Since news broke publicly that Regan Books would publish O.J. Simpson's book If I Did It, I have found myself in conversations that I thought I had escaped during the socially tumultuous days of the Simpson trial. I knew people who were convinced that O.J. was guilty as well as those who were equally convinced that O.J. was being framed. I watched in shock the low-speed highway pursuit of Simpson by the LAPD with the rest of TV-viewing America, and then, frankly, I tuned out and managed to avoid the grotesqueries that surrounded the trial. Now, I've been forced back in; the old furies are back and I've been forwarded petitions from friends to, in essence, ban the book. Judith Regan has argued that she opted to publish the book for personal reasons: "I made the decision to publish the book, and to sit face to face with the killer, because I wanted (Simpson), and the men who broke my heart and your hearts, to tell the truth, to confess their sins, to do penance and to amend their lives." Whether If I Did It is about getting "closure" (read the USA Today article on Regan's defense) or “about trying to cash in, in a pathetic way, on some notoriety,” as editor-in-chief of Publishers Weekly, Sara Nelson, alleges, is up for debate, but I'll probably tune out for this as well. I will not be watching Simpson's Fox interview, and I'll pass on reading Simpson's tale of how he would have murdered Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman if he had done it, just as I'd passed on such Regan Books offerings as How to Make Love Like a Porn Star and The Gotti Diet.
Since news broke publicly that Regan Books would publish O.J. Simpson's book If I Did It, I have found myself in conversations that I thought I had escaped during the socially tumultuous days of the Simpson trial. I knew people who were convinced that O.J. was guilty as well as those who were equally convinced that O.J. was being framed. I watched in shock the low-speed highway pursuit of Simpson by the LAPD with the rest of TV-viewing America, and then, frankly, I tuned out and managed to avoid the grotesqueries that surrounded the trial. Now, I've been forced back in; the old furies are back and I've been forwarded petitions from friends to, in essence, ban the book. Judith Regan has argued that she opted to publish the book for personal reasons: "I made the decision to publish the book, and to sit face to face with the killer, because I wanted (Simpson), and the men who broke my heart and your hearts, to tell the truth, to confess their sins, to do penance and to amend their lives." Whether If I Did It is about getting "closure" (read the USA Today article on Regan's defense) or “about trying to cash in, in a pathetic way, on some notoriety,” as editor-in-chief of Publishers Weekly, Sara Nelson, alleges, is up for debate, but I'll probably tune out for this as well. I will not be watching Simpson's Fox interview, and I'll pass on reading Simpson's tale of how he would have murdered Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman if he had done it, just as I'd passed on such Regan Books offerings as How to Make Love Like a Porn Star and The Gotti Diet.
From Matt: The scriptwriters made quite a few changes from the book, but they were all for the best - and booklover though I am I have to admit that its better to see magic than to read about it.
From Mina: I adore this film. Monsieur Hulot’s very modern sister and brother-in-law don’t know what to do with Tati’s charmingly untidy and bungling protagonist, who inhabits a world where meaning is still more important than appearances.
From Carey: A must see Hayao Miyazaki’s anime is Laputa: Castle in the Sky, originally released in 1986. A fantasy film that explores the altruistic and compassionate nature of humans, aspects lost through repeated exposure to power, technology, and the complexities brought by the combination of the two. 
Well, it's a moot issue now that the book and TV show have been pulled. At the very least, the project displays a lack of sensitivity on O.J.'s part that in turn reveals a psychology far divorced from his putative "I won't rest until the real killer is found" persona. While seemingly not the direct confession the would-be publisher alleges it is, it is nonetheless a revelation of a mindset that so undermines his former stance that it is tantamount to an indirect self-indictment.
Posted by: Lee Johnson | November 21, 2006 at 03:37 PM