The Enduring Appeal of Charles Manson

Whilst scanning through Netflix recently I came upon a 2015 movie entitled Manson Family Vacation. The premise of the film is that a misfit brother comes to stay with a conventional LA Attorney and turns his world upside down.

They have not seen each other for a while and are bonding again. We learn as the film unfolds that the misfit brother has more than an unhealthy fascination for the cult leader who incited spree killings, Charles Manson who passed away while incarcerated for his crimes late last year.

The two embark on a “tour” of Los Angeles and the sites of the eight murders committed by the Manson Family, including the high-profile bludgeoning of pregnant actress Sharon Tate.

As the film progresses, dealing with the alienation of the brother whilst growing up we discover that he was adopted and yes, you’ve guessed it, he is one of the children sired by Charles Manson whilst leading his cult. The film hints that he is one of many born to the so-called Manson women and one of the many given up for adoption by the American government following the conviction of Manson.

What the film ignited in me is the realisation that Manson captured the zeitgeist of the time- the embracement of the hippy, drop out culture of 1967 and the violent end to the 60s decade which witnessed race riots, Vietnam and the seemingly senseless bludgeoning of innocent people masterminded by a man who controlled other people’s minds.

I did not even know that Manson had recorded songs, three of which were used as part of the soundtrack in the film which further adds to the strangely fascinating story of Manson.

Even one of the most major bands of the sixties – The Beach Boys-recorded one of his songs. Director Quentin Tarantino is making a film about Manson due for release in 2019. Entitled Once upon a Time in Hollywood it will star Hollywood luminaries Leonardo de Caprio, Brad Pitt and Al Pacino.

The sixties were when it all came together for this misfit and wandering felon who was born to an unmarried 16-year-old woman Katherine Maddox in 1934. Due to the time and the morals prescient at the time, Manson was always doomed to be an outsider and a misfit. His mother was an alcoholic and an alleged prostitute and was herself imprisoned by the time Manson was five years old. He was given a home by his aunt but somehow, maybe fuelled by the rejection of his mother, he began breaking the law by stealing cars. He never got on the straight and narrow and cocked a snoop at the any societal attempts to rehabilitate him.

In 1967 he was released from prison finishing a seven-year sentence of for transporting women across state lines for prostitution and forging cheques. He had already spent over half of his life in government custody and was a twice divorced father of two abandoned sons, a former student of mind control techniques, a rapist, pimp, a car thief, and an aspiring musician. Now he was now a free man. He had pleaded with the prison officers that he should not be released.

What was someone like him to do? What Manson must have learned from very young age was that he was able to hold a fascination for others and manipulate them to do what he wanted. As soon as he was released he started to recruit his “family” and toured LA on a bus before setting up home at a disused ranch. By 1969 the Spahn ranch had 32 followers and seven children (some of his own born the the Manson women).

From what started out as a seemingly idyllic haven from mainstream culture, things took a sinister turn. How on earth did some of these followers commit such horrific murders? Not all shared Manson’s dysfunctional upbringing. Some came from good homes but as one follower Leslie Van Houten testifies, her home was devoid of expression and communication. Any dampened a spark of creativity was ignited by the sixties counter-culture and by one man who represented it.

So why, when San Francisco was awash with flower power and hippies did Manson become so prominent? The timing of this is especially important.

1967 was the “Summer of Love”. 75000 young people descended on to the streets of San Francisco and it was in Haight that Manson set up home that very same summer and begin his mission.

Manson had charisma and the ability to mesmerise people. He needed them to commit crimes to fund his lifestyle and with his Messianic and metaphysical ramblings, he hooked people into believing him he was special. He could also convince others, especially vulnerable women, that they too were special. How did he do it? Former Family member Catherine ‘Gypsy’ Share, states he “became whatever you needed him to be.” He would “be very caring, would work on your inadequacies, your needs, help you take away your fears”. She continues:

“Charlie talked to whoever he was talking to in a way that they would believe him. If he was talking to hippies he’d talk one way, if he was talking to motorcycle guys, he’d talk another way. He could just reflect whatever he draws out…whatever he knows they agree with.”

Having learned to play the guitar in prison Manson was on the brink of becoming a recording artist and through two female members of his family, set up camp in Beach Boy drummers home Dennis Wilson in 1968.

Dennis Wilson embraced Manson and his music and was said to have spent 100,000 dollars supporting the family in his home.

However, things took a sour turn when Wilson stole one of his songs and changed the lyrics slightly for the Beach Boys 20/20 album. "Cease to Exist," was revised by Dennis and retitled "Never Learn Not to Love”. Dennis best friend was music publisher terry Melcher, son of 50s star Doris Day had rejected Manson’s musical offerings. In March 1969 angry at Terry Melcher's failure to deliver a record contract, Manson goes to Melcher's house on Cielo Drive, unaware that Melcher has already moved out. He shows up in the middle of a party given by one of the new residents, Sharon Tate.

The added embitterment by the failure of his music taking off, to his previous belief that he would be bewildered by his inability to adapt to any other form of life other than prison, electrified insane ideas. He soon made sure his mind-controlled family members would share his vision to exact revenge with Messianic zeal.

The right man, the right place and the right time. All he needed were some minds to influence and control and that is exactly what he did. of Charles Manson had a grand design or vision—that is, to bring about Helter Skelter—and it led him to design a murderous rampage which he believed would ignite an apocalyptic war which would be won by Black people. A racist Southerner, Manson believed that the Black people would not be able to govern and would need the help of Manson and his followers who were estranged from the rest of civilization “in the pits of hell”

On August 8^th, 1969, Manson chose four of his most obedient comrades—Charles "Tex" Watson, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel who committed the murders with Linda Kasabian, who was the getaway driver and who became the star witness during the trial.

The victims inside the house, were actress Sharon Tate who was eight and a half months pregnant; writer Wojciech Frykowski and his partner, the coffee bean heiress Abigail Folger; and Tate;s former boyfriend, celebrity hairstylist Jay Sebring. Tate shared the house on Cielo Drive with her film producer husband Roman Polanski who was away in London shooting a film. All were fatally stabbed.

Manson had already shot a drug dealer dead and cut the ear of another in the previous month

The next day, a couple in Los Angeles, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, were also slain by Manson's followers. The killings became known collectively as the Tate-LaBianca murders. If not a direct serial killer, Manson had sent his followers on a mission to kill. For three months LAPD struggled to solve the murders. It was only when Atkins started boasting about the crimes that Manson and the family members were captured.

Since the capture, trial and conviction of the Manson family almost 50 years ago why has there been such a fascination with Manson? Most of us will feel revulsion at the crimes that were committed against innocent people at the say so of a madman and with the sadistic fervour of his followers.

Popular Culture

The Manson story has been the inspiration for all segments of popular culture- films; books; TV series; documentaries and even a clothing range. Manson has given his name to an American band and controversial singer Marilyn Manson. During the trial Manson appeared on the cover of Life Magazine. Vincent Bugliosi the prosecutor in the case became a best-selling author of a pulp thriller called Helter Skelter, based on the case. Manson's impact on pop culture is extensive. American heavy metal band Guns n' Roses have covered Manson's song "Look at Your Game Girl.” In 2009 there was a short film made about the Manson murders called Lie and in the 2014 another film called House of Manson was released.

Manson is the subject of the next Tarantino film and Manson Family Vacation. The Girls by novelist Emma Cline is a fictionalised account of the Manson women’s lives and was a literary bestseller in 2016.

The TV show American Horror Story: Cult recreated the Manson murders in 2017.

He is even referenced in the 2016 film Straight Outta Compton.

Whilst in prison he still had followers such as "Gray Wolf,", and "Star," named by Manson just as he named members of his “family” during the 1960s.

Wolf said he moved near to Corcoran prison where Manson was incarcerated until his death and believed that the felon held deep insight into environmental issues or ATWA -the acronym Manson termed for Air, Trees, Water, Animals.

Vincent Bugliosi, the man who prosecuted Manson and whose evidence sentenced him to life imprisonment, acknowledges that Manson continues to hold influence over some people.

"This is just a microcosm of the tremendous interest and fascination that people still have with Charles Manson," Bugliosi said. "The Manson Family no longer exists. There's no group calling itself the Manson Family on the outside. And these people -- I wouldn't say they're followers of Manson, that's too strong a word --they’re supporter."

Star, whose real name is Afton Elaine Burton, 57 years his junior got engaged to Manson in 2017 was reported to have wanted his corpse for display to make money.

"He's really witty and really sharp and he's got a lot of good humour," she said. "He's got a weird sense of humour, but I like it, it fits with me."

Star says she was attracted to Manson’s environmental views.

"There's a lot of people all around the world that would say they support Charles Manson and his vision of ATWA," she said.

Bugliosi, however, says there's a more sinister attraction to Manson that transcends the green movement.

"There's a certain mystique that has developed around Manson," he said. "And one reason is that the very name Manson has come to be a metaphor for evil. He's come to represent the dark and malignant side of humanity, for whatever reason, people are fascinated by pure, unalloyed evil."

The fascination for Manson cannot be easily explained but there are factors to the case which our fascination is suspended.

Manson was not at the Tate-LaBianca killings but was nonetheless convicted of murder by direction. It seems that Manson possessed a knack to control others who were psychologically predisposed to being manipulated and exploited. Manson’s followers were from a mixture of backgrounds, including an All-American sports jock and Grade A student Charles ‘Tex’ Watson, stripper and felon Susan Atkins, young divorcee Linda Kasabian who brought her two-year old to live with the Family, insurance clerk Patricia Krenwinkel, former child performer Lynette “Squealy” Fromme, and homecoming queen Leslie Van Houten.

Their previous lives had been eradicated and the family lived a life of freedom funded by crime.

Manson encouraged his followers to role play using drama workshops. They were reinvented and once he had them where he wanted -protected in this haven of love, he began to preach using a combination of LSD and re-enactments of the crucifixion. He controlled everything, even who they had sex with during the many orgies he organised.

Manson began to preach about an impending race war and told his disciples they had to ‘die’ to be reborn and rule the world, heavily plying them with LSD. Leslie Van Houten has since stated that each new acid trip took her farther and farther away from reality. She remarked how, at Spahn Ranch, there was little "downtime" or "recovery time" to rediscover reality between doses of LSD.

Manson’s interest in mind control techniques started when he read the seemingly innocuous How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, and even became a scientologist. He organized his group along the lines of a cult in that he chipped away at his followers' identities and altered their consciousness.

Was it the time?

One of the reasons why we are fascinated with Manson was the era that spawned his murder spree. Manson and his followers were witnesses of a great societal transition and the breaking free of the shackles of conformity. The 60s embraced free love, free sex, mind- altering drugs and experimental music. Its appeal was mainly to the young, tired and disillusioned with society’s norms and gave them the chance to free their minds and achieve a greater consciousness. The innocence of the movement still holds a thrall for many us now- the creativity and the freedom and the chance to drop out and reject conservative values. Even though most of us know that it all went rather sour.

Is it the Cult of the Individual?

Manson himself and his followers believed he was Messianic as most cult leaders do. Was it his charisma and ability combined with an almost feral quality that enthral us? Was it His astonishing ability to control minds of those who are vulnerable? World leaders and governments have been doing this for years and do we secretly admire this one individual who had been born in the wrong side of the tracks, doing the same? He appeared almost as a Che Guevara/Christ figure of the counter culture. Was it his performances for the camera? Says Author Daniel Simone, who has recorded hundreds of hours of conversation with Manson for his upcoming book The Retrial of Charles Manson, states “We always spoke in a casual way, but turn a camera or microphone on him and suddenly a different person comes out. That is what got him convicted. He loves attention, and he loves to perform."

This is reminiscent of his playing to the camera during his trial. It was evident that Manson enjoyed his moment as the star performer.

Was it the location of the killing spree that holds in morbid fascination? Tinsel town and its sprawling mansions with the backdrop of the Californian countryside glistening in its golden rays of sunlight, is the home of movies and stars known throughout the world. Superstars such as Sinatra, Steve McQueen and Liz Taylor who were reportedly quaking in their collective boots at the real threat of being targeted and slaughtered by merciless killers. It must have been the most terrifying script ever with an unseen director. The story not only captivated America, but the world. The victims were innocent, but all were maligned at the time by the media- Hollywood starlet Sharon Tate, the flawless pregnant beauty was painted as a drug addict who participated in orgies with her husband and the LaBianca couple were alleged to have gambling debts. Comparisons were made with Polanski’s film Rosemary’s Baby, a supernatural horror film that touches on Satanism. Polanski himself was believed to have had extra-marital affairs. Hollywood has always had a murky interior hiding from the glitz and glamour and has been the backdrop to more than a few shocking scandals.

Other reasons

Another probable reason that Manson continues to hold fascination for so many people is that he escaped the death penalty. A 1972 ruling by the California Supreme Court abolished the death penalty and Manson's death sentence was altered to life imprisonment. Manson has used his extra time to fuel his mystique through carefully timed interviews, outbursts or antics. Another reason is that Manson was evil. And it seems that as humans we have an innate desire to try and understand evil- maybe it is a way of protecting ourselves against it.