Crime and Punishment

20/20: The Matthew Shepard Story (2004)
Producers: Stephen Jimenez, Glenn Silber
Reporter: Elizabeth Vargas

What do you get when you have one of the most savage murders in America become an icon for a lifestyle? What if the murder may not have been committed for the originally stated reasons? Do you dig up the truth, and report it?

Well, for Elizabeth Vargas, she decided to do some investigative reporting on the Matthew Shepard case, and what she found delves into the world of childhood abuse, money, and crystal meth...though not on the side of Matthew Shepard. Yes, boys and girls, according to Elizabeth Vargas, Matthew Shepard was not a hate crime, it was a drug-induced crime. In a reporting style that borders this side of fishy (oh, wait, this is a newsmagazine, right?), Liz interviews people ranging from gay limo drivers, to the attackers' wives. She came up with a story that drugs and money played important roles in both Aaron McKinney's life and the life of Matthew Shepard.

The purpose of the report could be stated that it is just to get the truth out. However, it seems to be less an anti-drug commercial (which it should be if the report was done in this manner) than an anti-anti-gay-rights commercial.

The first portion of the report make the two victims out as sympathetic victims of their parents' excesses. From being beaten by mother's boyfriends to...well...everything, the attackers were not masters of their destinies. And, by the time they murdered Matthew Shepard, one was a parent, and both had severe meth addictions. But, its OK because they had a rough life, right?

Well, meth isn't nearly as good as it should be because the awesomely gay Matthew Shepard used the evil meth. Very evilly, he used the evil meth. It was bad in this case because he had so much going for him, never mind the minor mention of his getting raped. How dare he be depressed that he was raped on a field trip and got AIDS as a result. He should have been damned chipper, if you ask Elizabeth Vargas. Certainly not a drug user.

The second half of the report drives home the idea that this was not a hate crime. McKinney's wife lied in 1998 when she said it was because Shepard made a pass at McKinney (or so she had said he told her). And, in fact, neither of the attackers were homophobic in any ways. On top of this, several people had seen Shepard and McKinney together prior to the event. And, McKinney and friend was just coming down off a three-day meth binge with little to no sleep when they beat and murdered Shepard. And tied him to the fence. But, it was the meth's fault. You can't really blame the attackers though. They're paying their time. Its all good. Never mind that it was only after Shepard touched McKinney's leg that McKinney hit him for the first time.

I have such mixed reactions to this piece of newsmagazine reporting.

1) I agree truth is important. If it was not a hate crime, then whatever. They still did a vicious murder that was probably more brutal than a great deal of cinema. They deserve no time off for drug use.

2) The truth was reported in such a way that I almost felt that becoming a meth addict should allow me to kill anybody and get away with it, so long as it wasn't a hate crime. Except, I'm bi, and that makes meth use bad.

3) The truth has changed from the inception. Though, even The Laramie Project hints at the non-hate crime motivations, and that was a few years before this piece of fluff. The problem lies in a 17 second clip (17:23-17:40 in my clip, 16:59-17:16 raw):

Elizabeth: You had told police that at some point, Matthew had reached over and grabbed your leg.
Aaron: Yeah
Elizabeth: And what did you do when he grabbed your leg?
Aaron: I hit him with a pistol.

Yup. No gay panic there.

4) The facts around this single hate crime should in no way shape or form invalidate the gay rights movement. For every falsely reported gay hate crime, there are dozens of real ones. Even though this writer does not feel that hate crimes make things worse, it is a way of labeling a group of victims and a source of problems which needs to be solved. And, the gay rights movement, largely fueled by the Matthew Shepard case, is in no way wrong.

Anyways, that's the story. Those are my problems with it.