I have asked myself this question many times in the past thirty years or so.
It began with a white Ford Bronco, trundling along the freeway at a stately pace flanked by a fleet of police cars, lights flashing and sparkling, a bizarre and grim parade spectacle. And a spectacle it remained from get to gone. And for why?
There was absolutely NO part of any of that whole trial that affected the nation as a whole, yet it became a national obsession. One could argue that some folks followed it because of a distrust of the police and they hoped to see the cops sent packing with egg on their faces. Others may have connected with a sympathy for the abused ex wife. But when the smoke and mirrors cleared, NOTHING came of the trial. Police investigations were never tightened up. Laws supporting abused spouses were never strengthened. All that came of the Trial Of The Century was fifteen minutes of fame for a stoner and a LOT of advertising hours filled for the 24 hour news cycle.
Americans have a sick and prurient interest in celebrities. They’re obsessed with celebs’ diets, sex lives, weird habits, private lives. I could claim that Arianna Grande keeps a pet stoat named Clive and I will probably get some hits from searchers looking for information on Arianna Grande’s pets. It’s weird.
Which brings me to my most recent exasperated exclamation of “why is this news?!?!” in re: the exhaustive and breathless media coverage of the perfidies of Diddy and the apparently bottomless horrors of The Epstein File. Both features star studded casts of depravity. Of powerful people doing vile things to less powerful people. And just like the Simpson case, nothing will come of either of them. There will be no stronger laws against sex trafficking. There won’t be whistleblower hotlines. Victims will still be treated like criminals. These cases aren’t news, they’re grist for the profitable 24 hour news mill.
None of the children harmed will ever see justice. None of the abusers will see their just measure of punishment. But think, oh do think! How many pills and sodas and crossover SUVs and insurance policies and cleaning products those poor desolate darlings have helped to sell.
God, it’s sick.