The Laramie Project- Erika Perez

            The Laramie Project is a play about the death of Mathew Shepard. Member of the theatre project go to Laramie to do research for the play they are creating and up end really discovering the truth. By conducting interviews with different members of the Laramie town they discover different points of views of what actually happened.       

            There are so many different points people made about what they think really happened to Mathew that day. Some say Mathew was asking for it by flaunting his sexuality and spreading the AIDS virus to different members of the town. Others show such compassion and are completely moved by what happened to Mathew.

            “And a lot of it is my feeling that the media is portraying Mathew Shepard as a saint. And making him as a martyr. And I don’t think he was. I don’t think he was pure” (Kaufman.64). This statement was made by Sherry Johnson, a wife of a highway patrolman. “Now I don’t know him, but… there’s just so many things about him that I found out that I just, it’s scary. You know about his character and spreading AIDS and a few other things, you know being the kind of person that he was” (Kaufman.64). Mrs. Johnson created her views of Mathew by listening to rumors about him without knowing him. Mrs. Johnson claims Mathew flaunted his sexuality. Mrs. Johnson practically said he was asking for it. A few other members of the community said the same thing and showed no type of sympathy at all or compassion at all.

            Dr. Cantway is the very opposite of Mrs. Johnson and the other members of the community who side with her. Dr. Cantway was very sympathetic towards Mathew and even Aaron McKinney, the man who killed Mathew. The part that touched me most was when he explained the experience of having both of them in his hospital at the same time. “They were both my patients and they were two kids. I took care of both of them… of both their bodies. And … for a brief moment I wondered if this is how God feels when he looks down at us. How we are all his kids … Our bodies … Our souls … and I felt a great deal of compassion … for both of them…” (Kaufman.38). This line showed how much of a strong man Dr.Cantway was. To be able to admit his feelings towards both of his patients, with two very different types of stories.

            Both of these characters in the play have such an important view of Mathew and make you really think about whose side you should really be on. Dr. Cantway showing a great deal of compassion to the victim and perpetrator really shows how we are all human and our misunderstanding towards things or people who are different do not have to lead towards violence. Mrs. Johnson’s point of view just proved of how ignorant and how intolerant people of Laramie still are towards homosexuality and other things they do not understand. After reading and watching The Laramie Project, it has saddened me to see that the death of Mathew is what opened the members of Laramie’s mind and heart towards hatred and homosexuality.