O.J.: Made in America: Part 3: Rockingham
July 5, 2016 6:58 AM - Season 1, Episode 3 - Subscribe
The police arrived at the condo on Bundy Drive at 4:25 a.m. on June 13th, 1994. It was a gruesome murder scene, clearly the result of a violent confrontation that had left two people dead - one of whom, they'd quickly discover, was the estranged wife of O.J. Simpson.
It was just the start of a chapter of American history like none other, one that would lay bare the realities of race, power, the legal system, the media, and so much more in Los Angeles, California and far beyond. Two decades later, the disagreements between the figures at the center of investigating the case are still palpable. The events of June 17th, 1994 are nearly as unfathomable as they were as they unfolded. And the beginnings of the battle in the courtroom are just as fascinating - the defense's strategy, just as unambiguous. O.J. Simpson had spent his entire life running from the color of his skin. Now, in so many ways, he was going to depend on it to avoid spending the rest of his life in prison.
It was just the start of a chapter of American history like none other, one that would lay bare the realities of race, power, the legal system, the media, and so much more in Los Angeles, California and far beyond. Two decades later, the disagreements between the figures at the center of investigating the case are still palpable. The events of June 17th, 1994 are nearly as unfathomable as they were as they unfolded. And the beginnings of the battle in the courtroom are just as fascinating - the defense's strategy, just as unambiguous. O.J. Simpson had spent his entire life running from the color of his skin. Now, in so many ways, he was going to depend on it to avoid spending the rest of his life in prison.
Yeah, between that and Lange and Vannatter's starstruck softball interview, the double standard for celebrities is not hard to see. Or, in Zoey Tur's words:
"I've covered so many of these things, this was not usual police behavior. If OJ Simpson were black, that shit wouldn't have happened. He'd be on the ground getting clubbed."
Here are five more of my favorite quotes from this episode:
5. "What do you mean, you were running around doing what you do?"
4. "A lot of people thought that Chris would end up at the Cochran firm.
And, obviously, that didn't happen."
3. "Mariachi band."
2. "If this jury convicts me, maybe I did do it!"
1. "What are all those n-words doing in Brentwood?"
posted by box at 3:47 PM on July 5, 2016 [3 favorites]
"I've covered so many of these things, this was not usual police behavior. If OJ Simpson were black, that shit wouldn't have happened. He'd be on the ground getting clubbed."
Here are five more of my favorite quotes from this episode:
5. "What do you mean, you were running around doing what you do?"
4. "A lot of people thought that Chris would end up at the Cochran firm.
And, obviously, that didn't happen."
3. "Mariachi band."
2. "If this jury convicts me, maybe I did do it!"
1. "What are all those n-words doing in Brentwood?"
posted by box at 3:47 PM on July 5, 2016 [3 favorites]
This last was NOT from Mark Fuhrman.....
posted by brujita at 4:16 PM on July 5, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by brujita at 4:16 PM on July 5, 2016 [2 favorites]
The account of the way O.J. would treat Nicole was hard to sit through. That's what narcissistic abuse is like. The narcissist latches onto you because they can get things that they want from you, but you don't matter to them as a person at all. You're merely an object to be used and abused at their will, and you don't have a right to be treated with respect, to run your own life, to say no to them, or to the truth. If you refuse to comply with that expectation, you're the problem.
Episodes four and five haven't been posted. I found them pretty stomach turning.
posted by orange swan at 12:13 AM on March 20
Episodes four and five haven't been posted. I found them pretty stomach turning.
posted by orange swan at 12:13 AM on March 20
I've been thinking more about episodes four and five.
I do understand the black community's reaction to the not guilty verdict. After four hundred years of white supremacy destroying black lives, and after decades of corruption and abuse from the LAPD, it was a triumph in a way that a black man could beat the system after the L.A. police and the prosecution had failed to properly make the case against him.
I do think there's difference between taking the stance that Simpson technically deserved to go free and believing that he was innocent, or even more alarmingly saying "we love you O.J. whether you're guilty or not", but I'd rather focus on the changes that need to be made to the criminal justice system than take it upon myself to judge those who rightfully and reasonably have come to the point of having no faith at all in it.
The course of Simpson's life after he was found not guilty was so gross. The Browns were forced to hand over their grandchildren to their daughter's murderer, and to deal with him on a regular basis. The Goldmans spent the rest of O.J.'s life trying to get some kind of justice for their son's murder. I shudder to think what his relationship with his children must have been. And then he lived in such a debauched way, surrounded by bottom-feeders or vulnerable people, because functional people of integrity would have nothing to do with him. This is why we need prisons. Murderers and other violent criminals should not be walking free among us.
I agree that he Simpson did not deserve such a long sentence for the robbery and that his receiving one was a broken system's way of trying to compensate for his being wrongly found innocent for two horrific murders, but I can't get too worked up about it. He did belong in prison, and it's a relief to think he at least had to spend nine years in prison.
posted by orange swan at 9:23 AM on March 20
I do understand the black community's reaction to the not guilty verdict. After four hundred years of white supremacy destroying black lives, and after decades of corruption and abuse from the LAPD, it was a triumph in a way that a black man could beat the system after the L.A. police and the prosecution had failed to properly make the case against him.
I do think there's difference between taking the stance that Simpson technically deserved to go free and believing that he was innocent, or even more alarmingly saying "we love you O.J. whether you're guilty or not", but I'd rather focus on the changes that need to be made to the criminal justice system than take it upon myself to judge those who rightfully and reasonably have come to the point of having no faith at all in it.
The course of Simpson's life after he was found not guilty was so gross. The Browns were forced to hand over their grandchildren to their daughter's murderer, and to deal with him on a regular basis. The Goldmans spent the rest of O.J.'s life trying to get some kind of justice for their son's murder. I shudder to think what his relationship with his children must have been. And then he lived in such a debauched way, surrounded by bottom-feeders or vulnerable people, because functional people of integrity would have nothing to do with him. This is why we need prisons. Murderers and other violent criminals should not be walking free among us.
I agree that he Simpson did not deserve such a long sentence for the robbery and that his receiving one was a broken system's way of trying to compensate for his being wrongly found innocent for two horrific murders, but I can't get too worked up about it. He did belong in prison, and it's a relief to think he at least had to spend nine years in prison.
posted by orange swan at 9:23 AM on March 20
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posted by Atreides at 9:32 AM on July 5, 2016