American Crime Story

[save lilo!]

Mar 24, 2016 11:00:14 GMT -4 Neurochick said:

Mar 24, 2016 10:03:54 GMT -4 save lilo! said:

Wow, this jury episode was the most interesting one.

I liked this episode, especially the Martin vs. Seinfeld portion. I believe it was in the 90's where some study was done that showed black people and white people watched totally different TV programs.

Here's my un-PC opinion: I think this trial stunned some white people who were shocked how some black people felt about the trial, and the dueling TV shows was a perfect example. There are some white people, not racists all of them, who are sort of narcissistic when it comes to black people and people of other races. They see us as reflections of them; like "We should all like the same TV shows/food/music, we should all wear our hair the same way (remember that Glamor Magazine article that stated the natural hairstyles of black women were 'unprofessional?'). This is also how the US treats other countries, especially those in the third world, where it's like, "why can't you do this the way we do? Don't you see it'll be better for you?" Patronizing.

Yup. When I called the LA Supreme Court to ask if my mother could stop getting jury notices since she can't speak enough English to sit in a trial, the lady asked a million annoying questions including "Well how does she work at her office" and "Why hasn't she learned English since she got here". Well fuck you lady, English isn't the official language of the US and definitely even more so in Los Angeles, home of the biggest Korean population outside of Korea.

[divasahm]

The most interesting part to me about the Martin vs. Seinfeld scene was the scene following it, in which O.J. was telling his poker buddies about last night's episode of Seinfeld.

[FotoStoreSheila]

Mar 25, 2016 12:14:12 GMT -4 divasahm said:

The most interesting part to me about the Martin vs. Seinfeld scene was the scene following it, in which O.J. was telling his poker buddies about last night's episode of Seinfeld.

I am a yooge Seinfeld fan, hence my screen name, but I loved Martin just as much.

I am really appreciating Ryan Murphy's attention to detail. Everything, from the West coast hip hop soundtrack, to the clothing and hair is so quintessentially 90s, without feeling gimmicky. I initially tuned into this show because I thought it was going to be a train-wreck, but it's been superb.

Sarah Paulson is flawless, and I loved all of the jury dismissal hijinks. I love that when Marcia Clarke saw that she couldn't win the case based solely on the evidence, she changed her strategy and was completely unintimidated in the face of the Dream Team and their shameless tactics. I loved every minute of Paulson and Courtney B. Vance's scenes together. I also thought Schwimmer was really good this week.

God, I'd forgotten how terrible the DNA expert was on the stand. I wonder if the prosecution failed to properly prep him, or if Barry Scheck was just that good at dismantling the evidence and distracting the jury?

[laboria]

Episode 9: Almost the end

1. I knew from an earlier episode that Ito's wife was a policeman that knew Furman. I did not know she was a high ranking captain that had disciplined him. I know they were concerned about costs of a retrial, but this was the very definition of mistrial.
2. Jesus, those tapes. I knew they existed, but I never knew what was on them other than his reading a script and saying the n word. So they contained real life stories too. I am in utter disbelief that he would allow himself to be recorded saying that stuff. However, I don't doubt that many people say things like that.
3. Yes Darden! Show up and show out, finally. Cochran was out of line a lot of times. Yes, he and the rest of the dream team got the client off, but at what costs to their personal relationships.
4. But, I have to hand it to Cochran, getting Furman to plead the fifth on evidence tampering.
5. On a personal note, the main reason I refused to even acknowledge this trial as it happened was because it preempted my soaps. Now I see I missed the greatest soap opera ever. And I see why soaps never recovered, true life was better than fiction.

Next week, the finale! On a side note, thanks to the people that have responded to my posts. Now a request. If you can think of things I can read or watch that will give me a greater understanding of this trial. I don't think I want 1,000 page books or 100 hours of court testimony, but a little something(s) that will give me a better understanding of what happened and the atmosphere surrounding it. I see that, I think A&E will show twelve hours of court next Tuesday, maybe I will record it.

[Deleted]

Discovery ID did a surprisingly good job with their most recent 2-hour show about the trial. I couldn't find the full episode online, but it looks like they are re-airing it this weekend (friday at 9 p.m. EST and saturday morning)

[Ella]

Sterling K. Brown brought it last night. I do hope he gets an Emmy nomination for this role.He's holding his own with all the other actors.
The whole trial was a Circus.This was a murder trial and it got turned into a trail about race.Yes, the LA police force was corrupt and many were racists but it was all wasted on OJ Simpson, who never really helped out the black community and always hung out with whites. I feel so bad for Ron and his family.Losing his life for doing a good deed and then forgotten at the trial.I don't blame his family for still being angry.

[Deleted]

ESPN's 30 for 30 is doing a multi-part documentary called OJ: Made in America. It played at Sundance earlier this year and got rave reviews. First episode is June 11 on ABC and then the rest will air after on ESPN.

There is another 30 for 30 episode which looks at how the Bronco chase impacted all the other sporting events that day. I haven't seen it but it's supposed to be pretty good.

Both American Crime Story and ESPN used Jeffrey Toobin as a consultant. His book Run of his Life (which I haven't read) is considered one of the authoritative books on the case. Although I think he admits now he was a little too hard on the prosecutors.

OJ's book If I Did It is still available to borrow from most public libraries. Haven't read that either and I doubt that any bit of it is true but it may give some insight into his mind.

I can't link from my phone but The Hollywood Reporter has an interview with Marcia Clark right now which is quite interesting. She talks about being assaulted when she was younger and how that shaped her career. Oh and she used to be a Scientologist! But never made it to the high levels. If you google THR and Marcia Clark it should come up. My Mom mentioned that she had read one of Marcia's fictional books and that it was actually pretty good. I may check one of those out now.

[scarlet]

Here's the Marcia Clark THR interview:

link

[angelaudie]

Mar 30, 2016 14:04:18 GMT -4 @highondegrassi said:

Discovery ID did a surprisingly good job with their most recent 2-hour show about the trial. I couldn't find the full episode online, but it looks like they are re-airing it this weekend (friday at 9 p.m. EST and saturday morning)

Thanks for the tip! I watched it last night and yes it was surprisingly good! What's amazing is all the show used was media coverage, courtroom footage, and the occasional caption. Interviews with experts weren't necessary. The footage spoke for itself. The Discovery ID ep also made me appreciate ACS's efforts even more. It's really eerie how similar the courtroom footage and the ACS's footage is.

As others have said, I knew the Fuhrman tapes existed and I knew they were bad but I had no clue just how awful they were! I can't imagine even thinking that stuff much less saying it out loud! I certainly get why Cochran pushed for them to be admitted. Not only did they strengthen the defense but it also vindication for him. He had been saying for years the LAPD was racist and corrupt but many (mostly white America) just couldn't believe it was really that bad until those tapes became public. But yeah a pity his efforts were wasted on OJ Simpson.

Also want to add that I though Kenneth Choi did a great job in humanizing Judge Ito. Not saying I agree with all his decisions in the course of the trial but I do feel the show has a done a good job in showing he was under a lot of pressure and did the best he could. Really, nothing could have prepared him or any of the other players for how insane the trial would be.

[save lilo!]

The show keeps mentioning what a media whore Ito was, but not doing much of a job detailing it out. Anyone remember some key points from the trial?