The People v. Simpson: A Made for Court TV Drama

Abstract

The actors in The People of the State of California v. Orenthal James Simpson each played an important role in the process that transformed a double homicide trial into a national referendum on race, police corruption, and domestic violence. The trial also met several key factors such as fame or initial interest, brutality or rarity, division, and variety which allowed the trial to stay in the public eye long enough for the technology and zeitgeist to have a chance to act upon it and become its own cultural phenomena.