It’s Official: Some Americans go Crazy over O.J.
[Guest post by DRJ]
Want proof? Read this report from a Miami Herald crime reporter who flew to Las Vegas yesterday to cover a hearing on O.J. Simpson’s criminal charges:
“Herald reporter and Crime Scene blogger Evan Benn is in transit to Las Vegas tonight to cover OJ Simpson’s upcoming hearing. A few hours ago, Evan boarded a Delta flight out of the Fort Lauderdale airport — only to find himself seated directly in front of OJ himself.
Talk about access.
Evan tells us that OJ seems to be in good spirits. The Juice is traveling with a guy and a girl, and requested the aisle seat. After settling in for the five-hour flight, Evan heard him sigh: “Another day in paradise.” Then, OJ asked for headphones to listen to the movie, The Evening.
It wasn’t long before OJ was besieged by fans and well-wishers. Evan sent this report from the runway:
“A 20-something blond just asked OJ for an autograph. Says she’s a big fan of Naked Gun. After she left, OJ speculated she was with the media. Now, an older man just asked him, ‘Do you remember the commercials you did? Running through the airport? I liked that. Good luck, buddy.’ OJ shook his hand across the aisle and said thanks.”
This proves to me (again) that the only bad publicity is no publicity.
— DRJ
Sadly, it sounds like what I would expect from a society that gives us the likes of Paris Hilton, famous for being famous.
Not long after the OJ case I was in NYC and took the kids to see Les Miserables (we are law-and-order types and always cheer for Javert).
When the lights came on for the curtain call I noticed that Johnny Cochran was sitting directly across the aisle from me. Our eyes met, he definitely saw that I had recognized him, and by the time the lights had dimmed and then come on again he had vanished…he must have grabbed his wife and double-timed out of there. That was back when people were still pissed about the verdict, and I felt a small measure of satisfaction that Johnny’s celebrity was of the infamous sort and perhaps not all that much fun.
driver (faae10) — 11/8/2007 @ 4:58 amI rather doubt you scared Johnny Cochran out of the theater.
voiceofreason (83843a) — 11/8/2007 @ 5:03 amNo, of course I didn’t. The point was that he knew he wasn’t going to get the handshaking backslapping treatment described in the OP once he got stuck in a crowded aisle trying to leave the theater.
driver (faae10) — 11/8/2007 @ 5:29 amSadly, it sounds like what I would expect from a society that gives us the likes of Paris Hilton, famous for being famous.
I agree and would like to add the talentless Rosie O’Donnell as another example.
Old Coot (06fab9) — 11/8/2007 @ 6:09 amIt wasn’t long before OJ was besieged by fans and well-wishers
Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman were unavailable for comment.
Darleen (187edc) — 11/8/2007 @ 6:40 amFrank Sinatra used to say that as long as they spelled his name right, he didn’t care what else they wrote.
Steverino (e00589) — 11/8/2007 @ 7:07 am(loudly) “it’s oj! tell me oj, what’s it like to cut your wife’s throat all the way through to her spine?”
on the plus side, nevada’s gonna put him away. his codefendants are rolling and they have him on tape. nevada won’t cater to his celebrity, wallow in racial angst or secretly pick an asian-american judge to hear his case, as california did twice.
assistant devil's advocate (3a1a35) — 11/8/2007 @ 7:24 amThis scene demonstrates once again that the highest virtue is celebrity in a society corrupted by entertainment. Thus, you have smarty-pants comics wielding more influence than statesmen, ex-jock-sniffers pontificating on the evening news in the spot after the spot where the spit-flying hysteric shrieks at interview subjects, and trashy stars decide magazine covers and content.
Banjo (b5278d) — 11/8/2007 @ 7:49 amI’m a fan of Naked Gun, too, but one of the best things about that movie is that OJ gets the S*** kicked out of him at every turn. The wheelchair at the baseball stadium alone is worth the price of admission.
Attila (Pillage Idiot) (d55cc7) — 11/8/2007 @ 7:53 amIn August, some friends of mine had dinner at the same trendy Miami restaurant as O.J. They said beautiful women kept coming up to the table and giving him their phone numbers.
Rick (536b71) — 11/8/2007 @ 9:56 amClive Barker says that people write to him saying they want to marry Pinhead from the Hellraiser movie series.
As the great philosopher Jim Morrison once put it: “People are strange.”
Techie (c003f1) — 11/8/2007 @ 10:05 am“In August, some friends of mine had dinner at the same trendy Miami restaurant as O.J. They said beautiful women kept coming up to the table and giving him their phone numbers.”
OJ has the uncanny ability to bring to reveal the insipid desperation that drives so many women. Bah. Why can’t they just stay glued to the Lifetime channel and stop making rational women look bad!
Dana (b4a26c) — 11/8/2007 @ 11:26 am