Reflection

     After watching all the videos in class I was flooded with new perspectives and unanswered questions. I still believe that the attack on Matthew Shepard was partially a hate crime but I think that meth played a role as well. The thing that was most fascinating to me was watching Aaron Mckinney's interview on the 20/20 special. Russell Henderson's interested me as well but what was so shocking for me about McKinney's was his demeanor. He seemed so indifferent about the whole situation. I cannot understand how someone could do such a horrible thing to another person in the first place but on top of that it unbelieveable that he shows almost no regret or remorse. He sort of just behaves like it happened, I did it, it's over with. It was striking and something that I had a hard time understanding. 

The Laramie Project Reflection

     In Act III of The Laramie Project, something that truly amazed me was the statement Dennis Shepard made to the court sparing Aaron McKinney's life. It had to take an amazingly generous and forgiving family to let Aaron McKinney live after what he did to their son Matthew Shepard. In that situation, I don't know what I would have done but I would hope that I could be loving enough to do what they did. It brought tears to my eyes and I think the words will stay with Aaron McKinney until the day that he dies. Dennis Shepard says, "Mr. McKinney, I am going to grant you life, as hard as it is for me to do so, because of Matthew. Every time you celebrate Christmas, a birthday, the fourth of July remember that Matt isn't. Every time you wake up in your prison cell, remember that you had the opportunity and the ability to stop your actions that night. You robbed me of something very precious, and I will never forgive you for that. Mr. McKinney, I give you life in the memory of one who no longer lives. May you have a long life, and may you thank Matthew everyday for it." (Kaufman p. 96) I cannot explain the effect that statement had on me and I find it completely incredible the way the Shepard family handled the situation. 

The Laramie Project- Critical Analysis

     In Act I of The Laramie Project, I felt strong emotions ranging from anger to sadness to utter disbelief. Being someone who has known many homosexuals throughout my life I have already built an emotional attachment to Matthew Shepard and the other homosexuals in the book that have felt discrimination or fear to be themselves. The general feeling I get from the majority of the citizens of Laramie is that they do not like gay people. There are some that say they don't care whether a person is gay or they just pretend like they don't know so they don't have to face it, almost every one makes at least one ignorant, derogatory comment about gay people. An example of this is the interview of Marge Murray, a long time Laramie resident and a social service member. Marge Murray says, "As far as the gay issue, I don't give a damn one way or the other as long as they don't bother me... And that's the attitude of most of the Laramie population. They might poke one, if they were in a bar situation, you know, they had been drinking, they might actually smack one in the mouth, but then they'd just walk away... Laramie is live and let live." (Kaufman 17) This quote shows the general feelings about gay people in Laramie. She alienates homosexuals as a whole by referring to them as "they" and "one" which shows homosexuals are not just people to her, they are gay people. When I think of friends of mine who happen to be gay, I think of them as my friends not my gay friends. For me, there is no difference and the blunt alienation Marge Murray expresses makes me angry and sad. Her ignorance is shown through her saying "Laramie is live and let live.", portraying herself and the general population of Laramie as openminded. She genuinely believes that herself and her town are not discriminatory or close minded because she doesn't care. The catch is that she says I don't care as long as they don't bother me. She is ignoring the issue, what does she mean by bother? I feel that she doesn't care as long as she doesn't have to talk about it, see it, or think about it. That is not open minded. Nevertheless, I found Act I extremely fascinating while still being a tough read because of the content and clashing beliefs between myself and the characters.

The portion of this video I want in my blog is 3:30-4:30, the part about hate crime legislation. I choose this because it touched me in two ways. I was overwhelmed with the happiness and joy that Judy Shepard and Ellen must have about hate crime legislation being passed and that people can be protected from horrendous bullying but at the same time I was overwhelmed with sadness. In my eyes, the fact that a law restricting people from assaulting or killing a person because of their sexual orientation, race, gender, or any quality for that matter is awful. I just with people could be accepting of all kinds of people from all different backgrounds and lifestyles.