First review the main deeds of Simpson in the film:
OJ Simpson was born on July 9, 1947
2,000-yard record set in 1973
Met Nicole (18) in 1977 (married)
Married Nicole on February 2, 1985, and divorced in 1992
The incident happened on June 12, 1994
Not guilty on October 3, 1994
The family of the deceased then filed a civil lawsuit
Civil judgment, February 5, 1997, $33.5 million in damages
Arrested in September 2007
Convicted of armed robbery on October 3, 2008, sentenced to 33 years in prison on December 5
Parole on October 1, 2017
Released December 1, 2021
Although Simpson's growth experience has been paved for a long time, the top priority of the film is the trial of the century in 1994. The most interesting thing about the whole process is the tangled black identity between Simpson and him.
Once Simpson became famous, he stayed out of the situation when the black group was oppressed and discriminated against, and weakened his skin color to create a perfect image, so he was very popular in black and white. It can be said that he betrayed his origin in exchange for fame and interests; The case of his ex-wife and friends, however, largely relied on his identity as a black man to win the support of the jury and the wider black community (this was reflected in the interviews with the jurors), and also by attacking the prosecution's racial discrimination Completely turned the tide of the war; after the verdict, he was not seen by the white community, and was completely kicked out of the previous upper circle; even more funny is that 13 years later (according to the film), he was sentenced to robbery at gunpoint for a simple frame-up He was imprisoned until he was 74 years old before he regained his freedom. I don't know if it was because of the lack of money ability or the blessing of black identity. Anyway, it was a sense of the "fairness" of ordinary black groups in the judicial system.
Judging from the circumstances of Simpson's arrest and the book published afterward, it is almost certain that he is the murderer, but he escaped without a crime in the highly anticipated criminal court. Considering that one-third of the black women on the jury hated domestic abuse men and black men married to white men, and Simpson happened to account for both, this result was achieved under such unfavorable circumstances On the one hand, his team of lawyers was extremely capable, and they seized the flaws in the prosecution's operations and denied the validity of all the evidence; on the other hand, under the tense racial conflict at that time, they seized the Racial discriminatory remarks poured dirty water, questioned the prosecution's motives, and completely beat the other party to a situation where they were powerless. Correctly denying the validity of the evidence through the procedure, attacking the other party's motive for prosecution by playing racial cards, and finally obtaining jury support based on the suspicion and guilt from non-existence and emotion, it can actually allow a major suspect without an alibi to be held under the huge amount of evidence. He was found not guilty, and there was no one else in this slapstick operation. At the beginning of the trial, the jury and lawyers were carefully arranged to avoid the pretext of racial discrimination, but the final issue still fell on racial discrimination. In the whole trial, the truth of the matter seems to be less important. What matters is the position behind it, the confrontation between the black group and the white group represented by the judicial group.
From Simpson's personal point of view, the trial of the century is a key point in his identity transformation. From the perspective of the process of the black group behind it resisting discrimination, the trial of the century is also an important node, although it does not necessarily mean that the situation is reversed. Before that, there were many incidents of police brutality against black people in California. After that, and even in 2020, there will still be police kneeling and killing innocent black people in Mingzhou, but at that point, in the trial of the century, it is true There was a miracle that "black people were highly suspected of killing white people and were finally acquitted", so after the incident, the black group cheered, the white group resented, and the judiciary wanted to find the scene later. In a civil trial three years later, Simpson was convicted of civil liability to the family of the deceased, and was fined $33.5 million in direct bankruptcy. After 13 years, he was convicted of armed robbery and deliberately delayed until October 3 for sentencing. This sentence adds up to exactly 33 years. . . If it's a coincidence, I'm afraid no one will believe it.
Is Simpson innocent? There is a high probability that he is not innocent. In the case of 1994, there is a high probability that he is the main culprit, and the subsequent punishment can be regarded as an atonement for the previous behavior (of course, it cannot be calculated in this way in the judiciary, one code is one code). In terms of personal achievements, Simpson has grown from a black child in a slum with bright brains and limbs to the top of a rugby player with the help of athletic talent and personal hard work. The symbol of OJ has been imprinted in the hearts of thousands of Americans across races, which can be said to be the best representative of the American dream. He was honored all his life and finally became a slave of honor. After being abandoned by his honor, he revealed another dark and depraved side. In front of him, he was gentle and elegant, but he was tyrannical and domineering in the future. He was violent, unfaithful, and extremely extravagant. Desire, eager to get rid of black identity and maintain his high-end and perfect image when he is bright Atrocities are flatly denied, everything that is beneficial to oneself is used, and all information that is not beneficial to oneself is denied. This is really a proper refined egoism.
So back to the title, what's made in America? The OJicon represented by the American Dream? The refined egoism behind OJ? The ability of capital and lawyers to reverse black and white? Black and white racially divided society?
I think, on this issue, the banknote capacity is probably lower than the racial struggle. After all, from a practical point of view, the latter is often directly related to politics, and the difference between the latter often requires a huge amount of the former to make up, exceeding the vast majority ability. It was said before that the United States used skin color conflicts to cover up class conflicts, but in the social environment at that time, skin color was a natural class. Even from a broader perspective, skin color conflicts, ethnic conflicts, and even ethnic conflicts are actually deeper and closer to the source than class conflicts. The latter is an internal conflict among the people, while the former is more of an external conflict. There are also many practices in history that show that even in the upper class, differences between races and ethnicities will create an insurmountable gap. Thinking about it this way, the diversity that Europe and the United States admired is probably largely the result of racial struggle.
View more about O.J.: Made in America reviews
