2002 NBC Matthew Shepard Story

[pharmboy]

Has anyone else seen, or remember seeing it back in 2002? It was recently replayed on LifeTime, got it on tape. I just loved this version. I haven't seen the Laramie Project play or movie...yet...I'm lazy. But this movie just has me captivated.

I don't mean to bring up a sad subject for all of us, but since it was replayed I haven't gotten it out of my mind. Now I don't want to stir up a hornets nest about "hate crime" laws, but if a murder is carried out for any reason, and murder's been around a long time, hate is always involved...and the brutality of this attack what they hated maybe we don't really know, but there was hate there, more than average.

I urge anyone who can get a chance to see it, to definitely do so. It is a network attempt and perhaps not as flashy and poignant as other higher profile memoirs, but it's my favorite.

My two cents...

[a1b2c3]

that was really sad
they did a production of it at my old highschool last year

[tonyboy]

Yes, I saw the NBC story. It is a sad story, not necessarily the way NBC showed it, just the whole story of Matt Shepard.
I remember coming home from work the one night several years ago, turning on the national news and seeing that story.
The channel I happened to view was NBC, they told about a young man living in Wyoming that had been brutally beaten and tied to a fence post on the open Wyoming range. I live in the western USA and have seen that type of fence post and rangeland many times.
Listening to the new story that day was so damned chilling. The fact that a young gay guy could be so brutally murdered was so upsetting. I know the two guys that did it were very high on speed. Damn them.
Matt Sheppards mom said many times that her son was no angel, but none of us are. He had a harsh death, one underserved. Lot's of people have an underserved death I know.
I figure that if Matthew Sheppard would have been around for jub he would have made many friends here. He seems to be the sort of guy that lot's of jubbers would have befriended. He liked theatre, and friends, many other things as well.
I know he would have fallen in lovel with Elvin1, and theatreboi.... and lot's of you others guys. Jub may have saved his life.
Anyway, that is far off the subject of this thread, sorry for the direction I went on it.

[starlight70]

I have seen both - Matthew Sheppard Story and The Laramie Project. Both were strikingly interesting for me. At least Matthew did not die in vain. His death made the nation and the world wake up to address the problem.

Some claimed that he did not die because he was gay. He was robbed, and beaten to death, and he happened to be gay. Still, I thought it was enough for the hatecrime issue to get attention.

Both are marvellous shows to catch.

[DiaryOfAMadman]

Didn't MTV do a movie about it as well? I remember watching what I beleive was the MTV version when I was a teen I think. Very Sad, for sure!

[jayjayseattle]

This movie should be seen by everyone. check out the message boards for it on http://www.imdb.com/ . i have been sending copies out all over the world.

[pharmboy]

The precise link on IMDB is http://imdb.com/title/tt0267736/

JayJay...that is SO COOL! Way to go, Keep it up!

[getoverit]

The Laramie Project is a really good movie. Its sad it had to be made after such a tragedy.

[scrapple]

Hate to be a killjoy, but "The Matthew Shephard Story" is basically fiction. ABC's 20/20 did a report on the crime,making a convincing case that the murder had very little to do with Shephard being gay. It was more or less a drug deal gone bad. Of course, everyone will now come out of the woodwork, saying how terrible it is that I bring this up. But its more important to state the truth than to prop up a phony martyr.

[man_crazy]

I remember watching it when it originally aired. Touching film.

[santiagofarias]

Really? It's the first time I hear about such a version for this case.

Hate to be a killjoy, but "The Matthew Shephard Story" is basically fiction. ABC's 20/20 did a report on the crime,making a convincing case that the murder had very little to do with Shephard being gay. It was more or less a drug deal gone bad. Of course, everyone will now come out of the woodwork, saying how terrible it is that I bring this up. But its more important to state the truth than to prop up a phony martyr.

[Roland00]

Really? It's the first time I hear about such a version for this case.

The 20/20 story was that Shepard used Meth. McKinney also used Meth and was a dealer and was so addicted he used all his inhertience. McKinney and Russell Henderson knew Shepard do to their use of Meth, and they attacked him in order to rob him for they needed the money. They then said mcKinney lost control and got in a rage and beat him to near death. They then tied him up to a fence and left him to die. Matthew died

I don't know how much if any of it w is the truth, but the 20/20 story was a story of bad journalism ethics. This is the third story McKinney has given of the night of the murder, contradicting the previous two. Additionally 20/20 purposefully made it a strung out story, they interviewed everybody they could and if there was one piece of evidence that could be inflammatory and shocking they threw it in there even if they only had one source for that info (journalism ethics say you should have at least two sources.) Such one source info was from a friend of McKinney saying McKinney was a bisexual for he had a threesome with his friend and his girlfriend thus it couldn't possibly be a hate crime (McKinney though in the 20/20 interview denied he was a bisexual). Another one source information was Matthew's limo driver who said Matthew had HIV.

----------------------------

Even if all this was true, no one deserves the way the Shepard was beaten and killed. Yet the 20/20 story was designed to make you forget about it, it was designed to show you the darker side of this little Wisconsin town and young man. It is sensationalism.

[Roland00]

Most of the 20/20 story (note there are several links for the story is in pieces).
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=277685&page=1

NYT Preview
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/26/ar...837bf9&ei=5070

GLAAD's response.
http://www.glaad.org/media/release_detail.php?id=3756
http://www.matthewshepard.org/site/P...ATEMENT_112404

A gay forum's response to the 20/20 showing
http://towleroad.typepad.com/towlero...hread_on_.html

Correction above the guy who said Shepard had Aids, and McKinney is a bisexual is the same guy.

[Roland00]

One more GLAAD link (the most info below)
http://www.glaad.org/publications/re...il.php?id=3755

[CSI_3Stokes]

The Matthew Shepard Story is on YouTube.