OJ Made in America

Really liked the tidbit that OJ didn't take his arthritis medicine for 2 weeks prior to trying on the glove.

yeah that was nuts. cant believe i hadnt heard that before.

I have a feeling OJ did it

I thought this was some of the best filmmaking I've seen in a while. To make a 7 and a half hour documentary feel as cinematic as this feels is quite a feat. So much stuff to unravel here... Self-making, race, sports, corruption, incompetency, depravity, etc. etc. The most fascinating bit is how the black community rallied around the trial as temporary retribution for the past.... It just so happens the "black" man on trial was a man that the whites had built in their own image, adopted as one of their own. O.J. wanted nothing to do with the black community, until it was the only card he had left to play. O.J's sickness/psychopathy is wholly societal, which makes this deeply troubling on so many levels.

Interviews with jurors were eye opening. As were interviews with random local citizens both black and white.

didn't realize there was this thread on sports board...posted this on the Pit:

I have watched parts 1-4.

I am 48, so was about 4 years out of MSD when this all happened.

I am curious what others think about the filmmaker's viewpoint in this documentary. It appears to me that he has chosen to frame the trial and subsequent acquittal as a comment on the African-American population of LA at that time. My question: is he asserting that the African-American population of LA was unable to differentiate between years of racism and abuse at the hands of the LAPD and the overwhelming facts in this case...or is he asserting that they did differentiate, knew he was guilty, but just didn't care, as they were happy to finally beat the justice system that had treated them so unfairly for so long?

Coach O said:

didn't realize there was this thread on sports board...posted this on the Pit:

I have watched parts 1-4.

I am 48, so was about 4 years out of MSD when this all happened.

I am curious what others think about the filmmaker's viewpoint in this documentary. It appears to me that he has chosen to frame the trial and subsequent acquittal as a comment on the African-American population of LA at that time. My question: is he asserting that the African-American population of LA was unable to differentiate between years of racism and abuse at the hands of the LAPD and the overwhelming facts in this case...or is he asserting that they did differentiate, knew he was guilty, but just didn't care, as they were happy to finally beat the justice system that had treated them so unfairly for so long?

Click to expand...

Ezra Edelman, the film maker, has an interesting background. His mom, Marian Wright Edelman, is a civil rights activist. His dad worked for Bobby Kennedy. Parents were married in 1968 when there weren't a lot of biracial marriages.

Set it up to show how much distrust there was in LA for decades, but also framed it to show how OJ was the antidote to Ali, Black Panthers, and the '68 Olympics. Weird to see how it all turned out for Ali, Cosby, and OJ. Defense team knew he was guilty, but clearly pandered on race. Shapiro and Kardashian distanced themselves immediately after the case, but the others didn't. Jury decision was payback for Rodney King.

Civil and Vegas trials were payback for the murder trial. Santa Monica & Vegas jury pools are different from downtown LA. Duke lacrosse case might have been similar, but the prosecutor rather than the defense would have been pandering to the jury pool. Dennis Hastert's trial was payback for sexual assault. May never be a way to get at Cosby via the courts.

I've always loved Kardashian's immediate reaction to the verdict. It was as though he was thinking how in the world did that just happen.

FuckmouthedRube said:

Civil and Vegas trials were payback for the murder trial.

Click to expand...

Yep- interesting to see that the Vegas jury's 33 year jail sentence= the $33M civil trial jury award amount including punitive damages.

I thought Barry Scheck's palpable discomfort with the questions about his personal beliefs about the premise of his cross was riveting. He wanted to be anywhere but answering the "Do you really think all of OJ's blood was planted?" question.

That image of the police horses flinching in reaction to the roar of the crowd when the verdict was announced was pretty crazy.

The elderly juror would have done herself a favor by declining to be interviewed. I don't see how that mentality makes the world a better place. Asked if she did the right thing, she just raised her hands in a slow shrug. I can't imagine spending my entire life trying to get even with other people. Gross.

BacktoBack said:

I'm hopeful you didn't just blame her because he was a psycho.

Click to expand...

Never said I was blaming Nicole, but easy to point out it was a stupid move. She repeatedly reports how dangerous and psychotic her ex husband is, but decides to bone the one guy in California that the USC faithful question was a better player on the field (which is all OJ can hold on to in his mind). Sure everyone has a right to date who they want, I just find it incredibly stupid to tag the one guy in the country, who lives in the same city and runs in the same circles as the guy who is on the verge of beating the shit out of you.

So you're saying she contributed to her murder.

No I am saying she made a poor choice in lovers. Nobody deserves to die, or even be abused because who they choose to be with, but sometimes you have to make decisions to avoid negative outcomes. Obviously the creators of this documentary felt the same or they would not have highlighted it. It is not like she dated only three men after O.J., but clearly Marcus was hitting a nerve with O.J.

The tags.

The Toobin book is really good. It highlighted how dirty the Dream Team played and how naive and disadvantaged the prosecution was.