, but perpuate a social disease that's more than shameful, it's a blight on us all. Living in the town that the murder took place in, I can only say we must do all we can to be more tolerant of differences in others regardless of our sexual orientation, race, or ethncity, but has the same interest surfaced in the media how the murder impacted on locals? The video was good, but social reality is much more complicated than it suggests. With time perhaps a more heartfelt and realistic account may be produced. Laramie is an isolated town on the plains with more than 27,000 people, but it is not a "sleepy" town by any means, and cowboys makeup only a small proportion of the local populous. You have to remember, this is a university town with a mixed population with many different mindsets and residents come from all over the world to live and work here. As in towns and cities all over this country there are folks here too who would do the unthinkable to someone like Matthew Shepard. It's unfortunate and horrible to say the least. I would also add that I don't think the movie portrayed gays realistically either, as it tried to portray Sheppard as a 'boy next door' but in fact, even he had a private side that was neglected in the film. Unfortunately, as a documentary, the film was over-dramatized and driven by a certain need to make people aware of such gross hatred, but was misrepresentative of a townsfolk who could never embrace such hate. This crime occurred in a microcosm of a microcosm and most the events were of such a private nature that no one can deconstruct as the title of the movie implies.
Submitted by reidman8 (Laramie, Wyoming)
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 WHOEVER OWNS MTV WILL PROBABLY GET THIS MOVIE OUT FOR SELL.
IT IS A MOVIE THAT CLEARLY EXPRESSES A DISTRESS CALL FOR THE WHOLE GAY COMMUNITY TO BE INCLUDED AS A MODERN FAITH GATHERING.PEOPLE DONT WIELD POWERS AND THEY ALSO FIND IT HARD TO BELIEVE THEY DONT HAVE A BOND.
Submitted by KENNETHB93 (BELLFLOWER,CA)
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