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November 21, 2007 5:29 PM
YAY OR NAY WEDNESDAY
We've asked your opinion of this book before, but so much has changed since then, I thought I'd ask again.
In case you're unaware, OJ Simpson wrote a book called If I Did It, suggesting how, if he had killed his wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman, he might have done it. There was, understandably, an outcry and it was dropped by the publisher.
Then, the family of Ron Goldman was awarded the rights to the book, along with 90% of the profits, to partially satisfy an unpaid civil judgment. (The Goldman family were awarded $33.5 million in a civil case against Simpson, but this remains unpaid.)
Waiting in the airport recently, I read the "confession" chapter and Simpson basically says that he was having a row with his wife and Goldman and the next thing he knew Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman were dead and he was covered in blood, but he doesn't know how it happened. This chapter is described as fiction.
So what am I asking? Okay. A couple of things. First of all, do you think the book should have been published at all? I must admit, I'm not comfortable with the fact that there was outrage at its publication when Simpson was getting the money from it, but it's okay as long as the profits are going to the family of the victim. I think it would be better all round if this book wasn't out there at all.
The other thing I have a problem with is the covers. Both the UK cover (top) and the US cover (right) have made the "If" of the title considerably less prominent, so at first glance the book's title seems to be "I Did It" (and is subtitled "Confessions of the Killer" in the US). Not only is this misleading to the consumer, it's also unfair to OJ Simpson, surely. (No, I don't have any sympathy towards him, but he was found innocent, so I'm trying to be at least relatively objective!)
So to sum up. If I Did It - Yay or Nay and Why?
[Don't forget it's Yay or Nay day at Hippyshopper, Bridalwave, Dollymix, Corrie Blog, Catwalk Queen, Kiss and Makeup, The Bag Lady, Shoewawa and Shiny Shiny, too!]
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Posted by Keris on November 21, 2007 in Yay or Nay, Yay or Nay? | Permalink
Comments
I don't think there is anyone in the US other than the 12 jurors who acquited him that think OJ is innocent. And in the US, you aren't found "innocent," but "not guilty." It might just be semantics, but since he was found guilty by a civil court, we Americans are all pretty convinced that he got away with murder.
But on to your question. I say Nay. The book is just tacky all the way around.
Posted by: Lucie Simone | November 21, 2007 7:27 PM
According to Wikipedia, Lucie: "A 1996 CNN poll reported that 26% of White-Americans thought Simpson was "framed" while 65% of African-Americans thought so." (I wonder if that's changed over the last ten years.)
Incidentally, you're found "not guilty" here too, Lucie. I did mean "not guilty" rather than "innocent" though I find it hard to associate either of those terms with OJ Simpson...
Posted by: Keris | November 21, 2007 10:28 PM
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