I should be banned from watching "The Laramie Project" ever again

[LynneSin]

only because I bawl like a little baby who's hungry and has a diaper full of poop. I have to work today and watched "The Laramie Project" again on HBO, which finished right when I had to leave to go into work. My face is all streaky from crying. Heck, I'm typing this post, thinking of that movie and tears are welling up again. I'm just a mess after watching that movie everytime and yet anytime time I see that movie on HBO (it's one of their own creations) I'll watch it again.

I think I need a :grouphug:

[Pithlet]

1. Same here

Especially the part where they're all dressed like angels with their wings as borders against the evil protesters.

And the part where the doctor gives a press conference about Matthew's death.

The part where Matthew's father gives the speech in the courtroom to the murderers is heart wrenching.

I can't watch that movie without becoming emotional. It's an excellent movie. I'm getting teary eyed just thining of it.

[LynneSin]

5. Those are the 3 most emotional scenes for me

I cry like a baby when I see those protesters with their signs that Matthew is in hell. Then the angels show up and I realize there is hope for this world!

[NightTrain]

6. Makes me wish I had HBO!

But I guess it'll come out on VHS or DVD one of these days.

[LynneSin]

7. It's already out there

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000067D0Y/qid%3D1062444960/sr%3D11-1/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F1/102-5452660-5212163

And available at Amazon.Com

I can't say enough wonderful things about this movie. It wasn't some sort of "Made-For-TV" movie biography. This was based on a play, which was based on research done by a group of New Yorkers who went to Laramie and interviewed the people there about the whole Shepard incident.

Read more about it from HBO's website:

http://www.hbo.com/films/laramie/index.html

[LynneSin]

12. A note about the father's speech at the trial

First, that's suppose to be exactly what Matthew Shepard's father said at the sentencing for one of the 2 men who was convicted of First Degree Murder (the other one plead guilty so he didn't have to face the death penalty).

I was always on the fence about the death penalty because I knew it was wrong but what some of these murderers have done deserved something severe.

But when Matthew Shepard's father said that at the sentencing of the convicted killer of his son, a killer who just didn't kill his son but brutally murdered him....well it floored me.

From that moment on - I've never again supported the death penalty.

[Paragon]

14. Dammit, Lynne

I've been carefully avoiding any playing of Elton John's "Last Song" (played at end of ATBPO) to keep from sobbing like a baby.

Now you gotta go and remind me about the movie, which automatically compels me to find the song and listen to it again.

Paragon, emotional wreck - signing off. :cry:

[LynneSin]

20. awwwww hun

:hug:

[arwalden]

2. Once Is Enough For Me...

I get very emotional too.

Would you believe I own a copy of Longtime Companion VHS that's still in the original shrink-wrapping? I thought I wanted a copy... so I bought a copy... but even now, I don't have the heart to watch it again.

But you know what they say... a good cry can be good for the soul. Very cathartic... cleansing... but too draining for me. And my stupor lasts for hours (sometimes days) later.

I just have to stay away from things that I know will bring me down.

-- Allen

(The one exception to that is Steel Magnolias.)

[LynneSin]

8. Don't get me started with "And the Band Played On"

That movie gets me really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really really angry - most notably from the Reagan Administration that wouldn't even acknowledge AIDS since they thought it was a "Gay Disease" and they didn't like homosexuals.

I always wondered what this world would have been like had we actively gone after AIDS when we first realized there was a problem instead of ignoring it like Reagan did for 8 years!

[Pithlet]

9. That's another one

The end, where they show people who've died of aids (especially the children's ward, with the sign on the wall that says "I have AIDS. Please hug me. I can't make you sick") has me bawling. Watching the movie made me sad and angry at the same time. All those people who died because people just wanted to hide their head in the sand and ignore the problem, as well as paint the epidemic with hatred and bigotry.

[Cheswick2.0]

16. I first saw Long Time Campanion with my best friend and his lover

My friend and I had a falling out and never reconciled before he died of AIDS. I was pretty angry even for years after he died, because I had tried and he would not respond to me.

At his Celebration another good friend said of him "______ my best friend, my worst enemy"... many of us understood that sentiment. Later on someone told me that several days before he died, he received my card and held it to his heart.

I want to watch Long Time Companion again, but I think it might be too much for me.

[MuseRider]

25. I have never seen that one.

I am afraid I couldn't bear it. Would you feel better making a square for the quilt for your friend? I am considering making one for my brother. When he was in the hospital he got so many cards and I would read them to him over and over. By that time I don't think he could remember that he had heard them before. It passed our time and made him seem happy. I can tell you, if he got your card and held it to his heart then you did something very special for him. It is a hell of an awful disease and a horrible way to die. You gave him a wonderful gift with your card.

[Cheswick2.0]

26. I think he has a square, but I could make one more

Once we were out of town (out of state too) doing a musical together and there was a quilt display at one of the local colleges. We happened upon a square of another friend of his (one who had died several years before, the lover of a third friend whoes life we had just celebrated. Both the them also died of AIDS.... Anyway we saw Gabes square and my friend wrote a message to him and to Jonathan on the open material they provided. I have pictures of him doing that.

I'd like to think that someday someone would happen along on a square I made for my friend and it would mean as much to them to see it as it meant for M to see Gabe's square.
Thank you for the suggestion.

[maxanne]

17. Longtime Companion

makes me weep. I truly do not understand the hatred - and I am so saddened by all of the pain that results from it.

[Malikshah]

27. The final scene has me in a puddle

I'm weeping during the last 1/2 hour or so--but the final beach scene with the hugs has me out-of-control weeping. You want it to be real, you'd give your last ounce of strength to make it real--but it isn't and I just go into a puddle of tears

[maxanne]

28. amen Malikshah

I would give anything to make it real. Anything to make it better. Anything.

[NightTrain]

3. Well, in that case...

:grouphug:

[Cheswick2.0]

4. me too Lynn

it kills me when they come out with the angel costumes. The hate in this world just astounds me....

[MuseRider]

10. Here you go

:pals:

I feel the same. It is so hard to watch. I see those protesters daily. I was afraid they would picket my brothers funeral but they didn't, thankfully. I hope you feel better but remember, only good people cry over these things. :pals: from one Lynne to the other Lynne

[LynneSin]

11. How do you see those protesters daily

That would absolutely drive me insane

I think you need this

:hug:

[MuseRider]

13. I have actually known that family

my whole life. Thanks. One gets used to ignoring them and giving much support to their victims. It is hard, I usually have to walk through their group when I play my concerts or attend anything like that. I actually go out of my way to drive past them when it is slushy or rainy, my big truck can send up a lot of nasty stuff.

[LynneSin]

15. Slush a few times for me will you!!!

thanks!

[MuseRider]

22. Anytime!

I do try to avoid the freezing children. It is so sad to see them learning all that hate.

[LynneSin]

24. Child Abuse if you ask me

:shrug:

[theemu]

18. Laramie...

I was in the first ever high school production of the Laramie Project a few years back (I played, among others, Matt Galloway, Greg Pierotti, and Fred Phelps) and thus have quite a connection with the piece. I actually met Moises Kaufman this past year - he's a really incredible guy, and it was nice to meet the man behind the project.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

19. The scene that gets me

Is when that older gay man who has lived in Laramie for years tells about watching the parade from his window (he's not bold enough to participate) and his amazement and joy at seeing the hundreds of marchers come around the corner.

[LynneSin]

21. His leg was broken

that's why he didn't march.

You talking about the guy who had windows on both sides of the parade and watched the group get bigger?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

29. You're right about the broken leg

It's been a while since I saw it. Too emotional to bear repeated viewing.

[MuseRider]

23. I get chills

when I see that scene, then the tears come. An amazing, sad story. I LOVE the angels.