I agree with all 12 probably not having the same motivation, but it's what the woman who was interviewed and was in the room said. Interesting stuff on the jury selection, still baffling why they filed the charges in downtown LA rather than Santa Monica unless it was an optics thing after the King trial. I've never actually watched the Made In America doc, just saw that clip of the juror yesterday but started with episode 1 last night. I think (rightfully so) people forget just how amazing a running back and how charismatic he could be. Gotta think his brain has all the markers of CTE, will be interesting to see if the kids allow that to be looked at or if they just want to get on with life.
Yeah, I think some had the motivation and convinced the others or the others went along with it for one reason or another.
Always funny to talk to my high school students about these sort of things and they can't believe that schools were taking time out of classes to watch the verdict come down. They didn't understand how much this gripped the national attention because it's just another murder trial. Trying to explain to them that A. We didn't have the 'murder porn' genre of TV that we do now, B. the idea of monoculture where everyone was talking about the same thing and everyone was following it, and C. with no real internet, it was the only way to get the info. It's one of those moments in time that is seared into my brain of knowing exactly when/where I was when the verdict came down.
D. Most don't understand exactly how famous OJ was. He was literally on TV daily and every weekend of football season. Hertz, Heinz, Mcdonalds, Cool-aid.
Yea ... that was part of point B I guess ... even now I had forgotten how charming he could be until watching part 1 of the doc last night. How many people were just enraptured with him after meeting him. After the murders that part of him definitely crossed the line from charm to creepiness and just being weird. Will be interesting to see if his family allows them to check the brain for CTE.
Yep. Sixth grade class for me. (Maybe fifth). Yellow two-tape-deck radio with the antenna up, sitting on a ocean blue counter with the door to the outside and public bathrooms to the right. We stopped it all and all gathered around this plastic, maybe $10 radio to get information about a trial that went on for a year and was the headline of every sports AND news channel. It truly was the genesis to the way we consume media as a country. 9/11 brought about true 24/7 coverage that we see now, but truthfully this is what ushered in the way we consume media to this day.
Lol I think the one in my class was yellow too with an antenna. I remember we had desks placed together to make tables. There was 5 tables made of our desks. In front of them at the head of the class was a table. There was a part of class every day where we would do projects and she would put the radio on the table in front, extend the attenna and put on the trial. We would listen to it as we worked. I remember the verdict. No one could focus on their projects, and we stared at the radio and listened keenly. I remember the teachers surprised reaction when he was found not guilty.
First thing i think of when i think of OJ n that whole messed up scenario these days is Eminem's verse from Not Alike. "Dont make me go in, I O.J. the flows I'm insult to injury - Rolaids to Goldman I'm throat spray and Motrin, I throated Nicole As they're both there to choke and my whole blade is soakin I'm double-edge sworded 'cause one place i poke and i stick and i turn in rotating motion"
Yeah I remember the hush tones after the verdict. The wild thing is I could walk you right to that classroom from the parking lot. And we were in several different classrooms a day. (Music, pe, other teachers, etc) But know exactly which classroom it was. Seared in my brain. Same with 9/11. I was in a classroom that I was only in a handful of times, but I could do an entire GPS navigation of my entire day, and how to get to that specific spot I was at. Man, to be mid 30s-50s. We've seen some stuff. Yet the generation before us has SEEN SOME STUFF. It's wild.
First thing I always think of is them cutting away from the KNICKS VS ROCKETS finals game to cover the Bronco chase! I was in the Army watching at Fort Lewis
I remember the school and the classroom exactly. I was at home when I first heard about the 9/11 attacks. My dad was watching live when the second plane hit. I was sleeping. My mom came in and said we were attacked. I was still half asleep and didn't realize what she was talking about and went back to sleep. She came in a bit later and said they got the Pentagon. I woke up and went downstairs and watched the news with my parents. I went to school, but every class we just turned the TV on and watched the news. We didn't do anything else that day.
Apparently 50 or so friends and family visited him at home before he died. He made them all sign NDAs. Deathbed confession?
Was in high school when they read the verdict, yeah won't ever forget it. Feminist girl pro women's rights and women overcoming abuse was certain verdict would be guilty. When it was ready two African American young ladies were jumping up and down cheering and celebrating. Probably a bit of a representative of the entire country. I always looked at it as our justice system is setup to allow 10 guilty people to walk free than have 1 incorrectly convicted. The police were certainly racist, threated OJ as such, and along with prosecution made tons of mistakes. The defense team was top notch. Guess I never had a problem with the verdict in that context. But the people that thought he was actually genuinely innocent always baffled me.
I'd be surprised if he didn't have CTE. Not as much the murders, could see some passionate ex lover entitled celebrity making a heat of the moment impulsive decision there. But being arrested for armed robbery of sports memorabilia? That and other decisions just seemed so illogical.
I actually looked it up and everyone denies he made a deathbed confession. Not exactly sure why I spent the minute of my life looking it up but for some reason I did? Probably the same reason I've followed the whole thing for 30 years now?
Mark Fuhrman was definitely racist. I don't know that he actually planted evidence during the case. I think the evidence was there for all to see. The cops were very irresponsible with evidence, leaving it in a car trunk and shit like that. But, OJ's experience with the police was far different than other people of color. Before the murder the cops were his friends, they visited him, played golf, got autographs and pictures etc. They saw him as a celebrity. OJ was not an advocate for the black community. He distanced himself from the black community once he became famous. His famous line says it all, "I'm not black, I'm OJ."
