The story that we did not know about O.J. Simpson

Ten years after being found not guilty of the murder of Nicole Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman, O.J. Simpson agreed to participate in an unscripted hidden camera television show that was absolutely grotesque. The program was part of the trash TV boom of the early 2000s, where degradation and dehumanization were considered the most effective entertainment formula to capture audiences. The former NFL star would dress up, play pranks, or appear by surprise in different contexts induced by the program itself to prove that Americans still accepted him. The result of Juiced was rather dubious and pathetic, and once the content leaked, no television network wanted to air the program to avoid the controversy and the bad image of validating a murderer.

Now, OJ Unseen: Exploitation of Evil (OJ Simpson: Portrait of Evil) has premiered on platforms like Movistar+, HBO, or Prime Video. The documentary series recovers the footage recorded for Juiced and an unreleased interview that O.J. Simpson gave for the show. The images alternate with statements from the 1996 media trial, interviews with the team that filmed that indecent reality show, and statements from experts who analyze the phenomenon and the protagonist's conduct. It consists of four chapters, which in reality could have been just two, with the supposed intention of analyzing the protagonist's perversity and an execrable television era.

OJ Unseen provokes a mix of dismay and perplexity. The archival footage from Juiced refers to the most grotesque, unscrupulous television. Yet, at the same time, O.J. Simpson's behavior arouses a morbid curiosity to see just how far that team was capable of going. The documentary's premise is poisoned. The creators of that show now justify themselves by claiming they wanted to get O.J. Simpson to confess to the murders in the midst of those delirious setups and that they intended to portray the protagonist's true evil, showing a side of him that had not been seen until then. O.J. Simpson appears as a very dangerous narcissistic sociopath; further abuse toward a new partner is evidenced, and he exhibits arrogance and a disgusting sense of humor. He is so desperate to be liked that he provokes the exact opposite. But, at the same time, that program fostered a terribly toxic chauvinism that put women at risk who often went to the show deceived, believing they were participating in job castings when in reality they were the bait for a very tasteless joke. There were people who continued to admire O.J. Simpson for the fame he had acquired, but other women found themselves trapped in front of an individual who frightened them and whom they dared not contradict. Now, it all provokes indignation and astonishment.

OJ Unseen shows an unknown story of O.J. Simpson, and it is uncomfortable that it has this capacity for fascination. But it is also obvious that the documentary series stretches out the analysis of these events so much because it takes advantage of exactly what it claims to denounce.