Laramie Project

            Matthew Shepherd was brutally murdered on October, 6 of 1998. He was a 21year old student living in the town of Laramie, Wyoming. His death was publicized and highly exemplified as a hate crime against a gay individual. The tradgedy was so flabbergasting that the Tectonic Theatre Project gathered a number of interviewers and send them to the town to get as much information and insight on the murder, lives and opinions of those who surrounded Matt. A play was then formatted freely, and both sides of Laramie were explored.

Dr.Cantway was the doctor who consistently updated the media as he tended to Matt. A man who openly disagrees with the homosexual life yet, he never gave negative commentary about his patient. Then, at the other end of the spectrum was the Baptist Minister, who doesn’t speak much, but elaborates his opinions of homosexuality by his heavy comment “I hope that Matthew Shepherd as he was tied to that fence, had time to reflect on his lifestyle.” (Laramie Project, 69)

I believe that there are many factors to the difference of feelings and opinions expressed by both of these individuals. Firstly, Dr.Cantway had a personal and close contact view of Matthew. He witnessed the intensity of the situation. The blood stained boy, the coma he fell in to, the weeping parents; the doctor tended to this young man as a human, not as a gay, or a fag or homosexual. The Baptist on the other hand, had no type of communication, whether physical, spiritual, nothing of the sort. He was a distant stranger, who spoke according to the text in his religion and the words chiseled into him from a Bible.  His profession is to preach about the evils of the world, and Matthew, whom he has never had contact with, is a perfect example of that ‘evil’.

When your profession is to take care of the wounded, a sort of intimate relationship connects the patient and that who is tending to them. The doctor felt the sympathy and was certainly impacted to know that this person dying in front of him; was beaten by two other boys that he had taken care of. I think that experience opened his eyes to the fact that it doesn’t matter who it is that walks inside his doors for help, what they did was unacceptable. “…I took care of both of their bodies. And.. for a brief moment I wondered if this is how God feels when he looks down at us.” (Laramie Project, 38)

I definitely believe that the attitudes expressed by these two individuals are culturally produced. We become a by-product of our society. Even Shannon, a friend of one of the accused said it when asked if the two went to school together. “Can’t you tell, we’re a product of our society” (Laramie Project, 62) As children, there are certain things that are taught to us. Our beliefs are grown from habit of thought. As we grow older, there are many times where becoming independent and experiencing new things can help us create our own beliefs. But in this case, many of these people were basically stuck in a box. Their beliefs are caged inside their heads with no type of freedom, or questioning. That is what happened with these two men, one experiences real live humans hurting and connects with their reality. While the other preaches his beliefs off of a book, an experience which is not even his own.