OJ: Made in America - Part 5 (2016)

The first 25 minutes are dedicated to the verdict and the immediate aftermath of the verdict of the criminal case against OJ. There are reactions from just about everyone involved in the case and interviewed for the documentary. Most striking about this may be the way in which the verdict divided America. Some people thought it was about the murder of Nicole Brown-Simpson and Ron Goldman whereas for others it was about the bigger issue of a black celebrity getting treated the way a white celebrity would get treated. As one of the jurors who was interviewed for the documentary pointed out, if the prosecution and investigators had handled the case differently and more professionally (not her words exactly but I think this is the gist of what she was getting at) then maybe the verdict would have been different. The other juror who was interviewed for the documentary made it clear that this was all about payback for Rodney King.

The second trial, the civil case brought by the parents of Ron Goldman, gets considerably less coverage is the documentary and presumably in the media at the time than the first trial did. The outcome of the case is that Simpson is held responsible for the deaths of Nicole and Ron and ordered to pay $33 million in damages. Fred Goldman, Ron's father, was interviewed and appeared in both this and the prior two installments. He had quite a bit to say. He understandably will never fully recover from the murder of his son but is for the most part very clear spoken and adamant in his conviction that Simpson deserves to be punished for what he did.

Simpson's life following the second trial, over the next 10 years, goes into what many would see as a downward spiral. Even though he gets custody of his son and daughter from his marriage with Nicole he is far from a responsible parent. He tries to return to being the celebrity he once was but quickly comes to realize that he has been tainted by the criminal case even though he was acquitted. He is able to make money (mostly through signing autographs and celebrity appearances) and does what he can to keep that money from getting used to pay the debt that he owes to the Goldmans.

He moves to Florida where no one seems to care if he murdered Ron and Nicole. He starts hanging out with a more dangerous element. His public behavior becomes more outrageous. He starts dating a woman who to many looks like Nicole.

The final chapter is the incident that landed him jail where he remains to this day. In an effort to recover some of his personal possessions he holds up a sports memorabilia dealer in a Las Vegas casino. The Vegas judge in charge of the case throws the book at him when it comes time for sentencing and he is sent to prison for 33 years. Was what he did armed robbery? Yes, but it is questionable whether he deserved to receive that long a prison sentence for the crimes he committed in Las Vegas.

One of the more interesting characters in this installment, who also appeared in the last couple installments is Mike Gilbert. He was OJ Simpson's agent. He helped OJ during and after the trial. He helped to move lots of OJ's memorabilia and personal possessions out of his home before they could be seized by authorities to help satisfy his debt to the Goldman family. He is implicated by one of the sports memorabilia dealers in this segment for selling off OJ's possessions. He does not respond to this claim. Not discussed in the documentary is his book, How I Helped O.J. Get Away with Murder. He claims that this is something he will have to live with for the rest of his life but the dispassionate way he says it makes me wonder how culpable he feels.

This installment of the series was probably the least satisfying for me. It lacked the juxtaposition of counter narratives found in the earlier installments. In some way OJ, at least as portrayed in this installment became a considerably less compelling personality as he began to indulge himself more and more.

Overall I thought all 7.5 hours plus of the documentary were worth my time but it probably isn't everyone's up of tea. Other opinions exist. I'm glad I watched it but I am ready to move on and watch something else. I don't see myself revisiting this documentary in the future. I think that for the most part my summaries in this blog will suffice to jog my memory in case I do want to revisit the story of OJ Simpson.

OJ: Made in America - Part 4 (2016)

This installment of the series was entirely focused on the trial and the things that surrounded it.

Mark Fuhrman played a big role in this part of the documentary. He had appeared prior to this but for the first time the spotlight is turned on him. His reputation is that he is a racist. He denies this under oath, on the witness stand. Later tapes emerge from 1985 of him using racial epithets and advocating very heavy handed tactics against African-Americans. Fuhrman is interviewed for the documentary and he plays it off as stories he made up. When asked about the tapes during the trial he invokes his 5th amendment rights and refuses to answer the questions. The jury only gets to hear a couple snippets from the tapes.

The questionable methods used by the Los Angeles Police Department in gathering evidence are also spotlighted. There were cameras everywhere when the police were working and by carefully examining photographs and video of crime scene investigators the defense team was able to poke a number of large holes in the value of the evidence being used by prosecution in their case against O.J. Simpson. At first it seemed like there was a preponderance of evidence that OJ killed his ex-wife, Nicole, and Ron Goldman but the case made by the defense calls into question the validity of much of that evidence based on the fact that there was lots of potential for contamination of the evidence.

Underlying the murder case is the the larger context: the African American community vs the Los Angeles Police Department. As was made clear in the first two installments, the LAPD had a very poor track record when it came to how they treated African Americans who lived in LA. A large portion of the African American citizens felt that OJ was innocent. The subtle implication is that their support for him was not because they felt he was innocent but because he was an African American man on a big stage in their hometown who was being put through the ringer. He was emblematic for them, his case was emblematic for them. It wasn't that he did or didn't do it. It was that he was one of their community (or at least looked like he was) and facing off against the same police department that had treated them poorly for decades.

There are a number of smaller spotlights cast on people like Ron Shipp when he tried testifying for the prosecution, and Ron Goldman's father's public reactions to the defense team's tactics. The bloody gloves that were found, one at the murder scene and the other behind OJ's house, also get their own moment as Chris Darden gets goaded into asking OJ to try them on only to discover that they don't fit. The installment winds down with the closing remarks of Johnny Cochran and leaves it there for the final installment.

Once again fascinating to watch. It is much easier to watch now that it isn't everywhere on the news like it was back then. It also doesn't hurt that the dust on the case has settled.

OJ: Made in America - Part 3 (2016)

This segment covered more territory than I thought it would. It started with murders of Nicole Brown-Simpson and Ron Goldman and went into a good portion of the trial.

There was a lot of material to cover and somethings didn't get quite as much of or the sort of focus that I thought they might. There is some discussion of the initial investigation. There are a number of police officers interviewed, many of whom also appeared in earlier episodes commenting on non-OJ related topics like the beating of Rodney King.

There are spotlights on Johnny Cochran, Marcia Clark, and Christopher Darden. Clark is the only one of the three interviewed for the documentary. Cochran passed away in 2005. Carl E. Douglas, a lawyer and member of the defense team has quite a bit to say about the case. There is also a spotlight on LAPD Officer Mark Fuhrman and the showdown of sorts that occurred between Cochran and Darden in court over the admissibility of Fuhrman's track record as a police officer.

There is some exploration of why the African-American community rallied behind OJ, who up to that point did as much as he could to distance himself from them. References are made back to past events such as the Watts riots, the beating of Rodney King and the trial and the riots that followed the trial, all of which were discussed in prior episodes.

One of the things that really sticks with me about this part of the story is the way two of his friends from childhood reacted differently to the murders. Al Cowlings stuck by OJ and was driving the white Bronco when OJ fled the police and headed home where he was eventually arrested after a long standoff. Ron Shipp reacted very differently, especially after he heard OJ tell different people different stories about how his hand was cut the night of the murders. The defense team asked Shipp to be a part of their team, but he declined.

The other thing that stuck me the most about this part of the story is the look on OJ's face in court. I'm not sure if it is accurate to say that he was enjoying watching his defense team work but he didn't seem down in the dumps in the footage they did show from court. I found myself drawn to watch him even when he wasn't the one speaking.

Once again, it was riveting to watch. I was out of the country for most of 1994 and don't have a coherent recollection of the series of events. Even after I returned I didn't pay much attention to the coverage in the news. Considering that this one ends in the midst of the trial I am eager to get back to this story and see how it is covered in the two remaining segments of the documentary.

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.

OJ: Made in America - Part 1 (2016)

I was fascinated by this installment of this five-part series. It starts with his time at the University of Southern California and follows him up until he met Nicole Brown, his future second wife, a little more than 10 years later. There is a good mix of coverage of his college and professional football career, his work as a spokesman for Hertz and Chevrolet, and insights into his personal life and what motivated him at that time. OJ appears in the documentary quite a bit, although he did not take part in the making of the it. It is all footage from past interviews he did with various news people.

There are a number of people who are interviewed who knew him personally and professionally in various capacities: childhood friends, college and professional football teammates, sports journalists who interviewed and wrote about him over the years.

This installment opens on a chilling scene from a probation hearing that occurred 5 years after OJ was incarcerated for armed robbery. I was surprised that the director was able to obtain such footage for the movie.

One other part that I found chilling was the juxtaposition of various footage from 1968 without explanation or dialogue from interviews. The scenes from that year are a mix of OJ's appearance on a Bob Hope special, the announcements of the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy, the Black Power salute at the 1968 Olympics, and the riots that occurred in a a number of cities following the assassination of MLK.

OJ isn't the only subject of the documentary. It also looks at the world he grew up in and was living in during this period. There are profiles of the Los Angeles Police Department, the Watts Riots, and Muhammad Ali who (unlike OJ) took a stance on the war in Vietnam and the Civil Rights Movement. OJ is the primary focus of the movie but the inclusion of these little sidebars help to flesh out the story and provide contrast to OJ and show who he was and was not.

This documentary is almost 8 hours long. It was released in 5 parts. Ezra Edelman, the director, recommends watching it all in one sitting. I can't stomach the thought of doing that. It took me three sittings just to get through this part, which is 90 minutes long. I am fascinated by it but I just can't sit still for that long to watch a movie.

I don't recall exactly where I heard about this documentary series first. It was discussed on a number of podcasts that I listen to regularly. I recall hearing Ezra Edelman talk about it on WTF. That is probably what got me the most interested in watching it. That episode of WTF is available but it is behind a pay wall now. I should probably chip in so that I can listen to it again but if I decide to do so then it won't be until after I have watched all five parts.

The only other podcast that I listened to where this program was discussed at length, that I recall, is Crime Writers On. They talked about it on the June 23, 2016 episode which can be found by doing a google search for Crime Writers On Made in America. I believe they also covered The People vs OJ Simpson on a different episode but I have not watched that yet.

I highly recommend this installment to anyone who is remotely interested in a nuanced documentary about OJ Simpson. I was out of the country when the Ford Bronco incident occurred and didn't pay close attention to the murder trial. I do recall where I was when the verdict was announced but once again I didn't pay much attention, probably because everyone else was talking about it and that's just the way I am. I'm looking forward to watching the next installment in the series and seeing what other insights it provides and the way in which Ezra Edelman assembles and presents the information.