November 12, 2006

Parentheses

I have plenty to tell about last night and today.... for I want to set my frivolities aside tonight and talk to you, gentle reader, about something important to me.

I just finished seeing this movie and felt I should immediately share it. This is moving, disturbing, and necessary. We all have a conscience. The Laramie Project reminds us that tolerance is an ongoing fight and explores the deep confines of what I can only refer to as collective guilt.


"The brutal attack on Matthew Shepard was the kind of wakeup call a society doesn't get very often. It triggered an avalanche of media, a kind of national deathwatch until Shepard died five days later. THE LARAMIE PROJECT is the response of one man, playwright Moisés Kaufman, and his colleagues at the Tectonic Theater Project, who went to Laramie, Wyoming, and conducted more than 200 interviews with townspeople and officials. The result is this inquiry into hate and the thoughts and feelings of an American community. As one local states, Laramie became instantly notorious, "like Waco or Jasper." But The Laramie Project is not an exercise in self-righteous condemnation. It merely attempts to come to terms with what happened. It's a film, based on the play by the troupe, that presents the details of the slaying as revealed by those closest to it, and the truth lies in the details. It's a film about homophobia across the nation, but as one woman deftly points out, "Honey, it's still about Laramie."

It was Matthew Sheppard, but it could have been my friend or my relative. It could also be yours.

For more information visit Tolerance.Org

The Beaver

My guest map is wonderful ! And you'd all be wonderful to post, all of you lurk mode readers!
Thanks and may the winds of Fate blow your way !

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hola Beav!

Never heard about that film before and I wonder if I could hire it here somewhere (???).

Nice to read yesterday you're feeling much better :) I've just retourned form a 5-days holidays in Cádiz (southern Spain) which I reeeally enjoyed :)

Cuídate, besines!

Saur♥Kraut said...

I remember the incident. It was horrific. I didn't know of the movie, and I can't stand to see movies that expose the ugly beast within others, or show humans in agony, so I'll have to excuse myself. My imagination is altogether too good, anyway. *hugs*

Beaver said...

Qalamana, I'm pretty sure you can buy it on Amazon.com and have it shipped to Spain :o)

Lucky you. Sounds like you had a lovely time !

Saur,I feel you. I'm usually the same - for some reason, this time, I did not zap.

The objective of this post being to promote the fight against intolerance more then the movie, I encourage you to visit www.tolerance.org. It's a very interesting website.

I just checked the state in which I spend the most time (Maryland), and was appalled to find out that there are 7 hate groups in the state, 4 of them being based on Baltimore. To me, that's a major eye-opener.

I have gay friends and relatives. I have friends from all ethnicities.

Because I love them, I took the pledge to Speak out, and I encourage you all to take it as well.

Intolerance must be fought, because it affects all of us.

Much love,

Beav'