If We Watch It

Stephen McCaskill also blogs at Crime Scene Blog

I still remember where I was on that October 3rd morning, when the O.J. Simpson case was decided. I was sitting at a restaurant with my wife. The television was on, showing the courtroom, as it had for months now. The jury gave their verdict, “We the jury, in the above-entitled action, find the defendant, Orenthal James Simpson, not guilty of the crime of murder.”

It was a pivotal moment in the history of the criminal justice system and the country. For the first time in years, the entire nation seemed focused on one monumental case. The O.J. Simpson trial had galvanized everyone, and everyone had an opinion on his guilt or innocence.

It was the end of the longest criminal case in California history. Held in Los Angeles, it carried with it a blockbuster budget, at over $20 million. But at last, after 11 months, it was over.

But the reality was there were more sequels to the O.J. case. Next came the civil trial in 1996, where Simpson was found liable for the deaths of Ronald Lyle Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson. He was ordered to pay $8.5 million in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages.

What followed was a relatively quiet period, punctuated by the occasional shot of Simpson playing golf or attending a horror convention to sign autographs.

Now, ten years after the final verdict Simpson is back in the news. This time he is releasing a book. Titled, If I Did It, the book is due out on November 30, 2006. But before the book’s release, Simpson will be giving an interview, with his publisher, on November 27th and 29th on the Fox News channel.

Several affiliates have already contacted Fox News to announce they will not be showing the special. Reporters for Fox News, including Bill O’Reilly and Geraldo Rivera, have also come out against the network airing Simpson’s interview.

Yet, despite all of this negative publicity surrounding the event, why is it that everyone believes it will be a ratings winner? What is it about horrific crimes in general and O.J. Simpson in specific that makes for a guaranteed win during sweeps week?

The simple answer, and one that has been echoed since the announcement was made; the car wreck mentality. It is part of human nature, it would seem. While no one wants to see someone injured or killed, when we see a car wreck we all stop to see what happened and catch a glimpse of the potential victims.

Such is the case with Simpson. Most folks would agree that O.J. got away with murder. Most of the men and women who were his supporters during the criminal trial probably don’t believe he was innocent. We also know that Simpson won’t come out directly, on national television and simply state, “Yeah, I did it. I killed them both.” Yet many folks will still be watching.

They are watching, just in case. There is always the chance, just like that car wreck, of seeing something you don’t really ever get a chance to see. Something that is primal and horrible. The sight of blood or wounded people makes many people sick. If their spouse or child was injured they would not want to witness the aftermath, but they will tie up traffic for miles trying to catch a glimpse of a perfect stranger staggering away from a battered car.

And folks will be watching Simpson, waiting to see if he does something else we never see; confess to one of the biggest crimes of the 20th century.

This is what Fox New is counting on. It is why they have set aside several hours in the precious fall sweeps week, when their ratings are used to determine how much they can charge for ad time in the coming year, to put Simpson on their network. The powers that be are betting on the lowest common denominator, that folks will tune in in droves to see if the guiltiest free man in the world will admit to his crimes.

But this is not really a surprise to most folks who are familiar with the Fox television networks. They have made a name for themselves by shocking their audiences and going after the baser instincts of its viewers. Shows like When Animals Attack, and Alien Autopsy showcase the most prurient interests of their viewers. They appeal to the sensationalistic appetites of all of us.

So will you be watching Simpson this weekend, as you eat that third turkey sandwich? Will you lower yourself to watching this washed-up football player, turned macabre celebrity, as he gets thrown softball questions by the woman who negotiated his book contract? Will you show Fox and the other networks that this is the kind of “news programming” you want to see?

Or will you stand up and say enough. Will you turn the channel and watch Two and a Half Men or Heroes instead of a seeing a murder not confess to a crime everyone agrees he committed.

As for me, I will be putting in a DVD of It’s a Wonderful Life. Maybe if I get in touch with my guardian angel, I can make the world appear as if O.J. had never been born.