O.J.: Made in America Finds New Ways to Make the Simpson Saga Compelling
Made in America, which made its debut at the Sundance Film Festival back in January and premieres Saturday (9/8c on ABC, with subsequent parts airing on ESPN), kicks off with a history lesson about the racial tensions in Los Angeles dating back to the Civil Rights era, in parallel with Simpson's upbringing and first exposure to stardom as a standout athlete at the University of Southern California.
American Crime Story gave us a nice primer about how race played a role in the Simpson verdict, but Made in America hammers the point home, with several experts (and one juror) saying point-blank that Simpson's actual guilt or innocence mattered little to many of those who supported him, or to those who handed down the final verdict.
"O.J. Simpson was a vessel," one civil rights activist freely admits, even as the documentary clearly explains that Simpson was not, in anyone's mind including his own, a symbol of black America until he was arrested and charged with a double murder.
Director Ezra Edelman has obtained unprecedented access to many of the case's central figures, including lead prosecutor Marcia Clark, Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti, LAPD Det. Mark Fuhrman, two jurors, several members of the defense team (minus Robert Shapiro), as well as relatives and friends of the victims.
In its fifth and final installment, the documentary takes us beyond the trial to Simpson's life afterwards, up to his 2007 arrest and conviction for armed robbery and kidnapping after an incident in a Las Vegas hotel room.
In the documentary, O.J. is seen living it up, partying with new groups of friends and fans, still making plenty of money from memorabilia sales, and finding a seemingly endless supply of women to sleep with him...
[...] he was sentenced to more than 30 years in prison.