Netflix’s new documentary, “American Manhunt: O.J. Simpson,” that was released Jan 29, revisits the 1995 trial of O.J. Simpson, offering fresh insights into the case that captivated the nation and shaped public perceptions of race and justice.
What makes this documentary different from the rest is how well it pays attention to the small details. It delves into the court case, but also the culture and media back then. Mr Nixon, the criminal justice teacher who is showing the documentary to his criminal justice classes, says it incorporated everything you can think of, including race, wealth, and celebrity. “I think it woke up America to how we treat celebrities in the criminal justice system” Mr. Nixon says, “The criminal justice system treats people who are guilty and wealthy better than the innocent and poor.”
The documentary explores Simpson’s life leading up to the murders, his rise as a beloved sports icon, and his downfall. Mr. Nixon mentioned that Netflix covers everything from the beginning to end. “I thought that the documentary’s approach to portraying O.J. Simpson as a person was very interesting,” Isabelle Giger ‘28 says, “it focused not only on the actual murders themselves, but also his life leading up to it.”
Not only does it cover the beginning to the end, but brings in never-before-seen footage and interviews with key figures that were involved in the case, giving a full look at the hunt for and prosecution of O.J. Simpson. “It’s one of the best I’ve seen, I have shown others but this one really goes into detail as far as breaking it down from beginning to end,” Mr. Nixon says, “You got the perp walk at the beginning where he can just turn himself in, you got the slow speed chase where everyone was on the side of the road.”
The producers even wanted to bring in O.J. Simpson himself, to tell his side of the story, offering an even deeper perspective of the case. “Simpson was invited to participate in the Netflix documentary, but wanted to be paid for telling this side of the story and wanted a certain level of control over the production that filmmakers could not allow,” director Floyd Russ says.
The big aim of the film was not only to inform the audience about the case, but to provide new ways to look at it, and let the people watching decide whether Simpson was guilty or not. “The goal of the docu-series is to allow the audience to be the jurors and decide for themselves whether or not Simpson killed his ex-wife and her friend,” Russ says.
