Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Kairos and The Laramie Project
Before class on Thursday (Jan. 5), I’d also like you to post a brief reflection to our blog using concepts from our reading to comment on the opening scenes of The Laramie Project. (Please read the article by Covino before responding to the following questions.) How does the film represent its rhetorical situation? That is, what is the exigency for this film? What need is it filling? What audience(s) does it seek to reach and influence? What rhetorical constraints—that is, beliefs or values—does the film portray as shaping its message? (Another way to think through these questions might be: Out of what context does this film emerge? What gives it urgency or timeliness? How does the film respond to the particular situation that evolves out of Matthew Shepard’s murder?) As you explore these questions, include evidence from the film to support your response and aim for at least 250 words. Post your response as a comment to this post.
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The Laramie Project is a film that was created to show a nationwide public audience the effects that a hate crime had on a small community. When the incident with Matthew shepherd originally occurred the story that was presented through the media as a one-dimensional brutal killing. The Laramie Project looks deeper into this story by not only chronicling the events that led to Matthew Shepherd’s death but also sharing the story of what happened to the community as a result.
ReplyDeleteThe film has begun by appealing to the pathos of our nation. Throughout the United States people can relate to the pain and suffering that Matthew himself endured but also the profound pain that was inflicted on the community. It shows how this brutal murder not only hurt those closest to the victim, but how hate crimes can breed distrust and hurt within a community. When the audience of this movie sees how the community has so clearly become distrusting of their peers and friends it invokes a deep emotional understanding. What would it be like for the audience if such a thing were to happen to their community.
The results of this horrible crime did not just affect those who were directly related to the incident. It changed an entire community and left deep impacts on all parties involved. The Laramie project was created in order to truly persuade the American public to see the absolute horrific community results that hate crimes create.
After the brutal beating of a homosexual man by two Laramie natives, the town of Laramie was known by its awful accident. Since most people in Laramie believed it was safe to have your own identity, this accident proved them incredibly wrong. Rather than having an open dialogue about the incident, people avoided the topic. Since it was painful to recognize that two kids from their own town could have committed this horrendous crime, rather than confront the issue, when the topic was raised, many people refused to talk. This is evidenced when a woman from the theater company knocks on a local’s door to find that he is angered by the fact that they are creating a play based on the incident.
ReplyDeleteAn exigency is a situation that requires spoken or written text. This accident impacted not only the people in Laramie, but also the nation at large. Therefore, I believe that there were two primary exigencies that brought about the Laramie Project. Firstly, the people of Laramie needed a memorial to Matthew Shepherd no only to help them cope with the circumstances of his death, but also to have a healthy dialogue regarding the accident. Therefore, there was a timeliness, or kairos, with regard to the creation of the play. Secondly, there was a need to contribute and spur on the national dialogue about acceptance and social justice that had begun following the news of Matthew Shepard.
Since the people of Laramie have opposing views on the subject of homosexuality there were many rhetorical constraints that required consideration. For example, as a conservative town, some of the churchgoers that the company encountered were narrow-minded and outspoken about the sinfulness of homosexuality. Therefore, the company needed to create a piece about social justice and the acceptance of homosexuality, rather than a glorification of homosexuality.
The opening to the Laramie Project represents its rhetorical situation well. The beginning of the movie does not as one may expect explicitly explain what happened to Matthew Shepard, but rather it expects the audience to already be aware of what happened. The film is based off of the reactions to the brutal beating and murder of a homosexual man, Matthew Shepard due to his sexuality. Due to the movie being based off the play which took the actual interviews that were performed by the Tectonic Theater Project, the audience is made extremely wide. Different people reacted differently to the murder of Matthew Shepard, and their reactions in of themselves will appeal to different audiences. The exigency of the film is the idea that for the world to better understand the death of Matthew Shepard, the people who were immediately close to him needed to react. Furthermore, in the wake of such a horrible tragedy, people develop a need to understand exactly what happened, why it happened and how it could happen. The Laramie Project is a response to not only the murder of Matthew Shepard, but also the reaction of Laramie as a town itself. The film appeals to our general ethos as humans because it causes us to recall our memories of murders in our own towns, and the effect that they had on our communities. Additionally, because the murder was driven almost purely by hate it causes us to react not only with our emotions at such a horrible action, but also logically. The film attempts to fill in the void and try and explain to us logically about exactly why something like the murder of Matthew Shepard happens. Finally, the films urgency develops through the need of getting the information out. In the wake of this hate crime, everyone wanted answers, and the play and film were developed to provide those answers.
ReplyDeleteThe torture and resulting murder of Matthew Shepard was a flagrantly malevolent action portraying ignorance of social justice and civil rights. Although the majority of Laramie citizens seemed to agree with this statement, as shown through the numerous interviews, they were hesitant to discuss the issue beyond its obvious atrocity; this is perhaps due to the peoples’ fear of Laramie being defined by Matthew Shepard’s murder. Specifically shown the interview with the mechanic, the people of Laramie believed their town to be overall accepting, or perhaps more indifferent, of one’s identity. As the murder sent a bold message to the nation that Laramie was a hateful place, people were hesitant to inflict more pain and shame on their city by discussing the matter. This is from where The Laramie Project derives its exigency. It filled a sensitive gap of social scrutiny, which is imperative in societal growth no matter how painful. Besides the peoples’ difficulty of coming to terms with the hate crime, the film displays another rhetorical restraint. By specifically showing interviews with conservative citizens who are debating internally between the wrongness of the act and their belief in the sinfulness of homosexuality, the film stresses that no matter your beliefs or values, the essence of social justice remains the same, and the importance of acceptance is paramount. The play’s audience is undoubtedly made up of the citizens of Laramie, as it serves to memorialize Matthew and provide his fellow townspeople with a comfortable way of coping and coming to terms with the murder. However, The Laramie project plays to a much larger audience. Also intended for the entire nation, it adds to the growing movement of acceptance of individuality, whether in terms of sexual orientation, race, or religion.
ReplyDeleteThe Laramie Project was intended to display a distraught town after a shocking and saddening event. When Matthew Shepard was beaten and murdered it caught the usually agreeable town by surprise. It was important to begin work on this film relatively soon after the incident so that the emotions in the town were still genuine and the memories still fresh. This film attempts to address both the issues present in Laramie and portray for the world outside of this town the harms of crimes against people for being themselves, regardless of who that may be. Even though this was necessary, it was not simple. The playwrights had to be portrayed as kind and well intentioned people so as to appeal to the audience’s ethos, and they had to show a vast array of opinions on the matter to be truly representative while still placing emphasis on the belief that the illegitimate beating of a gay man was a wrongful act. They approached this by showing some people of every belief on the matter while still making the tone somber and reflective as well as showing more people in the town who were upset and who appeared to feel almost betrayed by the attackers. Many of the people defended their town, speaking of how that’s not what Laramie is like. The emotion of the citizens as well as the images of the town that show what could be found in any town (a hotel, mcdonalds, etc) allow the film to be accessible to anyone so as to put themselves in Laramie’s shoes. Also, Matthew is humanized by showing his girlfriend and school which shows that he had a life and people who cared about him thereby increasing the pathos that the audience can feel for Matthew and his loved ones. When the story comes to full fruition it allows for a movie that can change hearts and minds to be more tolerant of others and less tolerant of hatred.
ReplyDeleteIn this post I will examine the effects of audience, rhetoric and need as they pertain to the effectiveness and success of the film “The Laramie Project.”
ReplyDeleteIf you look at the concept of audience in the film, one can ask, ‘Who is the audience?’ or, ‘ Who is the film addressing?’ The most immediate answer is in fact the town of Laramie itself because that is whom the original adaptation (the play) was meant for. However, according to an excerpt from William A. Covino’s Rhetoric: Concepts, Definitions, Boundaries; the concept of “audience becomes considerably tangled” (Covino, 12) when one looks more in depth. I maintain that this film has a much wider audience than simply the town itself, because it may reach “anyone who happens to pick it up” (Covino, 12). This includes our class in the audience, and it indeed includes anyone who has ever seen the movie or the play. However, I do not believe that it ends there. I believe that the audience should also include the producers, actors and all involved in the production of the movie. Indeed these individuals were the audience to the testimonials given by the members of the town. They were the initial audience as described by Covino and all others are the mediated audience. The audience is important to the success of this film because the town of Laramie needed it as therapy to come to terms with the incident, and the country needed it in order to draw attention to these issues. Because of the incident, legislature was passed regarding hate crime and people were urged to be more tolerant and kind.
Rhetoric is used both intentionally and unintentionally in this film. Covino breaks rhetoric into three basic categories; ethos, pathos and logos. It was apparent that ethos was important for the producers of the film because the members of the town were reluctant to talk about the incident until they found out that their interviewers were credible and of good character. Pathos was also necessary because the interviewers needed to maintain an emotional appeal to the townspeople as the incident was still raw and most people were still deeply affected by the incident. One unintentional use of rhetoric was used by the townspeople during their testimonials. They used words like “our” or “we,” which identifies them as a unit and as a people united in this crisis. It gives the town the identity that “hate is not a value of Laramie.” Rhetoric is vastly important in the film because it creates an appeal to the audience to care and to take notice of the issue of hate crimes.
I feel that the film is a necessary vessel for the message that hate crimes happen and that there should be legislature regarding them and so that ignorance is dissipated.
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ReplyDeleteAccording to the article, teachers in antiquity named the three purposes of rhetorical communications as, “to teach, to please, and to move” (What is Rhetoric?). The first purpose is based solely upon information, with limited bias. However, when combined with the other two purposes, bias becomes attached to mere facts. So far, The Laramie Project has effectively combined these three purposes into a movie that is both moving and educational. We learn what happened to Matthew Sheppard through various interviews with the townsfolk. Not all of the interviews were in shown a negative bias towards the events that took place, and for that reason it seems as if we are able to make our own opinion on the matter, but actually the film does quite a good job of disguising it's overall bias. Of course most people, including myself would regard the act as a terrible hate crime. But most people doesn't include everyone. I'm not saying that the movie's bias is bad, I'm just saying that it is present. In terms of kairos, it seemed like the circumstances were perfect for this form of rhetoric. Certainly a large percentage of those who heard about what happened to Matthew Shepard felt that the events that took place that night in Laramie were beyond awful. But like I said before, not everyone felt that it was such an awful crime. Homophobia is not dead in America. This film was necessary in order to hinder homophobia. Perhaps if films like this one were made far after such events took place, homophobia would increase because of the lack of information and positive bias about the subject.
ReplyDeleteThe Laramie Project is a play turned film about the murder of a gay man, Matthew Shepard, in Laramie, Wyoming. The film uses quotes from the people of Laramie showing how they felt about Matthew Shepard, his murder, and the issues of homophobia. The story of Matthew Shepard was turned into a film because it was a hate crime that occurred within a not well- known, intimate community where no one would expect this sort of behavior, including the people from Laramie. The movie is a rhetorical situation in that it is a means of communication to share a story in order to invoke a response from the viewers of the film.
ReplyDeleteThe demand for this film arises out from the fact that hate crimes are a current problem. They occur all over the world and Matthew Shepard is just one person out of many who have been persecuted. The problem (which the Laramie Project fixes) is that we don’t hear about these crimes all the time, and when we do, it’s not blown up into a play or film, it is a little column in a newspaper or an article that pops up when we log onto our email. It is more shocking and eye- opening to hear about a crime committed in a rural town in Middle America versus a huge city, and to hear directs quotes from the people influenced by his death. His story is shared because his situation was different than most victims.
I believe the film was intended to be seen nation-wide so the issue of homophobia and social acceptance would be questioned. I think the documentary also helped the town of Laramie since they were able to tell their story and defend and protect their town. I bet the film helped give them closure because it gave them confidence that Matthew’s story was being heard. The Laramie Project was a success in that it exposed the dangers of prejudice and the effects of social injustice.
As the film The Laramie Project depicts the tragic murder of Matthew Shepard, it implements a rhetorical situation focusing on elements of audience and style. It is the combination of these elements that gives the film a sense of exigency. The beginning of the film is directed at a multifaceted audience. It acts as fuel for existing social activists. It illustrates an intimate portrait of the mindset of a small, rural American city that acts a mirror to countless individuals throughout the nation. It introduces the notion of a hate crime to people not exposed to the prevalent necessity of awareness of such behavior within society. The style of the film, centered mostly on the reenactment of interviews with people closely connected to the murder of Matthew Shepard, creates a sentiment of connection and accessibility to the content in the movie. Due to the fact that the story is told not in facts and figures but in emotion, generates an empathetic response from the audience that perpetuates further investment in the message of the film. The exigency of The Laramie Project exists in a combination of both the wide audience that the film addresses and the emotional style in which it is presented. The intended multiple audiences of this movie create a scene of closeness between the story of Matthew Sheppard and the viewer. To those who believe that violence based on sexual orientation does not exist in their small community, this film proves that hate crimes can exist anywhere. To those who think hate crimes only exist in past times of injustice, the film exemplifies the fact that this type of violence is still a present issue. As this film illuminates that, although Matthew Shepard might have only been one person, violence based on sexual orientation is current and omnipresent. The style of the movie provokes an emotional response that further intensifies feelings towards ending discrimination. Together, these two aspects of rhetoric present hate crimes as a tragedy that requires present action in order decrease.
ReplyDeleteMarin Klostermeier
ReplyDeleteProfessor Geoffrey Bateman
WRIT 1622-2
January 5, 2012
The movie The Laramie Project is based of the play by the same name and tells the story of the aftermath of the murder of Mathew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming, where it occurred. In Covino’s, What is Rhetoric?, rhetoric is described as being “the art of knowledge making” (8) and The Laramie Project has certainly made knowledge. The reason for creating The Laramie Project was to (in my understanding) share Mathew Shepard’s story with the world, thus giving more people the knowledge of what happened, and in fact why it did. As depicted in the movie, there was a lot of media coverage after the news of Mathew Shepard’s attack and eventual death was released. During this time there was an exigence, a need for the perspective of the people of Laramie and not just what they felt about someone being murdered, but about someone being murdered because he was Gay. The company of the Tectonic Theater Project wasted no time in getting down to Wyoming; a major part of the rhetorical situation is kairos or “generative timing” (11), the company wanted to construct and share the story of Laramie when people were still being emotionally affected by the story and potentially when there their possibly negative thoughts about the LGBT community could be changed. A saying used by many people in the movie and one which I am sure is common in the rest of the world is “live and let live”. This is said in the context of people not having an opinion of the LGBT community as long as it does not affect them, which to me sounds as just condemning as people who outright say that they hate people in the LGBT community. I think the audience of the film is the people who believe that mantra, because their hearts are not filled with hate and the people of Laramie who believed it hated the crime so much that they could learn to hate the reason why it was committed just as much.
In What is Rhetoric, Covino describes rhetoric as being primarily concerned with “the exploratory and construction of knowledge” while also laying the foundation for the auditor, reader, to see the truth (7). While watching the movie, even from the first few seconds, I noticed that the director biggest objective was to shed light on the citizens of Laramie. After the death of Mathew Shepard, many people looked down upon the city and attached that cities name with brutality, homophobia, ignorance, hatred etc. So through out the film there’s this constant juxtaposition between the backlash from the American public and the reality within Laramie. Even in the beginning we see the directors use of heavy sympathetic pathos with the, hard working everyday Joe type of guy who talked about how hard it was for him to live in a city that was scarred by a reputation, when in fact the city truly is open to all walks of life. We also see this with the older lady, I forget where exactly she was, but I remember her saying that although she might not agree with homosexuality she still would never condone murder. Covino states that we can break down an audience seeking this truth into two difference groups “immediate audiences and mediate audiences” ( 12). The films immediate audience were those homosexuals who were fearful of Laramie after the death of Mathew Shepard, while the mediate audience (also known as the indirect audience) were those individuals who shunned Laramie as a city because of the act. Although, the movie is centered around a hate crime I do not necessarily believe the timeliness is concerned with the crime but more so the what next factor. I think to a certain degree there remains a strong collective conscious that hurting someone because they are different is wrong. With that said, although we have not yet finished the movie, the film derives is exigency from the fact nothing was implemented after this attack. What is the city doing to protect future homosexuals? What programs are available to eradicate potential ignorance? What is being done so that Laramie citizens know from an early age that hate crimes are wrong? How does a citizenry find redemption from a even larger American society that now looks down upon them? These questions have yet to be answered.
ReplyDeleteThe Laramie Project was created in order to help people gain a better understanding of the murder of Matthew Shepard. The audience of this film covers a broad spectrum. Be it opposition, acceptance, or indifference, everyone has an opinion on homosexuality, and therefore the message of the film applies to nearly everyone. The Laramie Project was intended first of all to show that the two individuals who murdered Shepard did not represent the general attitude that people of Laramie had toward gay people. The various interviews with the people of Laramie depicted in the film show that while there were some people who had somewhat homophobic views, most people were quite tolerant of gay people. In this sense, the film also helps to combat some of the stereotypes many people have that all westerners are homophobic rednecks.
ReplyDeleteThe film is intended also to show that the incident was an unjustified hate crime. Through the Laramie Project, the writers hoped to shed light on the situation that arose from Shepard’s death and perhaps prevent something similar from happening in the future. A much more broad intention of the film appears to be to increase people’s understanding of those who are different from themselves. It shows that not all westerners are homophobic, and there is a clear message that gay people should be accepted in society just as straight people are. As they are being interviewed, many of the townspeople in the film state that their philosophy is “live and let live,” which seems to be the underlying message of the Laramie Project.
To the present point in the rhetoric film The Laramie Project, the writers express the exigency for the societal United States to be informed of the death of Mathew Shepard, a homosexual man. The urgency of the message is not expressed in the educating of the masses of the facts of the case, or in pressuring certain views on the moral debate on homosexuality, but rather in the need for enlightenment of the need for social and political acceptance of others with different belief systems, actions, and identities. Convino states that, “If we consider rhetoric as the study and practice of featuring rather than shaping content, we foreground its function as a tool for ‘special-interest groups’” (4). IN doing so, the rhetor may emphasize and illuminate certain elements. The film does this in its unique focus on the lack of acknowledgement of “big social picture” and the rest of the country’s focus on Laramie as a unique, small-town event; overall the film connect Shepard’s death to a highly-relevant social and political dilemma. The film attempts to portray to the reader how Laramie should not, and cannot be defined by this incident; rather that this incident can be used as a platform for political and social reform on the issues in the future, prevention in the future. This film is directed, first at the people of Laramie, in establishing a monument of Mathew’s death in a way different from the harsh and quick mass of media; but also the people of the rest of the country. Those not directly linked to Mathew and Laramie of are able to connect with this film in the message of a cry for acceptance of differences and intolerance of blind ignorance and hatred. Though the film goes in depth with the facts of Mathew’s murder and its effect on the people of the town, it remains disconnected enough to retain the more globalized view and rhetoric purpose. In its invention, or rather gathering of interviews from the actual people of Laramie, combined with its disposition, the rhetor creates a style of portrayal in the film that effectively delivers the message for a need of social acceptance, all built upon the tragic murder of Mathew Shepard.
ReplyDeleteWhen Matthew Sheppard was murdered, the town of Laramie was sent into shock. Residents could not believe that two of their own could have committed such an atrocious crime. When the producers of The Laramie Project arrived to conduct interviews, they found a town that was still grieving the loss of not only one, but three young men. The Laramie Project attempted to reach two audiences: the residents of Laramie and the rest of the nation. The national media had greatly sensationalized the Matthew Sheppard murder, and as a result, people in the town stopped openly discussing it. Because of this, one audience The Laramie Project targeted was the residents of Laramie, with the hope that the project would lead to greater discussion about hate crimes and sexuality. The other targeted audience was the people of America who had followed the story. However, the writers chose not to sensationalize and focus on the murder like so much other media had already done, but rather to work from the belief that the audience already knew Matthew Sheppard’s story. This resulted in a film which did not address the what had taken place, but rather the effects of what had happened. A film of this nature was greatly needed at the time because residents of Laramie felt that they had been portrayed as a homophobic, violent town. Additionally, there had been little talk about how to move on, recover from, and prevent future hate crime. By omitting the presence of Matthew Sheppard from the film, the writers took the focus off of the murder and placed it on how one copes with such a vicious hate crime. Pathos is employed to appeal to the audience’s compassion and outrage. As the film portrays the horror and disbelief found in the residents of Laramie, it directs the audience members to consider similar situations in their own lives, and how one deals with them. Thus, the writers effectively communicate that the town and people of Laramie aren’t to blame for the events that transpired, as well as the fact that people must talk about events in order to heal and recover from them.
ReplyDeleteAs the opening scenes of the Laramie Project have unfolded it is clear to me that this story is attempting to use it’s own rhetoric to critique the rhetoric of others by telling its own story. As the rhetors of this work write their story they are not only focusing on the death of Mathew Sheppard, a gay college student, but also on the attitudes of the people of Laramie and how this tragic event and subsequent national attention has effected them. When the factual story of Mathew Sheppard was written by his murders the only intended audience was that of Mr. Sheppard and his family. However, Corvino talks about how an audience can be “evoked” into the story with their own motives and understanding. For those that were close to Mathew, the first thing that they pulled was the tragedy of his death, when the lens is widened to the people of Laramie the stories of Mathew’s death evoke a reaction of “how could something like this happen in our town?” Finally, when the lens is pulled even further to the view the American public the death of this one man evokes the attitude that becomes the platform for a larger questioning of hate crime and the effects that it can have on a community. It is this widening effect of the evoked audience that the creators of the Laramie Project are trying to show to the people. They are also simultaneously working to show the broad effects that rhetoric can have on a collection of people. In this case the creators are showing that the hate crime based rhetoric of the American media that has painted Laramie, a once accepting town, as a center of hatred and injustice is not necessarily the case as the rhetoric of the broader media has implied.
ReplyDeleteI feel that the inherent goal of the writers of this film is to get the American public to ignore some of the pathos that has portrayed Laramie as a town full of hate and instead redirect their collective anger towards the individuals that have managed to stain the reputation of an entire town. It is because of this persuasive method that I believe that the writers of this story are attempting to move people from one opinion to another. Pathos is a powerful tool in rhetoric but in the case of Mathew Sheppard’s death the inherent pathos of his story is failing to lead people to the proper application of their anger.
The film The Laramie Project was a film representing a situation that I was previously unaware of in Laramie, Wyoming involving the brutal murder of a gay man. And this in fact is the rhetorical situation of the film. The writers used real interviews from citizens of Laramie to allow the audience to feel as though they themselves are set within the community and are being informed of both the tragedy of the murder and how it has affected the community in various personal ways. It is this process that turned the situation in Laramie from a national news story into a thought provoking and meaningful way to convince the audience of the severity and true gravity of the tragedy.
ReplyDeleteThe exigency of the film stems from the both the importance that the theater company members felt of the hate crime committed against a gay man. Many of the members seemed to be members of the gay and lesbian community and they believed that this story was one that needed to be told as soon as possible to inform people outside of Laramie about what was going on. There was a sense of urgency in getting interviews with citizens while the story and topic was still fresh in their minds as to portray the events of both the crime and aftermath more vividly and accurately. Their personal concerns regarding their safety being in the town and the possible changes that a multiple perspective look at the events in Laramie seemed to be an undercurrent in the production, in both the incorporated music and quickly changing sets of scenery and characters being interviewed, giving it a more fast-paced and weighty feel.
The audiences that this film was made to impact were people that were like me, those who were not personally impacted by the sheer surface story of Matthew’s murder. I would have believed it to be sad, but not being a resident of Laramie or a gay person, it would have been a passing story in my mind. They means by which they show the way that the people surrounding the event were affected, such as the police officer contracting HIV, allows those who may not have previously been all that interested or vested in the story to be more so. By showing the raw information of individuals within the Laramie community, the film very effectively conveys the multifaceted importance of the event to the audience and convinces them of such.
The murder of Matthew Shepard in the small western town of Laramie, Wyoming was a slap to the faces of the citizens. The fact that two young kids of their very own town were responsible for the brutality that was brought upon Matthew tainted the image of Laramie for years to come. The seemingly perfect, secluded town sky rocketed to the front page of national newspapers and was the featured story on national news programs. This exposure was not about the great things that Laramie had to offer, but what had been tagged to the town, a tainted image of a hateful town that led to such a tragedy. The film, the Laramie Project, uses rhetoric to help clear the name of the people of Laramie. The opening scenes that outline the tragedy and the beginning of the towns opinions show a polar opposite of what one would expect in such “cowboy country”. The townspeople were, as the doctor stated, “offended” that their own town was responsible for such an event. They felt that no person had the right to do that to another person; no matter what. This enters the second goal of the film as an activism piece. Even in the film they talk about how this isn’t just about Laramie anymore; that its now about the world. The theater group that conducted these interviews did this at the opportune time to reach out to an audience that has the ability to make change: the American people had the ability to make change happen. The film even showed President Clinton lobbying the people of the United States to take action and have their Congress people vote for the hate crimes legislation. The film draws upon an extended audience that wants change to happen and hope that through the rhetoric, one will go out and do something.
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