american crime story: the people v.s. oj simpson
usa | 2016
10 episodes
available on netflix
Well, now, this is something new.
Except probably not, because I've already alluded to my fascination with true crime. That sounds bad in a way, but I am not slavering at the mouth to sink my teeth into someone else's fear, pain and likely spilled blood. I think some of it rests in the human instinct to take such cases as cautionary tales (the My Favorite Murder ladies speak a lot about their feels on this) and a lot of it is the former Psychology major in me: you look at some people and what they chose to do and you think, "How the heck did you toss away a good life, a fulfilled life, to end someone else's?"
I, of course, am referring to the erstwhile leading man - so to speak - in this particular drama: O.J. Simpson.
Sometimes it's weird to realize I technically lived through the O.J. Simpson case. I am not old enough to have any reasonable documentation or memory of the pageantry and scandal of it all. The earliest memory I have of "Juice" was my dad turning my head gently away from a tabloid magazine with his idle smirk plastered over it.
"Don't look at him. He's no good."
Of course, that's the last thing you should really tell a kid. "He's not good." "She came to a bad end." However, unlike poor Jon-Benet Ramsay (who my mom outright told me on another visit to the same supermarket had been "tragically killed" and was a "lesson on stranger danger", which is...I'm not sure if we read about the same case, to be honest - *cough* theramsaysstagedacoverup), I oddly didn't probe too much into it until later on, when the correlation between the case and the Rodney King beating came up in a college class.
So I could probably tell you a handful of things about the whole thing: a) it involved a famous ex-football player, b) his ex-wife was the victim, c) it is the reason we have this whole Kardashian dynasty (rest in peace, Robert Kardashian, but UGH) and d) it came at a very bad time in L.A.'s history with a lot of racial lines drawn.
All of this to say, I wasn't really biased one way or another on this, unlike the aforementioned Jon-Benet, so I came to this show with a clean slate and an open mind. I'm honestly glad I did.
This is random, but in spite of being an officially working girl with her own Netflix account, I haven't properly binged a show. Maybe I'm being too strict with the definition, but to me, binging means not leaving your spot for a few hours - or maybe more - or not pausing to switch to another show because things are getting too dramatic and heavy for you (see also: I take things way too seriously and it is bad for my emotional health), and I...do neither of those.
But this...this I have been binging. This post may be premature because I'm still working my way through episode 4, but it's pretty engrossing.
Want to know a fun fact about the way in which my life does tangentially intersect with O.J's, by the way?
That judge who got his break overseeing this case? I met his childhood friend. They spent time together in a Japanese American internment camp. Layer upon layer to discuss in terms of injustice, prejudice and systemic racism in this entire timeline, to be honest.
Back to the show, though.
It's a good thing I already didn't want to like O.J. because Cuba Gooding, Jr. does a really good job of making you HATE him. Probably because I already intensely dislike Cuba Gooding, Jr. I'm only sparing him a "hate" just because, unlike O.J., the odds aren't high - or, well, existent at all - that he murdered his ex-wife and the mother of his young children.
He does do his job, though. Quite well. Every time his face crosses the screen, I have an intense need to shake him.
The cast is pretty amazing, overall, to be honest: Nathan Lane, Sterling K. Brown (why does this man always look like he's one step away from betraying the King of Wakanda, though?), David Schwimmer...Some pretty unexpected names in serious roles, pulling it off without cracking a smile or making you doubt your conviction.
And Sarah Paulson...I've never seen her in a role before, mainly because I'm a big baby and absolutely refuse to endure the gory, violent, vicious mess that is any season of American Horror Story, but as the lead prosecutor, Marcia Clark, she simply shines. She is believably harassed, heckled and disliked, and you have to root for her through it.
And God, the way she is treated as a woman in her field, particularly once the media circus hits the road, is painfully believable.
And of course, there are plenty of moments when the call is coming from inside the building.
Unfortunately, she does not sink her teeth into his hand after he says this.
I wish she had.
As you can probably already tell, this case is not a light-hearted watch. I'm personally surprised with myself that I'm so into it after the last day of school, packing up my classroom and being, quite frankly, emotionally wrung out by everything and everyone around me.
There's SO MUCH being spoken on in one ten-episode show, and though it's not always perfectly executed, the attempts are strong and well-felt, from the glass ceiling to the victims who are quickly forgotten:
And let's not forget the anti-Blackness and whitesplaining:
(This isn't going to be a spoiler if you're a person of color, but...guess who does the press conference? It's not Johnnie.)
This is going to be a weird comparison to draw, but...this show is kinda like Twin Peaks. It is dark and complicated and often sad as heck, but it has its moments of absurdist twists and ways in which it attempts to tip the balance in the other direction. It doesn't have to work hard or force the tone, either - because rich people, and Hollywood, and the overpowering cloud of celebrity that hangs over the entire case is already there to mold and shape.
It probably doesn't hurt that the whole 90s color scheme and aesthetics are working their way through the background.
Anyway. Episode 4, just moving into the trial, highs and lows, ups and downs...my opinion might take a downward swing, but right now it's holding steady on the "worth it, better watch the next episode" side of things.
And I know I said I wasn't spoiled for all of this, but I did end up Googling so I do know how it's going to end. Oops! I guess there's no way to avoid that when it comes to historical events and background, even when binging and not moving from your chair for hours.
Post a Comment