Thursday, June 18, 2015

Helter Skelter Author Dead, But Hollywood Still Loves Charlie

Vincent Bugliosi, the man who prosecuted Charles Manson and his “Family” for the Tate-LaBianca murders in 1969, died earlier this month at 80. After going into private practice in 1972, Bugliosi wrote “Helter Skelter” an acclaimed book documenting the infamous case from start to finish. The book was adapted for the small screen twice, first in 1976 and again (less impressively) in 2004.

It’s another tick in the long timeline of the lurid case that has captivated the minds of Americans for decades. And while to most, the story of Manson and his band of murderous misfits represents a strange era, there are some even stranger people who are gripped by morbid fascination with the case and Manson himself. But now to the repellant part, there is a market for it.

Ever since Manson and his “family” exploded into the news in 1969, they have been a ready source of sales for TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, and the web. The myth of Manson attracts eyeballs. Bugliosi’s book and the movies based on it raked-in millions. In facts, it gave birth the “Serial Killer” market: a media niche that tantalizes the dark sides of those who are turned-on by it. The lurid and mysterious parts of the human experience have that magic that just sells itself. It’s attractive on a certain level.
            

The latest media dalliance with Manson Family mayhem is NBC’s primetime drama, “Aquarius” starring David Duchovny as an LAPD detective on the trail of Charles Manson in the late 1960’s. While nothing shocks me, I have to say that I was disturbed by the idea of this show. It feeds into a myth surrounding Charles Manson, portraying him as some kind of evil genius, when in reality, he was an illiterate, transient hillbilly who spent more of his life institutionalized than out and was known to have committed at least one rape at knifepoint. Less that mastermind than the marginal misfit, when the time came to make a name for himself he had young girls do his dirty work.

But worse than propping up a coward is the idea that Hollywood would exploit the deaths of six people. One of whom was eight months pregnant. Charles Manson left a lot of victims in his wake, not all of them murdered. And worse still is that there is an audience who find it entertaining. There is an audience who will probably root for Manson as an anti hero. And the fact that we live in a society that lionizes a victimizer is probably a society in trouble.