watching People vs O.J. Simpson on Netflix. I am on episode 7. I am very impressed by the quality of the show. They not only captured the case, but the media circus around that.
Anyone who was not an adult in 1994 likely would benefit from watching the show, to get a much better understanding of just how major it was. Cable news came alive with Desert Storm, but this took out to a much higher level.
I was working a summer job at a foundry when the murders took place. My two closest coworkers were middle-aged African-American men who lived in Compton and South Central. This was just 2 years post Rodney King riots. We had a lot of great conversations on race and class.
The morning after the murders, they were certain that O.J. had done it, but they still wanted him to get off, due to their hatred of the racist justice system. The eventual turn to making the case a race issue rather than a mere celebrity trial was very logical, given the back drop of racial tensions in SoCal.
But O.J. had large support from all over the community and it really was the greatest reality show outside of war (or the last election).
I happened to be on the freeway driving back from San Diego when O.J. was in the white bronco. The radio suddenly was saying , " He is passing mile maker 54" on every station. I was about 2 miles behind. I did choose to take an alternate route and race ahead of the mess. I did see cars and people and signs out.
Anyway, our crazy celebrity driven culture existed before the O.J. trial, but it really got out of control after it. Reality TV and police procedural shows became the norm.
Anyway, this show is well done.