''Anatomy of a Hate Crime'' is a 2001 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made fo ...

docudrama based on a

true crime True crime is a nonfiction literary, podcast, and film genre in which the author examines an actual crime and details the actions of real people associated with and affected by criminal events. The crimes most commonly include murder; about 40 pe ...

; it was written by Max Ember and directed by Tim Hunter. It stars Cy Carter,

Brendan Fletcher Brendan Fletcher (born December 15, 1981) is a Canadian actor. He first gained recognition as a child actor, winning a Leo Award and being nominated for a Gemini Award his acting debut in the made-for-television film ''Little Criminals''. He ...

, and Ian Somerhalder. The film is based on the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard. It premiered on MTV on December 10, 2001, and was nominated for a

GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV Movie or Limited Series The GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV Movie or Limited Series is one of the annual GLAAD Media Awards which is offered to the best LGBT-related television limited series or movie. At the 31st GLAAD Media Awards, the award was split and honore ...

. After the broadcast, MTV went dark for 17 hours while it aired a continuous on-screen scroll listing the names of hundreds of United States hate crime victims.

Premise

Based on the 1998 murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard.

Cast

* Cy Carter as

Matthew Shepard Matthew Wayne Shepard (December 1, 1976 – October 12, 1998) was a gay American student at the University of Wyoming who was beaten, tortured, and left to die near Laramie on the night of October 6, 1998. He was taken by rescuers to Po ...

as Aaron McKinney * Ian Somerhalder as Russell Henderson *

Busy Philipps Elizabeth Jean "Busy" Philipps (born June 25, 1979) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles on the television series '' Freaks and Geeks'' (1999–2000), ''Dawson's Creek'' (2001–2003), ''Love, Inc.'' (2005–2006) and '' ER' ...

as Chasity Pasley *

Amanda Fuller Amanda Fuller (born August 27, 1984) is an American actress. She is best known for being the second actress to portray Kristin Baxter on FOX's '' Last Man Standing''. Career Early career In ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'', Fuller played Eve, one ...

as Kristen Price *

Gabrielle Miller Gabrielle Sunshine Miller (born November 9, 1973) is a Canadian actress who, since the start of her career in 1993, has appeared in many television films and series episodes, including leading roles in two of Canada's most popular concurrently-r ...

as Kara Dupree * Richard Stroh as Carter Grey *

Timothy Webber Timothy Webber is a Canadian television, film, and stage actor best known for his performance as Djordje in the film '' My Father's Angel'', for which he was a Best Supporting Actor nominee at the 21st Genie Awards.

as Officer Slade * Grant Linneberg as Officer John Ryan * Carrie Schiffler as Officer Vicky Reese * David Haysom as Barrett Cooper

Production

Immediately following the broadcast, MTV News hosted a special on hate crimes, and then the cable station aired a continuous on-screen scroll listing the names of hundreds of United States hate crime victims. The scroll ran continuously and commercial free for seventeen and-a-half hours, and was the first time in its 20 year history, the network went dark. It was estimated that it cost MTV about $2 million in advertising revenue. Writer Max Ember said the script wasn't really about Matthew Shepard, but "about the murder of Matthew Shepard". He thought by portraying the story from the point of view of Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, the two murderers, "that something very unique could happen". He said "Aaron and Russell didn't have any great political agenda, any great belief system in fact at all". Ember went on to opine that "they didn't hate gay people any more than anyone else they knew...they didn't wake up in the morning and say 'we're gonna kill a fag'...nonetheless that's exactly what happened and I thought it's worthy of discovering why that would happen." Cy Carter recalled the project being secretive in nature when he first auditioned. He said when he first read the script "everyone's names were different", but when he was asked back for a second audition, they told him it was a Matthew Shepard story. Carter said it was difficult to re-create the beating/murder scene, and it left the cast and production crew all in tears. He said Brendan Fletcher and Ian Somerhalder, were both in tears because "they had to go places inside of themselves I'm sure were kind of scary to rummage up that kind of hatred, and this wasn't even real, but just to see that, a tenth of what it would have been like for him hepard just made them realize what an important film they were working on". The Matthew Shepard Foundation put out the following statement in relation to the film:

Critical reception

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' wrote in their review that the best parts of the film are "the performances of Cy Carter as the 21-year-old Shepard and Brendan Fletcher as one of his killers, Aaron McKinney...the worst part is that writer Max Ember couldn't settle on a timeline and so jumps all over the calendar like a jack rabbit...murder anatomies, especially ones hoping to teach lessons, should be methodical and thorough, and this hopscotching technique is distracting and lazy". ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by T ...

'' said it is "not only a good movie, but also one with the potential to do good". They praised Ian Somerhalder's performance as "outstanding", and said the character he portrayed, Russell Henderson, is "made comprehensible by a smart script", oweverthe producers took a big risk "humanizing someone who committed such a monstrous act...but they are wise enough to understand that the only way we will understand our own capacity for hate is to recognize our own worst impulses and passions in the killers...In the end, this is what makes the film worthy of being judged as art rather than just propaganda".

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=tt0260698, title=Anatomy of a Hate Crime *
Anatomy of a Hate Crime
' at

BFI The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery (United Kingdom), National Lot ...