American Crime Story: The People v. O. J. Simpson
OJ Simpson was released from a prison in Nevada on October 1 after serving 9 years for attempted armed robbery. Simpson was a star in the NFL and has won awards for his works. He has acted in a few movies and T.V. shows. However, he is also known as the defendant for the “Trial of the Century.” The trial was one of the most watched court cases in history. While the trial was popular with a celebrity as the defendant, it raised the issues of racism and police tensions. There were books that explained the process of the trial and they were adapted into a FX T.V. show.
The People v. O. J. Simpson follows Simpson from the night of the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman to the verdict in the court case. The story is mostly accurate, but still dramatizes a few parts for the audience. Although it’s about Simpson, the show focuses on the other characters involved in the trial as well. It focused on the Prosecution team to prove Simpson guilty and the defense team to acquit Simpson of the charge. While the main plot is the trial, the show goes into the personal struggle of each character during the trial.
The show obviously has a theme of tensions between the police and African American community. One example of this theme was the defense’s strategy to allege that Mark Fuhrman, a former detective at the LAPD, planted the glove at Simpson’s house as part of a racially motivated plot to frame him for the murders. Fuhrman had made racist remarks towards African-Americans and the defense played tapes of these remarks in the court as evidence.
One thing I noticed when I watched the show was they never showed Brown and Goldman being murdered on-screen. Their dead bodies were seen, but not shown how they became that way. I believe producers wanted to stay neutral and let the audience watch the show through the eyes of the prosecution and defense. I think this move was smart because it lets the viewers think about the case and evidence on their own.
I enjoyed watching the show and the performance by some of the actors. I was not alive at the time of the case, so watching this show helps me understand the case and the action that happened behind it. Even though I knew the verdict, it was still entertaining to watch. I recommend this show to anyone who enjoys courtroom dramas. I agree that racism and police tensions are problems in this country and they need to be discussed.
