OJ: Made in America - Part 2 (2016)

Unlike the first part, I watched this one in a single sitting. It was riveting. It covers the 1980s and the early 1990s, from the marriage of OJ and Nicole to their divorce.

Similar to the previous installment this one is also about the climate in Los Angeles at the time, especially about the relationship between the LAPD and the African-American community. There are a number of cases that are used to illustrate the excessive and deadly levels of violence used by the police when dealing with the African-American community. I was not familiar with cases like that of Eulia Love, Latasha Harlins, or Operation Hammer prior to watching this installment.

The beating of Rodney King is shown several times. There are a number of (presumably retired) police officers who offer comments about it and the trial of four police officers that followed it. None of the officers interviewed condemn the beating of Rodney King even though some do question the leadership of Police Chief Daryl Gates.

Community leaders that are interviewed for this case are very vocal. Their stories help to illustrate the mood in the African-American in Los Angeles and why things to continue to deteriorate and eventually exploded in riots following the conclusion of the trial of the police officers who beat Rodney King.

The parts that focus on OJ begin by addressing his ego and the way he kept distance between himself and the African-American community in Los Angeles. Most notably he did this by moving to Brentwood, an upscale, mostly white neighborhood. There isn't a lot of detail on his marriage to Nicole Brown, but what is focused on quite heavily is the heavy handed way he dealt with her. Several of his friends from that time are interviewed and are candid about his womanizing and the way he brushed off Nicole's allegations of physical abuse.

This part of the story was both riveting and eye opening. It ends less than a month before Nicole was murdered. It makes it quite clear that she was scared for her life and had suffered quite a bit of physical and (probably) mental abuse in the years that she knew him. It is unclear exactly why she stayed with him as long as she did but some reasons are put forth in the interviews with people who knew her during this part of her life.