Not Just O.J.
He was a professional athlete, movie star, and pitchman that seemed to have broken not just a color barrier, but barriers plural, by not talking about race. And when he went on trial for the stabbing of his ex-wife and her friend, the televised court proceedings were perfectly concocted for American consumption. America loves to watch their celebrities fall even more than making them, and the case of O.J. Simpson crystallized this so perfectly it couldn't have been scripted any better. But even more than the tawdry gawking at murder victims and a man whose life was coming apart live on TV, the O.J. trial held a mirror up to America and forced us to look at ourselves, revealing some very uncomfortable truths.