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O.J.: Made in America

Reviewing Ezra Edelman’s 7 hour epic

By The TicketPublished 7 years ago 4 min read
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We’ve all heard the story: O.J. Simpson brutally murdered his wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman and got away with it. It’s as simple as that. The story is one of prosecutorial ineptitude, ill-fitting gloves and media sensationalism- that’s how O.J. was acquitted of a crime despite the seemingly overwhelming amount of evidence implicating him. To me it really was that simple. But I was wrong.

Even though I wasn’t alive to witness the Bronco chase or the trial, I have always been fascinated by O.J.’s story and how his super-team of lawyers managed to beat the system and prove him innocent. I’ve read multiple books on the subject and was fascinated by the FX series The People V. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story (especially the subtle shot at the Kardashian family and their thirst for fame). Until I watched Ezra Edelman’s film I had no concept of the scope of O.J.’s incredible celebrity in America. Sure, I knew that he had played football but I couldn’t fathom that he was a Heisman Trophy winner, an NFL MVP, the man who broke the single-season rushing record and was perceived as a God by many in Southern California for his incredible run. He was one of the first athlete spokesmen, the first African-American national spokesman and worked with Chevrolet, RC Cola and, most notably, Hertz; he was the role model for so many young people growing up in America- he was Michael Jordan before Michael Jordan. He was the embodiment of the great American novel- a man who, against all odds, dragged himself up from nothing and achieved everything. It was only once I started to understand who O.J. was before the trial that I started to wrap my mind around the important questions that Edelman sought to answer.

Edelman’s scope is far larger than O.J. Simpson, his life, his trial or his achievements, he seeks to tell the larger story of the city of Los Angeles, the seduction of celebrity and the complex tale of race in America. His tragic, nuanced depiction of the struggles of the African-American community in Los Angeles, their aspirations upon arriving in the growing metropolis and particularly their brutal mistreatment at the hands of the Los Angeles Police Department provides all the background necessary to understanding why it could have been so plausible to the 12 jurors that the LAPD had attempted to frame O.J. He contemplates who Orenthal James Simpson was, how he reached the pinnacle of society and how he changed himself into The Juice. To me, that is a much more interesting story than the thousandth piece of pop culture debating whether he did it or not.

Ultimately one has to see the documentary for themselves to understand Edelman’s thesis and allow the truth of his work to sink in. I can’t explain at when during the 7.5 hours I started to “get it,” but by the time I reached the end I knew that the way I saw those events, and America as a whole, was vastly different than before I sat down to watch. Yes, watching all 5 parts is a major time commitment but I assure you that it will be well worth your time. This documentary is a must-watch.

On a more technical note, it was incredible to watch a documentary that flowed so seamlessly without a narrator to guide the plot. Edelman conducted 72 interviews with people from all stages of O.J.’s life including civil-rights activists, former teammates, childhood friends, members of both the prosecution and defense teams, as well as jurors from the case. To me, the most heartbreaking interviews were those of Ron Shipp and Frank Olson. Shipp grew up in Southern California when O.J. played at USC and later became a member of the L.A.P.D. After idolizing him throughout his youth, Shipp became friends with O.J and Nicole. Later, Shipp would be O.J.’s only friend to testify against him in court, only to be ripped apart by the defense team. Shipp breaks down on camera when he relives the incident and relates how heartbreaking it was when he finally saw through O.J.’s facade.

Frank Olson was the CEO of the Hertz Corporation, the company for which O.J. was the national spokesman. Olson was a mentor to Simpson and he helped him achieve his dream of reaching the upper echelons of society. Olson also began to cry on camera when attempting to reconcile how the man he had come to know and love was capable of such evil.

Edelman’s work concludes with the strange story of O.J.’s arrest and subsequent imprisonment in Nevada for numerous felonies including armed robbery and kidnapping. Edelman includes archival footage in which a news anchor notes that Simpson’s conviction occurred 13 years to the day of his acquittal in the Brown/Goldman case, a strange coincidence. He uses the actual footage of the judge sentencing O.J. to a maximum of 33 years in federal prison. Carl E. Douglas, who was the youngest member of O.J.’s “Dream Team” and an attorney at Johnnie Cochran’s firm, points out that the date and the sentence length were no coincidences. He believes that the judge was attempting to prove a point to O.J. and to the country as a whole: that he didn’t get away with anything. Other interviewees remark that the state went out of its way to charge him with every possible crime (using some very sly legal tactics) in an attempt to force him to serve as much time as possible. It’s hard to disagree with them.

I doubt we’ll ever fully understand O.J. Simpson’s story, but Ezra Edelman’s work is the most authoritative and far-reaching account that we have and probably ever will have. I implore you to watch this film.

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The Ticket

We write the stuff you are too lazy to.

Our Blog: https://medium.com/the-ticket

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Twitter: @TheTikTac

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