The Laramie Project Analysis

It is incredible the way two pieces of work on the same topic can have such varying effects and purposes. Moises Kaufman’s play, The Laramie Project, is dedicated to delivering a message about social inequality and injustice through its dialogue with witnesses and members of the town during the murder of Matthew Shepard. The article from The New York Times, Gay Man Dies From Attack, Fanning Outrage and Debate, by James Brooke, is specifically dedicated to conveying the news from an unbiased viewpoint. There are definitive differences found in both writing pieces that arguably make the play more effective at serving it’s purpose than the news article.

The Stonewall Riots are a perfect example of a group of people being stigmatized and persecuted for being outside of what's considered normal. It is an iconic example of discrimination and persecution of the LGBT community in America. Not many establishments welcomed openly gay people in the 1960’s. The businesses that did accept them tended to be gay bars. One place in particular that did so was The Stonewall Inn in New York City. The Manhattan bar, accepted all types of people who were not revered highly in society at the time. The Government back then did not have legislation that supported the LGBT community. “Homosexual acts” were decriminalized in all states but one, and those convicted faced fines or jail time. In the 1950’s and 60’s

Both the play Real Women Have Curves by Josefina Lopez and the movie adaptation make an attempt to communicate the message of female empowerment through their respective protagonists, Estela and Ana. Men resolve most of Ana’s problems, whereas Estela relies on herself and other women. The play conveys the theme of female empowerment because it is female-centric, successfully addresses the issues of body image, and focuses on women’s independence and self-validation. Lopez’s play serves as an example of what can happen when women uplift and depend on each other, as opposed to men.

Hairspray is a musical which stars a good natured overweight teenage who helps integrate the races in a popular teen dance show, the Corny Collins Show, in segregated Baltimore. It focusses on racism and segregation in the 60’s, but has the underlying theme of equality for everyone in spite of their race, class, sexual orientation, gender or outward appearance. Tracy Turnblad, an overweight teenager, finally gets a spot on the “Corny Collins Show”, a teen dance show she has always dreamt of being on. She is disturbed when she finds out the “Negroes” are allowed to dance on the show occasionally. She fights for integration despite being bullied and mocked. She catches the attention of the town’s resident heartthrob, Link, although she is not seen as “conventionally pretty”. Although Hairspray seems to support racial integration and feminism, there are aspects of the movie that prove racist and anti-feminist. I will prove this by highlighting some post-colonial concepts in the movie and using feminist concepts.

Before becoming an established LGBT community, people in these sector fought a long way in order to give themselves an identity and a space on society. During the 1950’s wherein the LGBT community weren’t brave enough to voice out there concern, they were only called as “third gender”. A lot of social movements like African-American Civil Rights Movement, Counterculture of the 1960s and Opposition to United States involvement to Vietnam war occurred during the 1960’s which made the LGBT community to fight their own call to end discrimination. The Stonewall Riots is the most important event of the gay community in fighting their own rights which led to a massive gay liberation movement. It was held on June 28, 1969 in Stonewall Inn at Greenwich Village at Manhattan City, New York. Stonewall Inn is owned by Mafia and it provided a home of drag queens, transgenders, effeminate young men, butch lesbians, male prostitutes and homeless youth. It was considered as the most poor and marginalized people in the gay community. A year after of a series of demonstrations and riots, it was June 28, 1970 when the first Gay Pride March was held in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago. In today’s society, a lot has changed in terms of representing the LGBT and I believe that their community has now a solid foundation. But, it does not stop there. We still call to end discrimination, abuses and violence to the LGBT people. Discrimination and non acceptance of the LGBT is still

"When the sins of our fathers visit us, we do not have to play host. We can banish them with forgiveness; As God, in His Largeness and Laws"(Wilson X).This epigraph by August Wilson provides an insight into the importance of the topic in the play Fences. In Fences, the play depicts the relationships of the Maxson family and their friends. Troy Maxson, a middle-aged African American man, is happily married to his wife Rose and takes care of his son Cory whilst occasionally interacting with his other son from a previous relationship. However, the complexities of Troy 's past create issues for him and his family and their relationships begin to deteriorate. Throughout the play, the characters look at faith, race, opportunities, fatherhood and

On June 28th, 1969, lives changed for the LGBT community all around America. Police raided a gay bar, the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, New York City on the grounds of their not operating with a liquor license. In 1966, members of the gay community were permitted to drink in bars; however, there were exceptions. They were not allowed to show any displays of affection with each other such as kissing, dancing, or holding hands. If they did participate in these acts they ran the risk of being charged with disorderly conduct. Therefore, the gay community did not exactly have the right to attend a bar. The New York State Liquor Authority (SLA) had the authority to take away the liquor license of any establishment that allowed for disorderly

Most people do not enjoy talking about sensitive topics because they feel uncomfortable, so it is amazing how someone would write a play discussing one of the most sensitive topics, which is racism. I would think, many people would stay away from watching a play that could cause them to feel awkward. However, I was surprised to find out that this play is very popular, and this play was even created into a movie. My favorite scene of Spinning Into Butter was ending because the characters were openly honest, and the only way to end racism is to talk about the issue. Furthermore, this play is relevant in everyone's life, so it easily makes a connection with the audience. The audience also becomes more engaged due to the funny dialog and actions between Sarah and Ross. An example of the noteworthy dialog is when the older man is discussing “useless” classes, and he mentions one of Ross’ classes while Ross is in the room. Furthermore, it is hilarious when Sarah is passive aggressive towards Ross, but he is confused to why she would be angry with

The play “Trifles” by Susan Glaspell is largely based on stereotypes. The most prevalent one explores the difference between gender roles. Glaspell exerts the repression of women in the 1900s. During that time, women were highly looked down upon by men, and were only seen as the housekeepers and child bearers. This example is displayed throughout the play with the men, however, the women in this play prove that the stereotypes of gender roles held against them are completely wrong, which is shown through the characters, set design, and symbolism.

Tongues Untied (Riggs, 1989) is an award winning documentary by Marlon Riggs with the assistance of many other homosexual black men. The documentary put poems together to recreate an image of what it was like to grow up as a homosexual black man during the 80's. Men in the film spoke about the discrimination they had to face on everyday bases. They were called names like faggot, homo, and punk, but if they kept silent about being homosexual they felt like the silence was just as impairing. Some even reveal that they were treated as a threat or invisible. The film also shows how black homosexuals were able to meet one another in places like gay bars or gay pride meetings and rallies. Each city had their own particular way of how homosexual men interacted. All of them came together in the end to march in the gay pride parade. They risked their life to AIDS to fight for who they really were. Every sexual encounter with another man gave risk to catching AIDS. The film ended with obituaries of men who had fallen victim to AIDS (Riggs, 1889).

On October 7, 1998, Matthew Shepard, a gay 21-year-old college student, was abducted by two men who took him to a remote area, tied him to a fence, severely beat him with the butt of a pistol, and left him to die in the cold of the night (Matthew Shepard Foundation, “About Us”). Matthew Shepard’s death became a symbol for the deadly effect that prejudice can have on an innocent, young adult, and it gave people a chance to begin to understand how to accept people of different sexual orientations. However, 18 years later, America still hasn’t learned from Matthew Shepard’s death, and that is most evident in the Orlando night club shooting. June 12, 2016 brought upon a new era of anti-gay hate crimes when 49 people were killed and 53 were injured

The accused had no prior history committing violence, it was just that Matthew Shepard was gay. Was sexual orientation a factor in the brutal beating? Prejudice is disclosed throughout the book, even though many people of Laramie express they are open minded liberals that accept

Beth Loffreda, author of “Losing Matt Shepard,” accentuates the bewilderment that raged through America following the death of Matt Shepard. Matthew Shepard was a twenty-one year old, University of Laramie student in Wyoming when his life was ripped from him. Shepard, described as a small barely over a hundred pound young man, “In dramatic and widely reported testimony, Fluty [ the biker who found Shepard] would later state that at first she thought Matt would have been no older than thirteen, he was so small( Matt was only five feet two inches, barely over one hundred pounds),” ( Loffreda 371) was out alone on a Tuesday night when he picked up Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson. The two men led him to their car and drove to the edge of

A theme of Moises Kaufman of the Laramie Project is that don 't show hate to people that are different. Conrad Miller, Zackie Salmon , The Baptist Minister and Jonas Slonaker show reasons on why they think gay is wrong,how people are afraid to walk down the street without feeling accepted and getting bad vibes.

Queer women frequently felt unsecure and disgrace toward their sexuality in the mid twentieth century greatly influenced by governmental anti-gay policies and the notion of medicalized homosexuality. Changes were seen during the homophile movement in 1950s, queer women fought for their voices to be heard by establishing their organization – Daughters of Bilitis (abbreviated as DOB) – to connect with other lesbians via The Ladder magazine throughout the world and gaining support from well-educated individuals such as a group of San Francisco clergies. During the period, they also battled for their civil and political rights by organizing silent protests against government’s anti-gay policies and challenging the notion of medicalized homosexuality.