Back in 2000 there was a TV movie about the OJ case titled American Tragedy. I remember at the time thinking that the title was quite an overstatement for a film about an ex-athlete's murder trial. It's not like Simpson was a politician or something. Someday I'll check that movie out, but having now consumed over seven hours of expertly crafted documentary filmmaking on the subject, I completely agree with that title.
It's twenty years later and all of the issues at play during the first trial are still problems today. Rather than showing us how far we have come in two decades, this film makes us acutely aware that nothing has changed. In fact, things have gotten worse. This is not a nostalgia piece. This film is relevant to the here and now. Orenthal James Simpson might have fallen from a great height, but it's nothing compared to how far American Culture has fallen. If Spike Lee had made this film, it would have ended or began with someone yelling, "WAKE UP!"
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