Film Review: The Man Behind an Event in Heart-Rending ‘Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine’

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CHICAGO – In 1998, the murder of Matthew Shepard led to an overview of the hate crimes in America, especially the type of assault crimes perpetuated against the gay community. In essence, Shepard became a martyr and a symbol for something much larger. An old high school classmate remembers his legacy for this, and for just being a soul buddy, in “Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine.”

Rating: 4.5/5.0

The timing of the film’s release comes as the State of Alabama is determined to deny the rights of marriage to gay people despite an opposing court order. This also comes on the heels of the racially combustible incidents in Ferguson, Cleveland and New York City. It is a reminder that there are human beings behind the unjustly murdered, with full lives and family/friends who desperately miss them. While the world knows Matthew Shepard as a victim of a hate crime, to his mother, father and former high school friends – like the filmmaker, Michele Josue – he is Matt, and he has created a void in their lives that cannot be filled with symbolic martyrdom.

The purpose of the film was to get behind Matthew Shepard, the sorrowful victim of a homophobic murder, to the Matt Shepard who was a dutiful son and friend – despite a eventful past – and the life of the party in his unconventional high school years. As the stigma for being gay loosened its grip by the end of the 20th Century, Matt Shepard had to endure his own journey of loss and renewal.

Following Shepard’s family from the upper middle class environs of Casper, Wyoming, to their expatriate status of when his father began working in Saudi Arabia, Matt comes alive through the reminisces of the filmmaker Josue, his parents and the fellow travelers that traveled his path – which led to his murder by Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson in Laramie, Wyoming, on October 12th, 1998.

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine”

Matt Shepard and Film Creator Michele Josue as High Schoolers in ‘Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine’
Photo credit: Run Rabbit Run Media

Continue reading for Patrick McDonald’s full review of “Matt Shepard Is a Friend of Mine”