OJ: Made in America is not really about O.J. Simpson. Or rather, it’s about O.J. Simpson the way Moby Dick is about a whale. Ezra Edelman’s nearly eight-hour documentary uses Simpson’s life as a lens through which to examine race, celebrity, policing, domestic violence, and the American dream itself. The result is one of the most ambitious and accomplished documentary projects ever produced, a work that earned both an Academy Award and widespread recognition as perhaps the greatest sports documentary of all time.
The five-part series aired on ESPN in 2016, the same year as FX’s The People v. O.J. Simpson. While the scripted series focused tightly on the trial, Edelman’s documentary pulls back to encompass decades of American history, arguing that the Simpson case was not an aberration but an inevitable product of specific historical forces.
American History Through One Man’s Rise and Fall
The documentary’s first two episodes, covering Simpson’s childhood in San Francisco, his football career at USC, and his post-football celebrity, are revelatory. Edelman connects Simpson’s deliberate transcendence of race to broader patterns in American culture, showing how a Black man could become one of the most beloved figures in America by systematically separating himself from Blackness. These early episodes function as social history, tracing the evolution of race relations in Los Angeles from Watts to the Rodney King beating.
The scope of the research is extraordinary. Edelman interviewed over seventy people, and the archive of footage, photographs, and documents assembled for the project is staggering. The documentary draws connections that simpler accounts miss: between the LAPD’s history of brutality in Black communities and the jury’s willingness to acquit, between Simpson’s constructed image and America’s hunger for post-racial celebrities, between domestic violence and the systems that enable abusers.
The trial footage, while familiar, is recontextualized by everything that precedes it. By the time you reach the courtroom, you understand the case not as a murder trial but as a referendum on policing, race, and justice in America. The verdict makes sense, in a devastating way, as the culmination of everything Edelman has shown you.
The final episode, covering Simpson’s post-acquittal decline and eventual imprisonment, is among the most powerful hours of documentary filmmaking ever produced. It’s a portrait of karma, hubris, and the long arc of consequences that refuses to offer catharsis.
The Weight of Eight Hours
The most common criticism is the runtime. At nearly eight hours, the documentary demands a significant commitment, and not every minute justifies its inclusion. Some passages in the middle episodes could be tightened, and certain interview subjects repeat points that have already been made.
The documentary’s thesis, that Simpson’s story is inseparable from America’s racial history, is persuasive but occasionally feels like it’s subordinating the individual to the argument. Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, the murder victims, receive relatively limited screen time compared to the social and cultural analysis surrounding the case. This is a deliberate choice, but it’s one that some viewers find troubling.
The balance between the murder case and the broader social context shifts throughout, and the transitions aren’t always seamless. There are moments where the documentary feels like two separate projects, one about race in America and one about a criminal case, that have been interwoven rather than fully integrated.
The Mirror America Doesn’t Want to Look Into
OJ: Made in America’s lasting power comes from its willingness to implicate everyone. It doesn’t let Simpson off the hook, but it also doesn’t let America off the hook. The systems that created O.J. Simpson, that allowed him to transcend race while race relations deteriorated around him, that failed Nicole Brown Simpson despite clear evidence of abuse, that turned a double murder into a racial reckoning, are all held up for examination. The documentary asks hard questions and has the courage not to answer them simply.
Should You Watch OJ: Made in America?
If you’re willing to invest the time, this is essential viewing for anyone interested in American history, race, celebrity, or the justice system. It transcends its genre completely. Even if you think you know the O.J. Simpson story, this documentary will change how you understand it. The only barrier is the time commitment, and even that feels modest given how much the documentary accomplishes.
The Verdict on OJ: Made in America
OJ: Made in America is a towering achievement in documentary filmmaking. It takes a story that had been told thousands of times and finds something entirely new to say about it, using one man’s life to illuminate the contradictions at the heart of the American experiment. Some pacing issues and the sheer length will deter casual viewers, but for anyone willing to engage with it fully, this is documentary filmmaking at its absolute highest level.