repeating itself.
Documenting his life, not just the trial
Another reason, this five part series is worth while is the fact that they show every high and low of Simpson’s from him winning the Heisman to the murders and to him being sentenced to 33 years in prison for robbery and kidnapping.
For someone like me, I knew he played football, knew a little about the murders and remember hearing in 2008 that he was finally in prison but this documentary touches on so many details of his life. Details that not many bothered to cover before.
Following his acquittal on Oct. 3, 1995 I would not say he was a free man by any measure. Yes, he was not sitting in prison (where he should have been) but his life was never the same.
The documentary details the deterioration of his relationships to his mostly white neighborhood and a number of his friends who couldn’t look past the the evidence the jurors in the trial seemed to.
Many chose to no longer be friends with him.
One of them featured in the series was Simpson’s former friend and LAPD officer, Ron Shipp. He was approached by the defense who wanted to call him as a witness. But you learn in the documentary he told them “O.J. killed her. I’m not on board.”
Shipp did testify but not in defense of Simpson. In fact, the defense went after Shipp and worked to discredit him and his testimony.
The documentary also shows those who stuck by Simpson no matter what, including long time, childhood friend Joe Bell said “Listen, I just flat out, categorically deny the fact that he could do that. Period.”
Life after “The Trial of the Century”
Then in 1999, Simpson moved to Florida “in large part due to a state law that prevented his home from being seized to help cover the civil damages,” according to his biography on biography.com. Those civil damages coming from the $33.5 million case in February 1997 where he was found liable for the wrongful deaths of Brown and Goldman.
Near the end of the documentary, viewers are introduced to O.J.’s life from the time he moved until 2008 when he was sentenced. It shows details of how significantly different his life was and the downward spiral that is O.J. Simpson.
The characters of O.J.’s life
A third and my final reason why this 30 for 30 is worth watching are the first person accounts they included to tell the story. From his agent, two jury members, officers, lawyers, friends of Brown’s, Goldman’s family and many others this documentary doesn’t fall short on people who were close to Simpson at one time or another.
It is one thing to tell the story using facts and information but it is another thing to hear the story from the mouths of those involved. It gave life to this documentary.
Many of the characters spoke on topics I was thinking while watching and that made it even more real, I felt connected in a way to the story.
The series included so much information but also left me wanting more. I find true crime stories intriguing and next, I may find a book on the trial to read.
I don’t watch many documentaries but this was by far one of the best I ever have and I would recommend it to anyone whether you were there when the trial was happening or not, it’s worth the seven and a half hours.
