I was in high school when Orenthal went on trial, and the events loomed large over my American history class that year. What better way to explain the baked-in injustices of American politics, law and media than with a living, breathing example of all of it in action?
Even when we got a chance to watch the first episodes of "Roots" in class it was hard to escape him, for he makes a cameo appearance in the opening installment as an African warrior. Once his name appeared in the opening credits some of my classmates shouted, "Go, Juice!"
Yes, they showed a clip of O.J. in Roots in the documentary, with Levar Burton. He was everywhere. It will be interesting to see how this generation reacts, given that it wasn't part of their own personal experiences.
Love this post. All of it is so true. I was in 8th grade when the trial went on and watched American Crime Story about OJ a few years ago. Very interesting and my how times have changed so much since then. Maybe not in the justice system (really tho) but in other ways. Like smoking in the office. And man the Kardashians became quite a name basically because of this story entirely. Yuck. Lol. Anyways so glad you pointed out the American ways of the Me Me Me... and loving up the musings on music and where it originated.
I remember watching the trial on TV and then calling my husband crying when the verdict was announced. At the time I was working at a battered women’s shelter.
It’s an excellent idea to have your students watch the documentary. When a documentary is well done, it can have a great impact. Does the documentary cover gender issues as well? At the battered women’s shelter, all the white women I knew thought O.J. was guilty, but a number of the Black women did not. We didn’t talk about it, unfortunately.
I watched the full documentary a year ago and I'm re-watching it now, but my memory says, no, they didn't cover gender issues as well as they could have. They make it pretty clear that this was an abusive relationship, almost from day one. So we'll have to talk about that in class and add some readings and try to navigate all the complexity that comes with the intersections of gender and race and social class and age.
Are you familiar with the podcast "You're Wrong About"? They did quite an extended exploration of the case, including indepth looks at some of the people involved who weren't a major part of the public narrative. One of my favorite things about this podcast (both in general, and also specifically O.J.) is that they refrain from making "easy answer" conclusions, or attempting to tie the whole story up neatly with a bow on top.
I've heard about the podcast, but haven't given it a listen yet. I'll have to check it out. I love anything that has the patience to avoid easy answers and embrace complexity head-on, so sounds like it's definitely for me! We need all the complexity we can get.
I'm guessing you'll really enjoy it. Sarah Marshall (and Michael Hobbes, when he was still there) has an immense respect and empathy for all of the people involved in the topics she investigated, and she is really good at maintaining a level of respect and compassion even while fully acknowledging the ways in which some of the people have caused harm or conflict. She doesn't let them off the hook, but she never demonizes them, either.
I was in high school when Orenthal went on trial, and the events loomed large over my American history class that year. What better way to explain the baked-in injustices of American politics, law and media than with a living, breathing example of all of it in action?
Even when we got a chance to watch the first episodes of "Roots" in class it was hard to escape him, for he makes a cameo appearance in the opening installment as an African warrior. Once his name appeared in the opening credits some of my classmates shouted, "Go, Juice!"
Yes, they showed a clip of O.J. in Roots in the documentary, with Levar Burton. He was everywhere. It will be interesting to see how this generation reacts, given that it wasn't part of their own personal experiences.
Love this post. All of it is so true. I was in 8th grade when the trial went on and watched American Crime Story about OJ a few years ago. Very interesting and my how times have changed so much since then. Maybe not in the justice system (really tho) but in other ways. Like smoking in the office. And man the Kardashians became quite a name basically because of this story entirely. Yuck. Lol. Anyways so glad you pointed out the American ways of the Me Me Me... and loving up the musings on music and where it originated.
Thanks for posting. Xoxo ♥️
I remember watching the trial on TV and then calling my husband crying when the verdict was announced. At the time I was working at a battered women’s shelter.
It’s an excellent idea to have your students watch the documentary. When a documentary is well done, it can have a great impact. Does the documentary cover gender issues as well? At the battered women’s shelter, all the white women I knew thought O.J. was guilty, but a number of the Black women did not. We didn’t talk about it, unfortunately.
I watched the full documentary a year ago and I'm re-watching it now, but my memory says, no, they didn't cover gender issues as well as they could have. They make it pretty clear that this was an abusive relationship, almost from day one. So we'll have to talk about that in class and add some readings and try to navigate all the complexity that comes with the intersections of gender and race and social class and age.
Are you familiar with the podcast "You're Wrong About"? They did quite an extended exploration of the case, including indepth looks at some of the people involved who weren't a major part of the public narrative. One of my favorite things about this podcast (both in general, and also specifically O.J.) is that they refrain from making "easy answer" conclusions, or attempting to tie the whole story up neatly with a bow on top.
I've heard about the podcast, but haven't given it a listen yet. I'll have to check it out. I love anything that has the patience to avoid easy answers and embrace complexity head-on, so sounds like it's definitely for me! We need all the complexity we can get.
I'm guessing you'll really enjoy it. Sarah Marshall (and Michael Hobbes, when he was still there) has an immense respect and empathy for all of the people involved in the topics she investigated, and she is really good at maintaining a level of respect and compassion even while fully acknowledging the ways in which some of the people have caused harm or conflict. She doesn't let them off the hook, but she never demonizes them, either.
Sounds perfect.