HipKat
Buffalo to The Bone!!
- Joined
- Sep 20, 2011
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- Age
- 59
- Location
- Pekin, IL (Buffalo Transplant)
Anyone here watch the series?? I'm surprised I couldn't find a thread on it, knowing some old timers post here that surely remember not only the trial but his football days.
First, the series itself is done incredibly well. The depth they went into in covering every aspect of OJ's life from a kid in the projects, how his friends viewed him, how he kept his friends close through college was something we haven't seen or heard about. I think they've done a masterful job of showing how he went from nothing to a humble, gifted athlete in his early college days, then as that humility chipped away little by little. I really thought the way they showed how he became more ingrained in the SoCal elite community, and one thing that stood out was that he never wanted to be considered a black athlete, but a talented athlete who was cherished for his abilities alone, not his skin color.
Secondly, while everyone knew about the problems between the LA police and the black community, espn did a very good job of going into a lot of detail about just HOW bad it was. The way they really got away from OJ in episode 2 and focused mainly on the problems in South Central LA for most of that episode was really enlightening. I lived in LA in the late 80's and I didn't know just how bad it was. Overall, espn has shown us details most of us never knew; for example, Mark Furman wanting to be released from the LAPD with a pension based on his attitudes towards blacks well before the murders happened. I never knew that THAT was what first triggered the interest in him being a racist and opened the door to investigating him further.
Third, the way they used interviews by people I wouldn't have expected to want to be part of this to show how OJ went from a very positive person to uncovering the dark side of him that had begun to show itself long before the murders. I thought one of the most important and telling lines was when his one friend -whose name I forget- had told him early on "OJ, you've been extremely blessed by God and you're not giving anything back to him. One day,. everyone is going to know everything you've ever done." That had come true. I had never seen video from Nicole's memorial and AC's speech really touched me. He must have been extremely conflicted because he obviously loved Nicole yet was bound to OJ by a lifelong friendship.
I thought the interviews were gripping. I wouldn't think Fuhrman would want to dredge all that up again and the way people like OJ's Agent and Mike Shipp, et al bared themselves and admitted that they knew this guy they loved was really guilty was huge. Especially when his agent said that when asked, he told OJ that he thought he probably did it and OJ's reply was that "If she hadn't answered the door with a knife, she'd still be alive".
I know the whole subject rubs people the wrong way and that people are sick of OJ and the whole thing, but this is something historic. This series is an excellent study and presentation and incredibly detailed account of every single thing that played into the entire event from the rapidly growing black community in the 50's to the abuses by the LAPD (Focusing on the Police Chiefs of those era's and how naive and racially insensitive they were) to the story of OJ. The rise and fall of someone so very famous and so very loved at the level OJ was had not ever been seen in recent times. The trial was more than just OJ, it was much bigger. It was a community vs. a Police force. It was something that had been brewing for decades and OJ was just the lynch pin that not only put that conflict into a court room but played it out live for the whole world to see.
I highly encourage everyone to put their hatred for OJ and their surface feelings aside and watch this, because it's not just another story of the OJ murders and trial, but a historic representation of the Los Angeles region and the underlying events prior to, during and after the trial.
First, the series itself is done incredibly well. The depth they went into in covering every aspect of OJ's life from a kid in the projects, how his friends viewed him, how he kept his friends close through college was something we haven't seen or heard about. I think they've done a masterful job of showing how he went from nothing to a humble, gifted athlete in his early college days, then as that humility chipped away little by little. I really thought the way they showed how he became more ingrained in the SoCal elite community, and one thing that stood out was that he never wanted to be considered a black athlete, but a talented athlete who was cherished for his abilities alone, not his skin color.
Secondly, while everyone knew about the problems between the LA police and the black community, espn did a very good job of going into a lot of detail about just HOW bad it was. The way they really got away from OJ in episode 2 and focused mainly on the problems in South Central LA for most of that episode was really enlightening. I lived in LA in the late 80's and I didn't know just how bad it was. Overall, espn has shown us details most of us never knew; for example, Mark Furman wanting to be released from the LAPD with a pension based on his attitudes towards blacks well before the murders happened. I never knew that THAT was what first triggered the interest in him being a racist and opened the door to investigating him further.
Third, the way they used interviews by people I wouldn't have expected to want to be part of this to show how OJ went from a very positive person to uncovering the dark side of him that had begun to show itself long before the murders. I thought one of the most important and telling lines was when his one friend -whose name I forget- had told him early on "OJ, you've been extremely blessed by God and you're not giving anything back to him. One day,. everyone is going to know everything you've ever done." That had come true. I had never seen video from Nicole's memorial and AC's speech really touched me. He must have been extremely conflicted because he obviously loved Nicole yet was bound to OJ by a lifelong friendship.
I thought the interviews were gripping. I wouldn't think Fuhrman would want to dredge all that up again and the way people like OJ's Agent and Mike Shipp, et al bared themselves and admitted that they knew this guy they loved was really guilty was huge. Especially when his agent said that when asked, he told OJ that he thought he probably did it and OJ's reply was that "If she hadn't answered the door with a knife, she'd still be alive".
I know the whole subject rubs people the wrong way and that people are sick of OJ and the whole thing, but this is something historic. This series is an excellent study and presentation and incredibly detailed account of every single thing that played into the entire event from the rapidly growing black community in the 50's to the abuses by the LAPD (Focusing on the Police Chiefs of those era's and how naive and racially insensitive they were) to the story of OJ. The rise and fall of someone so very famous and so very loved at the level OJ was had not ever been seen in recent times. The trial was more than just OJ, it was much bigger. It was a community vs. a Police force. It was something that had been brewing for decades and OJ was just the lynch pin that not only put that conflict into a court room but played it out live for the whole world to see.
I highly encourage everyone to put their hatred for OJ and their surface feelings aside and watch this, because it's not just another story of the OJ murders and trial, but a historic representation of the Los Angeles region and the underlying events prior to, during and after the trial.