preview

The Laramie Project Essay

Good Essays
Open Document

The Laramie Project is a play written by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project by interviewing the residents of Laramie Wyoming about the murder of a gay student, Matthew Shepard. The play raises controversy revolving around homosexuality, hate crimes and acceptance. In addition to the various themes suggested by the play, the author wanted to present the varying perspectives toward homosexuality in the Laramie Community at the time of Shepard death. The three main perspectives towards homosexuality were hatred, tolerance and acceptance. The author also wanted to explore how these perspectives may have changed as the result of Shepard’s death.
Even at the time of Shepard’s death, some still showed their hostility and …show more content…

Schultz states, “I just feel bad. Just for all that stuff I told you, for the person I used to be…. I just can’t believe I ever said that stuff about homosexuals” (98). Despite his minister’s statements that homosexuality is wrong, Jedadiah comes to his own conclusions and accepts homosexuals for who they are. He realizes that homosexuals are no different and they do not deserve unfair treatments because of their preferences. When Schultz changes his perspective towards gays, he begins to feel guilty because of his judgments and accusations. Shepard's death made an impact on Schultz’s point of view but Reverend Phelps’ perspective did not change by any …show more content…

He successfully presented the varying perspectives toward homosexuality in the Laramie Community at the time of Shepard death. The play was unbiased and did not show favoritism to a particular group. By showing the different perspectives towards homosexuality, I was able to see the full picture about the matter. After familiarizing with The Laramie Project and Mathew Shepard’s story, I realized all the different perspectives others have towards homosexuality. It is not plainly black and white but there are different shades of grey. The author of the play achieved his objectives because of all the viewpoints that were provided from the different groups of

Get Access