While reviewing Discovery’s latest O.J. Simpson documentary, I realized The People v. O.J. Simpson turned 10 years old this year. As part of the short-lived Ryan Murphy anthology series American Crime Story, it meticulously dramatized a cultural moment (and the ascension of the true crime genre) that those who lived through it will never forget and, in most cases, never understood. The best thing this series does is, ironically, indict the way a deeply human tragedy unfolded as entertainment.
Two years after this show finished, a 2006 interview with O.J. Simpson from Judith Regan finally debuted. Despite his assertion it was “hypothetical,” it is a chilling confession of murder from the man who I now believe killed Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Given this reality, The People v. O.J. Simpson is kinder to its subject, played by Cuba Gooding, Jr., than he deserved. But the purpose of this show is not to convict Simpson. Rather, it is the best reminder yet that this cultural and media event happened to human beings, who are by nature complex and unknowable.
The People v. O.J. Simpson Is A Prime Example Of Drama As The ‘Lie That Tells The Truth’
While the Brown and Goldman family does appear in the series, their roles are very limited. At first this may seem like an oversight, and that the storytellers ignored them like so many other dramatizations and documentaries have in the past. The same is true for Simpson’s family, particularly his children. They are present but not featured. That is because American Crime Story kept its focus on the people who became public figures during the spectacle of the investigation and trial. The show treats them respectfully, but to try to craft scenes showing their private grief, fear, anger, or anything else would be distasteful at best.
Those who understand storytelling know that the best villains in fiction see themselves as the heroes of their own story. This is how The People v. O.J. Simpson treats the figures on every side. Drawing from the public record, subsequent books, and interviews, the writers and performers depict both infamous and private moments. What makes it so compelling is that take everyone at face value. Gooding, Jr. especially imbues his performance as O.J. with nuance and emotion. There are silent moments when the camera lingers on O.J. allowing the viewer to read the subtext they expect in the scene. Both the prosecutors and defense lawyers are treated as professionals with ‘pure’ goals, specifically to convict or defend Simpson.
One clear villain in this story is LAPD Detective Mark Fuhrman, who lied about his racism and tainted the prosecution’s case. While the series treats his investigation of the two crime scenes as honest, it also effectively provides the necessary context that shows the LAPD’s history is such that his connection to the most damning pieces of evidence add up to reasonable doubt. The series doesn’t even tease that he planted evidence to jam up O.J., but it makes the case for why the suggestion he would isn’t some outlandish claim.
After this series first debuted, I found myself digging into the footage, transcripts, and files made public after the trial with a journalistic eye for a project I later abandoned. But I learned capturing the spirit of moment from the O.J. Simpson trial is what this series does best. From scenes inside the Bronco to those that played out in court, they aren’t exact depictions of what happened. Yet they absolutely capture what reporters call “the best obtainable version of the truth.” But as dramatists, the storytellers do this not for the facts but with a charitable eye towards the feelings of those involved.
The ‘Heroes’ And/Or ‘Villains’ Of The O.J. Simpson Trial Are People First Thanks To A Stellar Cast
Even with the careful construction of the story, the cast is what makes this series work so well. Gooding, Jr. does such impeccable work, he forces viewers to empathize with Simpson. He also captures the volatile anger simmering beneath the surface, effectively playing those moments as equal parts evidence of guilt or the frustration of a man falsely accused. Sarah Paulson does the same with Marcia Clark, depicting her as a dedicated jurist eager for justice and a woman in over her head both professionally and personally. David Schwimmer, Courtney B. Vance, John Travolta, and so many others are at the top of their game. Lastly, the late Malcolm Jamal Warner is brilliant as A.C. Cowlings.
This cast makes viewers understand and empathize with everyone involved in this story. Even when the sleazy lawyers are being sleazy, they aren’t villains. They are doing what defense attorneys must do for their clients. Those of us old enough to have watched this drama play out in real-time back in the 1990s know all these names and have ideas about who these people are. American Crime Story doesn’t just challenge those preconceptions, it subverts them. At the very least, viewers understand exactly why this murder investigation and trial captivated a nation so intensely.
Most importantly, the cast does an excellent job at humanizing these characters, even Travolta’s bold and, at times, odd take on Robert Shapiro. Viewers may not end up “rooting for” the prosecutors, defendants, cops, or even O.J. himself. Yet, if they pay attention and listen to what this series has to tell them, they will walk away from it understanding everyone involved a little better. For decades, people projected motivations and raw malice onto the figures in this case, as if they were characters in a TV show. It took a dramatization of this caliber to remind everyone that they were all just imperfect people in a situation that would have been impossible to manage without it being the biggest media story of the 1990s.
The People v. O.J. Simpson Does Not Offer Viewers Any Closure, Because We Don’t Deserve It
Even before O.J.’s truly breathtaking confessional interview with Regan debuted in 2018, people remained astounded that his guilt wasn’t obvious to the jury. The People v. O.J. Simpson‘s most captivating and dramatic moments are built around the reasons why that jury had to return a not guilty verdict because of reasonable doubt. This is not a case of storytellers presenting a version of events that support one conclusion or another. Rather, this series shows in painful detail why what should have been a slam-dunk conviction went the other way.
This is not a series that delivers closure for those who still feel the emotional pangs of this event. If anything, those who reacted to it strongly one way or another will feel even worse about it after the credits roll on the finale. It is rich, perfect irony that a show created to entertain viewers about a real-life situation indicts viewers for treating the real thing that way. If American Crime Story fails to capture anything from that time, it’s how intense and ubiquitous it was culturally. I remember seeing the verdict read on TV in the middle of science class. Something about this felt historic and important. The show sensitively examines how this trial became representative of larger social issues around celebrity, systemic racial injustice, or the way society fails the domestically abused. Yet it wasn’t for those reasons that every kid in my high school watched the verdict live.
Two years after his death, O.J. Simpson still captures people’s attention. There was the Discovery Channel documentary about his failed “prank show.” Even though ESPN’s O.J. Made In America won a documentary Oscar the same year this show debuted, Netflix released a similar documentary series just last year. I am almost ashamed to admit that I’ve seen them all, largely because I remember the O.J. trial era so vividly. Still, none of them quite capture the humanity of all those involved like The People v. O.J. Simpson.
Rating: 4.8/5
The People v. O.J. Simpson is available to own on DVD, Blu-ray, digital, and streams on Disney+ and Hulu.
