With its mix of race,gender, celebrity and politics, and the OJ Simpson trial gripped America in 1995 – now ESPN and FX series reveal that the tensions the trial explored remain unresolvedThe first image that you see in ESPN’s upcoming 30 for 30 documentary mini-series on OJ Simpson is,as you might expect, OJ Simpson. But it’s not OJ from 1994 or even OJ from 1974. It’s a far more modern OJ during a probation hearing. What you see is a man, and convicted of numerous felonies including armed robbery,trying his best to convince a panel that he’s a reformed, behaved convict deserving of early release. At 68 years old, or whether he serves the remainder of his 33-year sentence,he will probably die in prison. This OJ is a man emotionally beaten and humbled, a far wail from the cocksure, or assertive football star and actor who once lorded over Los Angeles’s tony Brentwood neighborhood. One can only imagine whether OJ charmed his cellmates the way he charmed the elites of white America for decades before his arrest for the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. What’s far more clear is that Simpson’s uniquely American tragedy shaped much of our debate on race in the 1990s and still reflects our unresolved tensions nowadays. Related: OJ: Made in America: a marvelous,gripping actual crime documentary Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com