And So the Case Goes to Trial : Several serious issues beneath all the hype

Are there any words left to say about the O. J. Simpson case? Is there a superlative that hasn’t been used? A hyperbolic phrase that hasn’t been applied? Probably not. But bear with us while we tell you why we think this trial truly is important--beyond the hype, beyond the prurient interest.

Of course this so-called trial of the century is often reduced to sensationalism. Indeed, it has all the ingredients: poor ghetto kid turned football star and television/movie personality, a local blond beauty, a glamorous Westside lifestyle. But this trial is about far more. The story of O. J. Simpson and the slain Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman will tell us much not only about them but about ourselves. It will examine and challenge many assumptions that Americans hold about justice, money, race, power, ambition, family relationships, men who beat their wives and the women who suffer that abuse. The dichotomies are what is so riveting and, we hope, instructive.

Even before their divorce, the tale of O. J. and Nicole Simpson was both American dream and American nightmare. The part of the story that centers on spousal abuse is all too familiar to millions of Americans. How did notions of masculinity and femininity drive the Simpsons to behave and react the way they did?

The trial also showcases much of what is right, and much of what is wrong, with the U.S. justice system. The prosecutors have spared no effort in trying to make the case against Simpson; he has assembled a legal defense team that is the best money can buy, as is his absolute right.

What’s especially prominent is the difference between what Simpson is able to do in order to defend himself and what a person of average or little means is able to do in the face of a murder charge. Though such a disparity is nothing new, it is nonetheless disturbing. Will the Simpson trial ultimately feed cynicism or calm fears about that inequity?

And then there’s the race card, played ably by both sides in this case. An ugly history hangs over any black American accused of killing a white, because many have been unjustly accused. What has that got to do with the Simpson trial? Nothing--and everything. Perhaps race should play no part here, but race and this trial are inextricably linked, as is race and American life. The heated exchange between Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Christopher Darden and lead trial attorney Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. over the “n word” was a fascinating example of how deeply even the black community can split over racial issues.

There are no monoliths in this case. That is what makes it so compelling, and so American.