quote:
My wife and I both thought the Manson/Tate angle was unnecessary and exploitive. There's something almost psychopathic to me about using the grisly, horrific, brutal real life murder of a woman and her child to drive the narrative beat of your movie then pulling an okie-doke and using slapstick violence to punish the real life villains.

I kind of understand this thought process. What happened that night was a scar on an entire time and place imo.

As much as I enjoyed the beautiful feel and nostalgia of the movie that QT created, I felt this overbearing sense of dread watching it because I knew the horror of what was to come. I didn’t want to see it.

So when the fairy tale took over, and you can almost draw a line from where it starts when they smoke the angel dust, I was wholeheartedly thankful and relieved.

It wasn’t so much catharsis for me, like another poster eloquently laid out, though there was some of that to be sure. But it was more of a reprieve, one that allowed me to fully enjoy the experience of the movie without potentially glorifying what those monsters did that night.

It keeps Sharon and her baby and friends alive in some other universe while still reminding us of the beauty she was without the injustice of documenting her killers’ actions.

Contrary to the unfounded concerns that some people may actually think this is the true story of what happened, I think only a very very few people don’t know the story

And even if they do, I don’t really see the harm in it.

Personally, it allowed me to fully embrace the ride through that time again, because I know I wouldn’t have wanted to rewatch the movie if it ended the way it did in reality.

I saw it as a great tribute to Tate, one that allows her to be introduced to a whole new generation as the person she was rather than just the victim she is most remembered as.

This post was edited on 4/10/21 at 1:59 pm