The People vs. O.J. Simpson

Friends of my family came and visited us when I was about eleven years old.  They wanted to go on a drive through Brentwood and see the spots associated with the O.J. Simpson trial. I didn't know what they were talking about really, but I had remembered the announcing of the verdict being a big deal at school. Kids were talking about it the day it happened, but of course they didn't really know anything they were saying in fourth grade.  I remember being scared passing Nicole Simpson's condo on South Bundy Drive. All I knew was that two people had been murdered there, and we were driving at night. That in itself seemed scary to me.

I would later pick up information on the O.J. trial as I got older from various places, mostly online and from people a little older than myself who had watched it all play out on television. The racial divide coming off of the L.A. riots had been strong in Los Angeles, and a black celebrity on trial for murder seemed ripe for the tragedy of the case to be downplayed, making room for race and politics to be at the forefront of the trial.

"The People vs. O.J. Simpson" manages to be respectful to the victims, but also exhibits the power of wealth and celebrity, showing how those factors can lead to a conclusion that may not be the one that makes the most sense. Expertly shot and written, the show manages to ratchet up the tension when the viewer already knows what is going to happen. Sarah Paulson, Courtney B. Vance and Sterling K. Brown are spectacular in their roles of Marcia Clark, Johnnie Cohran, and Christopher Darden, respectively. They take the viewer on an emotional ride, one that must have agonizing to live through in reality. The "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia" episode shows the media microscope at its most terrifying, one ready to tear apart anyone to sell tabloids. Paulson's every glance is powerful, growing with intensity as the trial continues to the infamous trying on the glove and Mark Fuhrman taking the stand. The viewer almost wants to look away for Clark's sake, knowing the next car crash is just around the corner for the prosecution. Cochran meanwhile seems to tell the right story to just the right jury. Two people were killed, justice was not served, and in the end, the lives of everyone involved in the trial would be forever changed (most for the worse).

"The People vs. O.J. Simpson" is composed of one gripping episode after the next. I walked away incredible impressed with the production, yet frustrated at that inevitable outcome. It is also one of the best television series of the past year.