OJ: Made In America - BBC iPlayer

Jane43 ...I watched this when it first came out, and I've started watching again last night coincidentally!

OJ is/was a fascinating psychopathic character, I think.

As you watched the early footage of him, did you find yourself liking him?
I did.
It wasn't just oleaginous behaviour or charm and obsequiousness.
In my view he had an ability to encourage a person to like him even if ones intelligence told you not to!
As one of his friends said its the 'OJ effect'.

I saw him admit on a TV show that he had hit his wife. Any other person using his words and language and I would have naturally disliked him.
I found myself looking for ways to diminish his guilt!

The way he has and some others too, of connecting at some human unspoken level, is uncanny.

It was all manipulation, to his own selfish ends. Which went on to aid and abet his personally warped view of his entitlement.

His poor wife couldn't even get the police to act properly, on her behalf.
They all treated him so specifically different.
They were taken in and over awed by him.

This is the aspect I found so compelling.

What a gift he had, if only he had used it for the good.

Yes I did find him likeable during his early career and I can see why the black community revered him, he was the epitome of the American Dream, he was able to switch the charm on very easily and was a very good looking man. However from when I saw the pictures of the murder scene, his behaviour during the civil law suit and his descent into a sleazy lifestyle I found him odious. Yes he could have used all those personal qualities to a much better end.

You're right of course, how could anyone be more callous, planning and executing (sorry probably not the best choice of word) the murder of Nicole?
The description of the intentional torture to Ronald Goldman when he over powered him is beyond understanding.

Somehow I can understand his psychopathic cold rage against Nicole.
In his mind she had the audacity to get away from him, and was starting a relationship with a man who was to all intents and purposes, a younger version of him.
He blamed her for his loss of control.

To be surprised by Ronald Goldman, and attack him with a view to leave no witnesses, is one thing.
That results in a quick death.
But some of the things he did were unnecessary. In fact they put him in danger of being seen. The longer he stayed there the more likely he would be seen.

He is a true psychopath. He really doesn't have a conscience.
To walk back to Nicole after murdering Ronald Goldman and continue to vent his rage towards her, knowing that his children were asleep upstairs and could have either seen him in the act, or found their Mother left there, well it leaves me speechless.

I also found the morality and ethics of OJ’s legal team left a great deal to be desired. Robert Kardashian started to look embarrassed at being involved. He was asked if he was a friend of OJ and responded that he had contact with him about twice a year yet he and his then wife Chris (later Jenner) were constant companions of OJ and Nicole and OJ is Kim Kardashian’s godfather.

OJ used his children without any conscience and only took them away from the stable home they had with Nicole’s parents out of spite, he spent very little time with them.

We've recorded this; we really enjoyed The Trial of OJ Simpson a year or so back, so it will be interesting to see some of the background.

I agree that he is clearly a psychopath, but his heroic footballer status and supreme good looks seem to have acted as a bit of a "smoke and mirrors" diversion, hiding his true nature.

Looking forward to watching this.

Gullygranny ... your skintight about his looks and career being a smoke screen.

What on earth does it say about us mere mortals that we are so often taken in by image?

Makes me quite concerned about Facebook and selfies. People are so obsessed with having the perfect image, and all the tech nowadays panders to that narcissistic perspective.

But how can you blame people for conforming to it when they see how much advantage having a perfect image confers on you?

Not that everyone will turn into a psychopathic murderer,.
but I do think creating a society where perfection of every kind is persued as the norm is very dangerous.

so right not skintight