I'm sitting here with my laptop perched on my lap, watching
what must be the most bizarre "live" converage I've ever seen TV
produce.
   I am reffering to the the "chase" of OJ Simpson by the
police.  As I write this, the car OJ was riding in has pulled
into OJ's home, and there is a lot of speculation as to what
exactly is going on.
   What has me astounded is the use of technology in this whole
debacle.  The car was traced by sniffing which "cell" the cellular
phone in OJ's car was using; the "Live!" coverage of his car
wandering through LA's freeways via helicopters with TV cameras
and microwave links; the TV anchors, some in LA, others in NYC.
   But what is it all doing now?  Should we be able to watch
this new form of entertainment, the possible last minutes of someones
life?
   Is this news?

48 responses total.

 It is, but I would venture to say it is sick and tawdry. Humans love a train
wreck, and no matter how many times you tell someone to stay away, 
people are gonna watch.

 Welcome to the age of Pandervision.

        Larry Niven's "flash crowds" and Permanent Floating Riot Club come to
mind.

        O. J. surrendered to police a few minutes before midnight.

Steve, you were watching all that on your laptop? You must already have
the next generation laptop.

Certainly would have made interesting viewing, but again I have to ask why
the media would be able to track him down before the police.  I'm not sure
whether doing this sort of thing is right or not, but I think TV will get
bored with it and move on if it starts happening too much.  Then again, I
was one of those people who was asking who OJ Simpson was a few days ago.

CNN had at least two 'live' feeds in 'real time'
Larry King was forced to do 'voice over' the network feed.

Is there anyone at this point that isn't sure OJ offed his wife
and the other dude?

Personally, I wanted to see OJ pull the trigger on the freeway and
see it live from the overhead helicopter.

I wanted to see the white car full of niggers sweve off the road as
{the dude that fucked the white chick offed himself.{

I wanted to see justice in action.  Iwanted to see the LAPD do it.

Larry King didn't have bucks, I wanted to see the same thing only
Prime Time.
{

I wanted to see Cival Rights Violations in action.


I was disappointed.

I wanted to see something diffderent than Chavez Chavez Puto last
weekend in LA or Yuo Yuo Dude here in Chicago.

zI wanted to see that ther was a difference if a famous person did
a stupid thing---I wanted to see the famous person be treated just
{like me...I guess I was stupid.  I guess I expected equality.


Thank goodness, ...thank god they caught OJ...

What was the difference again?

  When I turned on the TV to watch X Files they were instead filling the
time with this O.J. Simpson business, showing the crowd gathered around
his home, tapes of the earlier chase, live helicopter views of the
motorcade taking the captured suspect off to jail (with the anchors being
unsure which freeway they were seeing at that moment, but speculating it
was probably the Santa Monica eastbound), reporters asking each other if
anything new was happening, etc., etc.  I watched enough of it to make
sure they weren't going to show X Files, then turned it off. 

  What action did I need to take on this that couldn't've waited for the
morning paper?  None that I know of, unless they wanted me to go to the
police station to join the crowd (O.J.'s home is way across town).  If I'd
been planning on taking freeways somewhere else this might have been
helpful in avoiding traffic problems caused by all this, but for freeway
condition reports I generally turn on the radio, not the TV. 

  Hopefully this will be out of the spotlight when I turn the TV on again
next Friday for X Files. 

#1: Curiosity is a desirable characteristic. A grasshopper would not be 
    interested in a train-wreck. (I can't stand people who slow down on the
    freeway to look at accidents in the *other* lane, however.)

#4: You didn't know who OJ Simpson is? What are they teaching in high
    schools these days? :-)

That dumb fuck.  The news is a government trained piece of shit.  They have\
to say what a big deal it is, though in cities throughout the world people
are fuckin' each other up left and right.  O.J. Simpson is no more important
than a serial rapist and murderer and might I add you don't see the Ann Arbor
reports showing up on ABC with Peter Jennings standing on Seventh at the scene
of the latest rape.
I can see it now...rather than call Al Micheals, they call the rapists gym
teacher, and the nation watches as he pulls his car off the highway towards
his apartment...

It was a drama in real time, the likes of which would get a fiction writer's
script rejected fro being published.
 
The "chase" was no more than "following/stalking" until the suspect vehicle
came to a stop. The following series of events was fraught with potential
of the worst kind, while negotiating a less disasterous outcome. 
  
For good or ill, the outcome was non-violent. Rodney King could have been
treated thusly, but he was a nobody in a landof somebodys where "equal
treatment" is a farsical concept, only effectd when there is a non-cop
trail-of-evidence (they can't control it ... yet). 
  
Without the videotape, even that story in the hands of fiction writer
would be rejected. There *is* a sub-class of cop who +will+ vent sadistic
treatment *IF* she/he thinks "no oneis looking."
 
When someone is watching, it's all prettiness and light, see?
  
Maybe, though, it took a Rodney King event to, apriori, prevent the LAPD from
shooting OJ down like a dog on the freeway. With the official charges filed
as they were, and OJ having been cnfirmed to be carrying a revolver, the LAPD
certainly would have been with "its rights adn the law" to end the event
with gunfire and clubs on the freeway. 
  
But!    Someone was watching!   And OJ is no Rodney, freeway or not. 
  
And then the Chief negotiator, the one I will assert kept OJ alive, his friend
who was driving his car with OJ as passenger, (but whose name I forget), got
HIS ASS arrested.   Friendship is ILLEGAL! Assistance to temper and molify
a dangerous, life-threatening event is ILLEGAL. Critical, compassionate,
intelligent intervention in a crisis is ILLEGAL. Fuck that!  

How much attention has this been getting outside the Los Angeles area? 

More than it deserves.

   Well, since CBS (and others) gave it something like 2 hours og
continuous coverge without commercials, I'd say a good percent or
two of the world saw this unfold, at least briefly.
   Interesting thought about the LAPD being "nice" because of the coverage
given the case.

Wel yeah of coarse, they are gonna go easy with this, if they would have 
found another murderer, then the whole world would have seen them fuck up
really bad. OJ has been getting  way too much attention, he will probably
plead insanity, win or at least not lose. Be out in 5-10 years, and everything
will be fine. I'm still not really convinced that he did it. Sure he bolted,
but er but hey I would. Here I am big celb<sp> my wife and her lover(?) have
just been killed the media has got me peged for it, and now they are seeking
the death penalty, the first thought for me would be to leave fast. Find my 
friends, and take off. Second thought if this fails, I'm as good as dead, might
as well off my self, kids will get some money, maybe the house, and might not
have to grow up with a father in jail, or on death row.

re #9:  Been drinking?

re #10: Channel 4 -- All O.J., All The Time!

What the futz is all this?  I guess I should watch TV sometimes.

Jan -- unless you are of the mindset that finds "irony" in O.J.'s consumption
of a glass of orange juice before turning himself in... you are probably
better off without TV.

I thoroghly enjoyed the whole thing.  It was like an action/adventure
movie only it was the *real thing*.  I was marveling at the technology
involved in getting the story into my living room, such as:

   Satellite relay of tv broadcast
   Airborne tv cameras in at least 3 choppers
   Police scanners with reporter relaying information she heard as 
     it happened.
   Cellular phone technology
   Cable tv system
   Who knows what else.

I'm glad there was no further tragedy, of course.  That wasn't what 
I was looking for.

If you claim this is not news, I'm sorry, but I disagree.  If the public
is intersted, it's news.  If the public isn't interested, they don't 
watch, and the networks quit showing it.  This *is* news.

After reading all of this I'm starting to get into this.  Does anybody
have a tape of it?

I find it disturbing that anyone could watch someone's life
exploding for two hours as entertainment and then respect
themselves in the morning.  O.J. isn't the only one with a
problem.

re #19: my sentiments exactly.

I agree...

I am sick of the media.  They have been in the court room, bed room, and EVERY
other room that they can get their little lense into.  I am sick of it.  It is
his life...let him lead it.  Just becasue he was a good athlete, does NOT mean
that they have the right to follow him like trained dogs, OR bring up his
entire history for all to hear.  UG!

Re #17:  wjw, your definition of news sounds an awful lot like how
I would define "entertainment".

I saw a large chunk of the car chase replayed on TV today, along with
other "continuing coverage" of the OJ Simpson story.  Sure this is a guy
with problems, but there are lots of such people out there.  With all
that's going on in the world right now is this really the most important?

I have a bone to pick with the folks out on the streets and in the bars
who were rooting OJ on. "Go Juice!" "Go Juice!" There appears to be
no respect for the victims in this case. I was mortified by the behavior.

As far as news vs. entertainment goes, I've kind of given up on hoping
for a distinction to be drawn there. The "news" is on commercial TV,
so it's going to be shown if people watch. I agree with wjw.

CBS cut off my showing of Picket Fences. OJ really has some sense of timing.
I could really care less about OJ, and all the hype.

 If he is innocent, turn him loose.

 If he is convicted, GAS HIS ASS. I have no more sympathy for OJ that I do
for Lyle and Erik Menendez.

 Perhaps this is Paley's Revenge  ;)

No one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public.
- H. L. Mencken

  are you sure of that quote? wasn't it "tastelessness?"   <g>
 
aaron, what's your problem with #9?

Your paranoia is fascinating to watch, but it contributes little.

You can call it news or you can call it entertainment.  What the networks
have to be concerned about is whether or not it's "what the public wants".
If you don't like it, you get your news from NPR.  That's OK.  But I 
would bet that if NPR produced a TV network news channel with the same
amount of pizzaz and charisma as their radio network, it would not
get many viewers thus not much advertising revenue.

For those of you who think the public is clamoring for a "just the facts,
no sensationalism, no personalities, no charisma" news network, that
will ignore things like OJ Simpson, Nancy and Tonya, Lorena Bobbitt, etc,
go for it.  There's money to be made.

I didn't watch it because it was fun to watch -- I watched it because
it was dramatic, tragic, and a lot more "real life" than the man-on-
the-street interviews that the local channels constantly barrage us
with.  I was struck by the way this has so many facets -- the murders
were a tragedy, the children's lives were a tragedy, the man who owns
that beautiful home we got such a good look at has made a shambles of
his life.  Irony is educational, yet so much coverage tries to filter
out nuances and give us simplistic cubbyhole thinking.  

I, for one, am very grateful that there is so much hard evidence in this
case - either DNA tests will match all that blood or they won't.  We
won't have to go through the Menendez stuff of "it was justified, it was
accidental" blah, blah, blah.  He says he wasn't there; well, everyone is
going to jolly well find out.

 Oh, now just wait until the trial, and someone will come up with an
excuse like he was being mentally abused by his wife not supporting
him or some sort. OJ is just to big to convict. 
 The Psycobabble is bound to start flying about, and next thing we know.
he'll dump Shapiro, and either get Leslie Abramson, or Melvin Belli,
or even F. Lee Bailey to defend him.

 Dollars to stale doughnuts, that OJ will NOT be convicted, will get at 
least 10 movie/book deals for no less that 350 million, and will look pretty
good when this is all over.

He needs a good lawyer, not a celebrity lawyer.  Belli is too busy
squabbling with his ex-partners (he wanted to do minimal work while
taking a large share of the firm's profits) these days, anyway.
Bailey lives as a celebrity/author, moreso than as an attorney.
Their legal "feats" these days involve using their names to attract
clients whom they would not otherwise get.  When did either last do
anything significant?

I wouldn't be so sure that O.J. will be acquitted.  But I still think
it is a big error for the D.A. to use this case for political gain --
he is.

I didnt' see the OJ chase, but I did see the live coverage of the wife's
house when the reporters got word that someone called 911 from there.
I was sure they were going to find OJ dead: suicide.

While I knew it was sick, I also knew I couldn't turn away. It was riviting.
It's like a vicarious murder mystery.

        Pattie

The whole thing reminded me a bit of the chase scene in "The Blues Bros".
Not as many cops chasing nor any where near the number of accidents,
thank goodness.  OJ's a runner, that's for sure...

 Hey, Aaron, What's Dershowitz doing these days? I think he might have the
time, now that TYson lost his appeal.

I like what aaron said in #32.

  Perhaps those who are against the death penalty should hope he gets
convicted and sentenced to die.  That could raise more public sentiment
against executions. 

#21: I disagree. The "media" is nothing but an entity that brings to 
     American consumers what they want to see. It is the middleman. Don't 
     forget that the "media" is also the entity that helped hype up 
     Michael Jackson, Michael Jordan, O.J. Simpson and make them well-known
     in the world. The "media" helped make those people multi-million 
     (multi-millionaires) and sometimes centi-millionairs (those with 
     $100 million or more). If those "celebrities" are going to make 
     millions and millions off the common peasant in America, it is only
     ironic and deserving that those "celebrities" are also embarassed by
     the same vehicle which made them the millions -- the "media". 

     Funny, I don't recall Michael Jackson or any other celebrity 
     complaining when the media makes them money. I have never heard 
     something like, "I wish the media would stop hyping my 
     new CD/movie/book/awesome season/etc. and making me millions of 
     dollars." I only hear, "I wish the media would stay out of my
     life." (Translation: "I wish the media would *only* hype my new
     CD/movie/book/awesome season/etc. but stop talking about me whenever
     I say so.") From what I see here, the peasants of the USA are feeding
     from the palms of the entertainment/sport elite. 
   
     One word comes to mind: lemmings.

Kent--I thought the same thing about the OJ chase being similar to the 
Blues Brothers Chicago scene.  The only thing that didn't ring true in 
the "movie version", now that I've seen the real thing, is the ratio of 
law enforcement personnel in hot pursuit, to the number of media who were
chasing them as well.  That was almost comical. 

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss