Modern Day Othello

In Phillip Kolin's interview of Kent Thompson, an interesting comparison was made between Othello and O. J. Simpson. Thompson talked about his first production of Othello and how it coincided with the O. J. Simpson murder trials. He said that this event attracted large amounts of people to the theatre because "they wanted to see a similar story written 400 years earlier." It is interesting to see a modern comparison to a historical story like Othello. Assuming that Simpson did indeed murder his wife and her friend, it makes you wonder if O. J. Simpson acted out in jealousy. Did he believe that there was a romantic relationship between his wife and this man? Also was there an "Iago" type figure in his life, trying to manipulate his emotions and spark jealous violence? In modern times this figure could have been the influence of drugs or alcohol. Just like Iago, these things tend to make people see things in different ways and imagine things that aren't reality. Perhaps, while under the influence, Simpson could have viewed an interaction between his wife and the other man as intimate or more than just a casual occurrence just as Othello did with Cassio and Desdemona briefly holding hands. These emotions could have lead to a similar violent end as in Othello.

This comparison raised a lot of the same racial issues that are present in Othello as well. In the case of O.J. Simpson, it was a black man being accused of murdering a white woman. This matches up exactly to the plot of Othello. This real life event seems to be evidence to the topics created by William Shakespeare 400 years ago.