Vinson Cunningham writes of how the events depicted in The People v. O.J. Simpson will be with some of us forever.
I very much admired the skill of this series, especially the expert way such a vast, sprawling story was so effectively shorthanded by the writers. I also thought most of the roles were expertly cast and superbly acted. The two exceptions for me were Cuba Gooding Jr., who looked a lot guiltier and less like a movie star than the real O.J. ever did, and Nathan Lane, who simply radiates too much of a sense of humor to play the self-obsessed, arrogant F. Lee Bailey. But maybe that was a function of how few lines he had, most of them rather funny…because Lane is usually such a superior actor. (Call me crazy but in the long run, I decided John Travolta was great casting as Robert Shapiro.)
I am or maybe was a bit uncomfortable with the whole enterprise, I guess. I watched some of the folks in the story like Fred Goldman and Chris Darden, correctly depicted as undeservedly suffering greatly because of this case…and I couldn't help but wonder if this new series wasn't creating a new round of suffering for them, along with fictionalizing their lives a bit, which can really bother some people. Then again, Marcia Clark seems fine with the series and maybe even pleased…so I guess I shouldn't feel as I do.
There's something very powerful about looking back at this story now when so much has changed…and so much hasn't. I never thought Johnnie Cochran could really have believed his victory did anything for the cause of race relations, though he may have outwardly rationalized it that way. I think the record shows that it didn't. The ending of the last part showed Simpson starting to realize that while he was technically Not Guilty, he was not going to go back to being O.J. the Star with a wealthy man's lifestyle…and indeed, he did not. Even before he committed the crime for which he went to prison in Nevada, he was not experiencing the expected comeback. More on that in the next Video Link.
I actually don't think time has been very rewarding to anyone who sat at the Defense Table in that courtroom with the exception of Barry Scheck. At the event the other night, the audience cheered in the epilogue where it reminded us that F. Lee Bailey got himself disbarred. Scheck may have helped O.J. win acquittal by convincing the jury that DNA evidence was not to be trusted, but at least he's somewhat redeemed himself by convincing courts that it should be, and helping to clear the wrongfully-convicted.
One thing that struck me: In the finale last night, there's a scene where D.A. Gil Garcetti is giving the post-verdict press conference and one of the reporters calls out, "Are you going to find the real killers?" The film showed Garcetti wincing and not dignifying the question with a reply. Marcia Clark in the above-linked interview says that didn't happen.
I do recall it being asked of Garcetti, maybe not in that particular conference but in one of them. I also recall him replying with something along the lines of "No, we had the right guy." And I also recall that in one of the eighty zillion O.J. books that I have boxed-up somewhere, there's a scene of O.J. watching this on TV at the Rockingham estate and cursing that Garcetti had said what he said. I don't remember which book it was. They all blur together now.
Much of the Simpson story is a blur but the two things that remain clear and probably always will are what a total and overwhelming distraction it was at the time…and how badly "the system" worked. Hey, but at least the guy who brutally murdered Ron and Nicole isn't playing golf all day. That's something.