FEATURE
The documentary shows his life
story running in parallel with the
history of race relations in the
US.How becoming one of the
biggest ever sporting legends
meant he could transcend colour
and race, at a time when those
issues were being contested
violently across the country. He was
the exception to the rule and far
removed from being a figure in the
civil rights movement.
MJ TO OJ:
AMERICAN
TRAGEDIES
Looking back at Michael Jackson as
icon with phenomenal talent, fame
and success, both as a star in his
field and as an African-American,
alongside the price that came with
it reminds us of another figure: OJ
Simpson.
He recently returned to the
spotlight as his 2008 conviction
could be overturned later this year.
80
The Oscar winning documentary
Made In America looks back
chronologically at his life from
his childhood, to early sporting
stardom.It takes us through his time
in Hollywood and his rich, privileged
lifestyle and crucially his relationship
with Nicole Brown Simpson, her
murder, the trial of the century
and his demise, ending with him
imprisoned for armed robbery.
Instead, he was an incredibly
successful African American
and entered a world few black
Americans did: that of the elite, rich
and famous of Los Angeles. While
he was playing golf with the likes of
now President Trump, he was so
close yet so far removed from the
riots and police brutality taking
place in a very different world,
on the streets of the same city.
The documentary is perhaps able
to reflect on the events in a way it
wouldn’t have been able to back at
the time or even a few years later.
It allows those who knew OJ and
Nicole to give their
personal, often emotive, accounts
of their relationship. How they met
and their ups and downs, as well as
the abuse Nicole suffered.
The murder of Nicole and Ron
Goldman,
OJ’s dramatic police chase closely
followed by crowds of adoring
fans and ending with this arrest, all
culminated in what was dubbed
the trial of the century.These could
each be absorbing, complex stories