The astonishing 7 1/2 hour documentary OJ: Made in America is a transformative work of media and art. What makes this documentary stand out is how well it tells both sides of the story, all sides of the story — without any bias in either direction. For many, it is possible to have sympathy for OJ Simpson, even with the full knowledge that he committed two horrific murders after abusing his wife for years. Part of the reason for this is that even though OJ Simpson abandoned his roots and become part of the white community, he was ejected from that same community of privilege when he tried to take advantage of the same system that protects rich white men. The exploration of those circumstances is what ultimately makes this documentary so powerful — it illustrates and proves racism beyond a reasonable doubt, just as the facts prove OJ murdered Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman. Probably no white man in his situation would have been ostracized in the same way. Because the film is 7 1/2 hours long, the format allows for all of the issues at hand to be thoroughly examined: domestic abuse, police favoritism, celebrity, a legal system that favors the rich, sexism — it’s all there. No similar story has never been told this well before.
The tragedy of this story is multifaceted. Naturally the foremost tragedy is the brutality of the crime itself, and the catastrophe that befalls the victims, living and dead. The second level of tragedy can be found in how OJ Simpson was used by crooked, filthy lawyers making names for themselves, and the way such exploitation reaches throughout an ongoing injustice of racism in law enforcement in Los Angeles and everywhere else. This case was a turning point in our culture, too, representing a seismic shift in how our news media covers sensationalist events. They weren’t reporting on a story so much as nursing it for maximum controversy. This brilliant documentary makes that plainly clear.
As a white person living in Los Angeles at the time, I was very much on the side of the prosecution and I still am. I do not follow the false logic that the prosecutors bungled the case. They certainly did not. Simpson’s attorney’s exploited the law, flat out lied and showed themselves to be fundamentally dishonest. But I recognize now the lust with which the white community came down on Simpson in a way that seemed to say “how dare you try to be one of us – get the hell out of our neighborhood.” He paid a price for buying his way out of his guilt. He would have been better off admitting he murdered them, serving his time and living an honest life — that is also made clear.
While I’d like to say the case changed the way we talk about race and helped take the heat off of black men at the hands of law enforcement, we all know that simply isn’t true. I’d like to say that the case helped shine a better spotlight on domestic violence and murder at the hands of abusive boyfriends or husbands. We all know that, too, isn’t true. In hindsight, the case only seemed to make us all the more hungry for scandal, murder and court cases involving famous people. It seemed to make us hungry for celebrity dish on all levels, the dirtier the better. It was a turning point and not a good one, to my mind.
Will OJ: Made in America be the best documentary released this year? It’s possible. The documentary genre is enduring a golden age with filmmakers like Alex Gibney, Liz Garbus, Amy Berg and Charles Ferguson all at the top of their game. But the nature of film industry itself is going to through a major shift, one that many are still in denial about. When last year’s Beasts of No Nation failed to break through the Oscar barrier put up to prevent the Netflix from joining the Big League, that seemed to be proof that traditional studios were in no way ready to embrace producers and distributors like Netflix just yet. In the documentary category, the Oscars seem willing to accept docs made directly for HBO — provided they play in theaters first. But OJ: Made in America, like Beasts of No Nation is more or less a television event. Does it deserve to be nominated? Considering how extraordinary it is, how can that be a serious question?
At some point, the Academy will have to deal with what’s been happening on the exciting cusp where the boundary between film and television screens is fading away. Much of the best stuff is being distributed on streaming, television, and on demand. Amazon Studios will be coming out with films like Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester by the Sea. The tide is turning and there isn’t any going back. How will the Academy adapt and evolve to ensure it remains able to reward the best filmmakers if it insists on sticking religiously to theatrical films? These questions will be put to the test this year and probably every year from here on out.
