OJ Simpson

OJ Simpson was granted parole last Thursday and will be released from prison as early as October 1st. This is another amazing development in a seminal story that has captivated public interest for more than two decades. OJ was my hero in the seventies. I even wore number 32 for my middle school athletic teams in order to be more like him. After the murders of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman, I must admit that I was one of the people that did not want to believe he was guilty, and was happy when he was acquitted. Over the next 10 years, OJ gravely disappointed a lot of us who wanted to believe in him – slipping into a life of debauchery culminating in the gangster-like attempt to reclaim memorabilia in Las Vegas that finally sent him to prison. Deservedly or not, OJ was more than a famous athlete, whose bizarre story became a metaphor for American values and culture encapsulating everything from our obsession with celebrities to our latent challenges with race and justice. The Academy Award winning documentary, “OJ: Made in America”, is filmmaking at its best – brutally honest and perhaps one of the best commentaries on contemporary American society ever produced. It’s a five part, 10-hour film, but worth the time. If you haven’t seen it, you can catch it on Amazon or Hulu.