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Laramie Movie Scope:
Laramie Inside Out

At last, the real Laramie on film

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by Robert Roten, Film Critic
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October 8, 2004 -- “Laramie Inside Out” is the first film to accurately portray how this city reacted to the murder of Matthew Shepard and the huge media uproar that followed. As a Laramie resident, I've been disappointed in the provincial viewpoints inherent in “The Laramie Project” and other film and plays based on the events. Like the news reports, most books, plays and films focused too much on hate crime legislation (or the lack of it), rather than the actual murder and how it affected both the city and the local gay community.

To date, I've only seen two accounts of the Shepard affair that accurately portrayed Laramie, Beth Loffreda's book, “Losing Matt Shepard” and Beverly Seckinger's film, “Laramie Inside Out.” In both cases, these two women had an advantage over others who have told this story. They both know all about Laramie. Loffreda lives in Laramie, and Seckinger grew up in Laramie. No amount of research by New Yorkers or Californians could, or did give them that level of insight into the unique character of Laramie.

So if you can see only one film about this tragic event, see “Laramie Inside Out.” Seckinger, a lesbian, shows an uncanny empathy for both Wyoming's gay community, as well as for the city and state. This gave her unprecedented access to a wide cross-section of Wyoming's gay community. You see interesting people that you don't see in other films. For instance, there's a tough gun-toting lesbian who likes to hang out at places like the rough Buckhorn Bar in Laramie, the local rifle range, and local fishing spots. She comments that when guys hit on her she tells them that she's gay. Sometimes they reply that if she won't go out on a date, “how about going fishing?” This comment says more about Laramie's laid back attitude toward sexual orientation.

As one gay activist said in the movie. Reforming attitudes towards gays is something that happens gradually, one person at a time. One memorable scene in the film shows a gay picnic held near Laramie. The picnic has a definite Wyoming look to it. People come to the picnic from long distances. It is a way for Wyoming gays to form a community in a sparsely populated state. One gay at the picnic from a small city in Wyoming said he found out about the Laramie gay organization (now called Spectrum) by reading a newspaper article about the Matthew Shepard murder. News coverage, and the Internet are helping gays connect in Wyoming.

Seckinger's film is also intensely personal. We see home movies of her childhood. She is shown dressed up in a cowgirl outfit with six-shooters like Annie Oakley. She dreamed of chasing off the bad guys with her guns blazing. We also see her adolescent years in Laramie where she carried a deep secret. The pain of her years in the closet is carried over into another episode in the film where we see an older Laramie woman who finally decides to come out of the closet after Matthew Shepard is killed. Others in the film talk openly of their fear of rejection when they come out of the closet. One man tells of his relief when his family accepted him when he made his announcement.

The film gives the impression that coming out of the closet is one way that gays can lead the fight for their own acceptance. So long as they remain in the closet others can live in denial about them. When they come out of the closet, those people have to confront their own perceptions and feelings. This process in Laramie was definitely kick-started by the Shepard murder. Laramie had been a sleepy little town, at least in its attitude toward gays. It was something people thought little about and talked even less about. That all changed when Shepard was murdered. People were forced to both think and talk about their attitudes toward gays. It wasn't superficial thought, or talk, either. This film shows that process better than any other film has. It rates a B.

For more information on this film, including purchase and rental information, click on this link to the official home page of Laramie Inside Out.

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Copyright © 2004 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.
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Robert Roten can be reached via e-mail at my last name at lariat dot org. [Mailer button: image of letter and envelope]

(If you e-mail me with a question about this or any other movie or review, please mention the name of the movie you are asking the question about, otherwise I may have no way of knowing which film you are referring to)