How Oj Simpson Killed Pop Culture Analysis

Popular culture is a combination of ideas, images and an array of people’s perspective to what they define as being the mainstream of a given culture. Over the years, this widely misinterpreted phenomenon has been heavily influenced by today’s mass media that permeates the everyday lives of society by altering our attitudes and perceptions towards certain topics. Subsequently, upon reading Anolik’s article titled, “How OJ Simpson Killed Pop Culture”, I second guessed myself to the sense that how can one individual disrupt an entire culture? Even though the article is about a famous football player who was allegedly charged for the murder of his ex-wife. Nevertheless, after constructive analysis of the article, one now can understand the author’s

She states that the public’s craving for reality television continued to consume them to the point where “of the 10 biggest soaps of 1994-95, 6 have since bit the dust” (Anolik). Therefore, the O.J. Simpson case began the transition from scripted drama, such as soap opera, to reality television. To clarify its effect on the audience, she included their comments stating that, “…it [OJ Simpson case] wasn’t a car chase; it was a test run, a pilot episode, the taste that got us hooked, hyped turned on, junked out, fiending for more, more, more” (Anolik). This brought both the logical and emotional arguments together to finally persuade the reader that logistics such a case defiantly changed the idea of popular culture. Sadly, the public cravings for drama lead to everyone involved in the case to take advantage of this opportunity to rise to stardom. Hence, to expand her opinion, Anolik then takes the argument even further to demonstrate to the reader how this desire for public attention truly evolved lives of these “characters”. Few may disagree and deem her views as conspiracy, but it is no coincidence that the co-stars for this special series have tried their best to continue their days in the spotlight. For instance, Kato Kaelin, who testified for O.J, appears on numerous television shows and hosted many reality TV challenges. Dr. Robert Huizenga, the medical examiner who also testified for O.J., works on the Biggest Loser as the medical expert for those attempting to lose the weight. O.J. himself even tried to get onto The Celebrity Apprentice but failed in numerous attempts. Henry Lee, the forensic scientist whose testimony secured O.J.’s innocence, hosts a television show on Court Television. Even though these people seem to be the stars of the time, this was