The Trials of Oscar Pistorius on BBC iPlayer - making my blood boil.

[QuentinQuarantino]

I'm 55 mins into EP 1 of 2 and it's so horrendously biased in favour of him.

Barely a mention of Reeva Steenkamp, the woman he murdered. Lots of Oscar-adoring talking heads commenting sympathetically about him and using horribly detached language to describe the murder he committed. Describing it as the awful "tragedy" that happened "to him".

I can barely continue watching it. Has anyone else watched and does it become more balanced as it goes on?

RIP Reeva.

I have no intention of watching it for this very reason. There's an excellent article about it from The Guardian I think. I'll find the link for you.

www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/nov/01/reeva-steenkamp-was-murdered-shame-on-the-bbc-for-forgetting

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/nov/01/reeva-steenkamp-was-murdered-shame-on-the-bbc-for-forgetting

Oops...

Great minds think alike!

RIP Reeva.

I'm on episode 4 and still wondering about when we will hear about Reeva Steencamp. She appears only obliquely, we learn nothing about the life that he took away from her. It's almost unbelievable. And so many apologists for him. I now know why she was omitted from the trailers. The makers of this had nothing at all to say about her. It is essentially 'The tragedy of Oscar Pistorius'. It's disgraceful.

Thanks for the head's up. I was going to watch this but don't think I will now. Shame on the BBC.

@supercee

Thanks for the head's up. I was going to watch this but don't think I will now. Shame on the BBC.

Same here 😔

I'm enjoying it but I think it's quite crassly done.

The clue is in the title, The Trials Of Oscar Pistorius, it’s about his life , not Reeva’s.
We have heard from Reeva’s family and friends, there are clips featuring her and her mother has written a book if you want to know more about her daughter.

I have abandoned this too because of the hugely inappropriate bias. Awful!

I thought it was really interesting, it is about his life from birth until conviction, it shows the good side of him and the bad side of him. Some of Reeva’s family are interviewed so we do hear a lot about her and the devastation he brought on the family. There are interviews with his friends, family and previous girlfriends, some of which were very telling.There is a lot of the court case shown as well and the how it was all portrayed in the media. The gravity of the injuries Reeva sustained at his hands was horrific this was not played down at all in the programme.

I think it's taken a while to get into its stride, but I'm enjoying it more now. I liked the way they explored Oscar's background and his disability. It's more nuanced than anything I've previously

Looking forward to next week's.

I thought it was interesting too and started watching a bit of episode 2

Yes there were people, mainly family, who were positive about him but there were the negatives too

The old school friend that mentioned the arrogance and being dropped as a friend after he first became well known

Reeva Steenkamp featured heavily. I'm not sure where the claims of her being airbrushed out are coming from

I can't see where Reeva is airbrushed out either. 1 episode only which seems to be saying he was innocent, but I've seen other programs which was quite clear the forensic evidence and crime scene evidence showed it was murder.

I agree with Lucy Mangan that it was a 'flawed, fawning hagiography'. review

I ended up watching the whole thing after reading the early replies to my post and I don't really feel any different.

I completely agree with Lucy Mangan's review.

I found myself cursing at the telly whenever Pistorius's deluded, odious family members came on. That female cousin was particularly objectionable. I couldnt believe what I was hearing when she said that Oscar had to let Reeva's family know that SHE wouldn't CHOOSE a man who would murder her 😲. The unspoken implication being that it would somehow be her fault if she had.

While yes, it did end up painting a picture of what kind of nasty and unpleasant character he was, FAR too much of it focused on his deluded fan club defending him. Rich, white, privileged people who I'm guessing don't have particularly evolved outlooks on violence against women.

Also found myself agreeing out loud with Gerrie Nel when he went for OP's jugular during the trial with the photo of Reeva's head injuries and the hardcore questioning. Was so good to see someone forcing him to be accountable when he clearly thought all he had to do was cry and he'd get away with it.

Am still raging. He's eligible for parole in 2023 FFS.

Really like Lucy Mangan good review. I won’t be watching this programme.

Dd2 looks very like Reeva - can’t bear to think of what she went through and she seemed a lovely person

Gerrie Nel is a brilliant lawyer and thank goodness for him. He is like terrier and was superb. The whole court case shown live in South Africa and it was interesting and tragic at the same time. Reeva’s family behaved with great dignity and strength.

I recommend the book Behind The Door by highly regarded investigative journalist Mandy Wiener

I skipped a lot of each episode - his constant crying was triggering for me and I was getting very angry with those who didn't seem to accept that he does have a bad side and did actually murder Reeva. There was a lot of shouting at the telly in this house

Although many participants were, I found his brother particularly distasteful. Chilling almost.