Today, I woke up to the news of O.J. Simpson’s death. I caught myself feeling a little sad about it, then I remembered: 1) He killed people, and 2) At the peak of his college football career, he didn’t lift a finger for the civil rights movement yet benefitted from the movement later in his pro and film career, a subject so eloquently written by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Yet his death made me wonder about all the Hollywood connection culture around him.
OK, I’ll caveat that I became obsessed with his trial and the life of Nicole Simpson after her murder. The melancholy chase was dramatic. And because it was really long and slow, it had us all thinking of what was going on in his head, if he would hurt himself, and WHY?!! But, I became particularly engrossed with his legal team. I watched, like many of us, the circus of chaos the trial brought, the All-Star grandeur of the legal team, and the awful acquittal decision that triggered so many of us women who had been in abusive relationships, whether those nightmare relationships were short- or long-lived.
At the risk of losing maybe the 2-3 people who read my blog (me and my husband included), today’s thoughts of O.J Simpson also bring me to the Kardashians. Particularly Kris, the matriarch. She was Nicole Simpson’s best friend. How hard is it for her today to hear this news? Does she feel relief? Sadness? Complicated emotions must be coming over her. I always wonder about the extent of her co-parenting, post-divorce relationship with Kardashian, who apparently was torn about representing Simpson, and how it strained her relationship with her ex.
I do not hate the Kardashians. I accept them as part of celebrity culture and understand they work hard at the hustle. This leads me to wonder why people hate them so much but not men who hustle the way they do (perhaps a later blog on this). But I still find this particular Hollywood connection fascinating.
After all these thoughts I have on this day, I choose to remember Nicole Brown Simpson today. How her light dimmed, how she was such a loved mother and sister. I hope today brings her family some semblance of peace.
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