The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story: Marcia, Marcia, Marcia
March 9, 2016 10:38 AM - Season 1, Episode 6 - Subscribe
Tensions rise as the defense starts taking aims at racial implications in the case, and as Marcia faces an ongoing divorce and negative representation in the media.
Maria Elena Fernandez, Vulture: Marcia Clark on Episode 6 of The People v. O.J. Simpson: ‘They Get the Big Stuff Right’:
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 11:34 AM on March 9, 2016 [3 favorites]
(Huh, I messed up that link. Should go here.)
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 9:31 PM on March 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 9:31 PM on March 9, 2016 [2 favorites]
For me, this was a If You're Going To Watch One Episode For Reasons Other Than John Travolta, It Should Be This One. It really conveyed how much our culture's perception of middle aged career women has changed, and how much it's also stayed the same.
posted by gnomeloaf at 1:13 PM on March 10, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by gnomeloaf at 1:13 PM on March 10, 2016 [2 favorites]
Wow, this episode was almost a little hard for me to watch, that's how much I identified with Marcia Clark. I mean, totally different careers, totally different situations, and I cry in bathroom stalls instead of an office, but still.
I think this show is doing a fantastic job of portraying the little microaggressions that so many women have to deal with day in and day out. Things like snarky asides about childcare, jokes about periods, etc. And she's been vocal (including in the Vulture article linked above) about how bad Judge Ito was and how his treatment alone had the potential to actually sway the jurors and hurt her career. It's not just the outright sexist statements, it's the being treated like a second-class citizen and how that subtly but negatively influences the perceptions of others. And when you can see it and recognize what's happening to you but can literally do nothing to stop it. The utter helplessness of it. Is just mind-bending.
Anyway this was my favorite episode so far. And John Travolta's Bob Shapiro is starting to grow on me.
posted by triggerfinger at 6:51 PM on March 10, 2016 [7 favorites]
I think this show is doing a fantastic job of portraying the little microaggressions that so many women have to deal with day in and day out. Things like snarky asides about childcare, jokes about periods, etc. And she's been vocal (including in the Vulture article linked above) about how bad Judge Ito was and how his treatment alone had the potential to actually sway the jurors and hurt her career. It's not just the outright sexist statements, it's the being treated like a second-class citizen and how that subtly but negatively influences the perceptions of others. And when you can see it and recognize what's happening to you but can literally do nothing to stop it. The utter helplessness of it. Is just mind-bending.
Anyway this was my favorite episode so far. And John Travolta's Bob Shapiro is starting to grow on me.
posted by triggerfinger at 6:51 PM on March 10, 2016 [7 favorites]
Triggerfinger, you stated my thoughts exactly. I may not have had the same experiences in my career, but I absolutely have just being a woman.
I feel pretty much the same way about Darden's episode last week. They did a goid job portraying the tightrope he was walking and the tension it caused him.
I feel like I want to just apologize to Marcia for humanity, those assholes really did publish her nude photos. Just...damn this was a good episode.
posted by LizBoBiz at 7:17 PM on March 10, 2016 [4 favorites]
I feel pretty much the same way about Darden's episode last week. They did a goid job portraying the tightrope he was walking and the tension it caused him.
I feel like I want to just apologize to Marcia for humanity, those assholes really did publish her nude photos. Just...damn this was a good episode.
posted by LizBoBiz at 7:17 PM on March 10, 2016 [4 favorites]
I love that Clark/Darden scenes so much. (I had no idea before this episode and reading that article that there were rumors that it turned romantic.)
That Bob Shapiro thumbs up! Lol!
posted by sallybrown at 8:03 PM on March 10, 2016 [1 favorite]
That Bob Shapiro thumbs up! Lol!
posted by sallybrown at 8:03 PM on March 10, 2016 [1 favorite]
This episode was absolutely brutal. I had a horrific time keeping my eyes on the screen when they do the reveal of her new haircut that she is so proud of, and everybody's reaction to it, and how that layered and increased and became increasingly horrible?
And then the next bit with the tabloids.
And then the check out guy making the crack about her period. It was such a perfect example of how micro aggressions and small insults and burdens build up into something unbearable. I WANTED TO RIP THEOUGH THE TV AND PULL HIS HEAD OFF.
posted by joyceanmachine at 8:06 PM on March 10, 2016 [10 favorites]
And then the next bit with the tabloids.
And then the check out guy making the crack about her period. It was such a perfect example of how micro aggressions and small insults and burdens build up into something unbearable. I WANTED TO RIP THEOUGH THE TV AND PULL HIS HEAD OFF.
posted by joyceanmachine at 8:06 PM on March 10, 2016 [10 favorites]
Pop culture was vicious to Marcia Clark. A new show offers an overdue apology. (Alyssa Rosenberg, Wapo)
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 6:06 AM on March 11, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 6:06 AM on March 11, 2016 [2 favorites]
joseph conrad is fully awesome, that is an excellent article.
Part of what’s powerful about the episode, titled, delightfully, “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia,” is that it looks at sexism without bending over backward to make Clark likable or soft. She’s sarcastic in divorce proceedings with her ex-husband Gordon (Brian Byrnes). She goes hard on defense attorney Johnnie Cochran (Courtney B. Vance) and then brags about it in the press. She loses her temper in front of Judge Lance Ito (Kenneth Choi). And throughout the series, Clark misreads the signs that this is going to be a trial about race, and overlooks the risks of putting Detective Mark Fuhrman (Steven Pasquale) on the stand.
But what “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia” does is emphasizes the extent to which Clark’s experience of the trial was a fundamentally isolating one, shaped by pressures that applied to no other lawyers in the case, nor the judge, nor the defendant himself.
I really think they're doing a good job with both portraying what she's dealing with in a way that is so palpable for so many women, while at the same time not shying away from the incredible blind spots she had around race. There's a kind of similar thing going on with Johnnie Cochran, a huge advocate for racial justice with what seems like a blind spot regarding women.
posted by triggerfinger at 1:20 PM on March 11, 2016 [5 favorites]
Part of what’s powerful about the episode, titled, delightfully, “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia,” is that it looks at sexism without bending over backward to make Clark likable or soft. She’s sarcastic in divorce proceedings with her ex-husband Gordon (Brian Byrnes). She goes hard on defense attorney Johnnie Cochran (Courtney B. Vance) and then brags about it in the press. She loses her temper in front of Judge Lance Ito (Kenneth Choi). And throughout the series, Clark misreads the signs that this is going to be a trial about race, and overlooks the risks of putting Detective Mark Fuhrman (Steven Pasquale) on the stand.
But what “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia” does is emphasizes the extent to which Clark’s experience of the trial was a fundamentally isolating one, shaped by pressures that applied to no other lawyers in the case, nor the judge, nor the defendant himself.
I really think they're doing a good job with both portraying what she's dealing with in a way that is so palpable for so many women, while at the same time not shying away from the incredible blind spots she had around race. There's a kind of similar thing going on with Johnnie Cochran, a huge advocate for racial justice with what seems like a blind spot regarding women.
posted by triggerfinger at 1:20 PM on March 11, 2016 [5 favorites]
Just now catching up on the last couple episodes. This show, I loathe the subject, the whole circus, but like the original event, I can't not follow it. This show is brilliant and this episode was brutal.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 4:26 AM on March 25, 2016
posted by TWinbrook8 at 4:26 AM on March 25, 2016
It's kind of baffling to me w.r.t. the furor over Marcia's hair. Aside from the fact that it's just hair (i.e. people should not be invested in it), it looked like her new haircut was the same as the old one. Until she got the not curly at all cut. I guess it was more dramatic in person? Or maybe I'm hair-blind?
posted by Monochrome at 2:01 PM on April 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Monochrome at 2:01 PM on April 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
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