Did you hear that Marcia Clark’s husband cried foul and Johnnie Cochran appeared on his 100th television show? A number of ex-jurors are writing their memoirs. Get your peanuts and popcorn ready as another sordid round of O.J.-mania unfolds in scandal-starved America.
The O.J. Simpson story is being pursued by the media with the verve of a bunch of piranha in a feeding frenzy, and the public is loving every bit of it. Ratings are high, ad revenues are up and all that remains is how to masterfully make and divvy up the profits.
Why is this the case? Americans have always been and will continue to be fascinated with public figures and the rich and famous. We have been and are increasingly becoming a society of voyeurs, and with the advent of all types of new technology, we are able to almost satiate our voyeuristic appetites. O.J. Simpson’s story provides us with a great deal, both emotionally and physically. There really is nothing wrong with it, although we may not be willing to admit it.
It seems so amazing, but not surprising, that a crime so heinous and gruesome has been transformed into a media circus event. We seem so consumed and wrapped up with each new revelation and each new headline. All along, we never really allow ourselves to experience the depth of the tragedy of this murder. Perhaps we never will.
Certainly, the way we consume news is part of the reason for this. Watching television and reading the newspapers removes and protects us from the situation, but I believe it goes beyond this initial comfort zone. It seems to me that people often have a great deal of difficulty dealing with intense emotions in general and certainly the potential emotions engendered by this story. Rage, fear, vulnerability, despair and loss are just a few. In addition, the reality that crime in America is on the rise, or at least the perception that it is, can often send shivers down the strongest of spines.
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As a practitioner, it has been my observation that people have great difficulty facing these emotional and psychological aspects within themselves. Haven’t we all felt murderous feelings toward another individual – a wife, child, friend, lover, business competitor or next-door neighbor? Haven’t many of us gone as far as to visualize this occurrence and fantasize minute details of the act? Haven’t we all, at times, felt intense jealousy and possessiveness toward someone? Actually these events and feelings happen all the time in our daily lives and may even bring on feelings of guilt, hypocrisy and internal strife. As long as we deny that this case evokes these emotions, we can secretly experience them on our own terms.
Perhaps this is why we seem so eager to talk about the more comfortable aspects of the O.J. case with friends, colleagues and loved ones. Discussing who did it and other interesting circumstantial evidence makes for good gossip and social discourse. But don’t be deceived – it really is an emotional cleansing for all and our way of attempting to cope.
The jury is still out on O.J., but many people continue to ask, “How could he do such a thing? He seems like such a good guy.” Al Michaels and Bob Costas remarked that they never saw this side of O.J just because O.J. was accused of “Un-American Activities.”
