I've been watching the mini-series centred on the O. J. Simpson trial on Netflix in fits and starts. I'm not at all comfortable with the ethics of dramatisations of real life events, and I wondered if The People vs OJ Simpson was just going to be high class trash, but I've reached the sixth episode and been impressed by the acting and general production values. I get a sense I'm being shown something close to the truth, at least in terms of the basic facts. To be honest, I'm a bit surprised by how much I didn't know, having followed the saga from a considerable distance back in the day.
Watching Episode 6, which generally focuses on Marcia Clark, the main prosecutor, was in many ways quite a painful experience. I'm not sure if the real Ms Clark would have wanted herself portrayed on screen - actually I wonder if seeing herself depicted might have added to the pain she suffered in the course of the trial, horrible thought - but for this viewer, at least, it was illuminating to see first hand, as it were, what a woman in her position had to face. Before watching I think I might have brushed off the idea that the media paying attention to one's appearance is a big deal. Now I know a lot better and am so much more aware of how that necessarily looms so much larger for women - even one as obviously accomplished in so many ways as Ms Clark.
I suppose that if there's any justification at all for this genre (apart from providing interesting television) it's the possibility that the viewer might grow in sympathy and understanding of others - especially those whose perspectives are so foreign to us.
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