What the f–k, dude?
—Marcia Clark, recounting her reaction to the revelation that there were tapes of Mark Fuhrman spewing every racial invective ever heard against African-American
S–t gets real in episode 4 of OJ: Made in America, the excellent documentary series from ESPN. Graphic pictures are shown of a nearly-decapitated Nicole Brown Simpson, her body so bloody and disfigured that it barely resembles a human being. Likewise, the butchered lifeless body of Ronald Goldman is shown with deep neck wounds that reveal his vocal chords. Vocal chords that were probably used to scream for his life until there was no life left in him
Beyond the cameras, the circus outside the courthouse, and the Dancing Itos, People of the State of California v. Orenthal James Simpson should have been about those two dead people. Instead it became about anything but. You name it: Rodney King, the LAPD, Fuhrman, gloves, Bruno Maglis…all of the diversions became the story and the victims became forgotten souls, lost in a tidal wave of so much flotsam
OJ: Made in America is likely the best examination of Simpson and the creation of the monster who perpetrated those murders on that June night in 1994. The OJ who came out of the ghetto effectively turned his back on the black community for 30 years before he discovered his African-American identity when he needed to wear it like a cloak against the murder charges he was facing. As OJ is in police custody, following the low-speed chase, as he looks at all the people gathered outside his estate, he is quoted by one police officer on-the-scene as saying “What are all these n—-s doing in Brentwood?”
Later, as The Juice is on his “Thank You, My Brothers Tour” following the not guilty verdict, OJ attends services at an AME Church (probably for the first time) and gets a bite to eat at Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles. While dining at Roscoe’s, he tells his agent Mike Gilbert “When in the hell have you ever seen me here?”
Say it loud, indeed
Gilbert, for my money, is the star of the series (along with Clark, whose biting wit barely masks palpable, understandable contempt) because of his insight, particularly in the last two episodes. Gilbert happens upon Simpson at his house one night as The Juice is drinking beer and smoking pot and asks his friend what happened that night. OJ asks Gilbert what he thinks happened on that fateful night. Gilbert says that he feels Simpson committed the murders. Then OJ tells Gilbert Nicole would still be alive he she hadn’t come to the door with a knife in her hand. Chilling
Gilbert also details OJ’s descent into the life of a frat boy, when Simpson leaves Brentwood for south Florida. Juice lived the South Beach life hard with all-nighters, strip club visits, and threesomes with women sporting no tan lines, That debauchery leads to Vegas and Vegas leads to OJ’s downfall
Ezra Edelman produced and directed the series and deserves a great deal of credit for interviewing practically everyone who ever knew Simpson or had anything to do with the trial. He even gets a sit down with the reclusive (at least, this century) F. Lee Bailey. Edelman deserves multiple Emmy Awards™ and, probably, a Peabody™, but I was a little annoyed that he decided to use interviews that gave credence to the idea that OJ’s punishment in Nevada was “get back” for his acquittal in People v. Simpson
Edelman also hits the “Made in America” theme hard as he shows Simpson lowering the American flag on his Brentwood property as he vacates it on his way to South Beach. Even this becomes a show as Gilbert is instructed to act as though he an intruder on Simpson’s estate and OJ works up fake tears, as he raises and lowers the flag, ultimately a prisoner to his Hollywood showbiz surroundings
God bless America
All five episodes of OJ: Made in America are now streaming on the Watch ESPN app
