re: Re-watching "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" right now

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I mean, it is a fantasy. The Once Upon a Time part should have clued you in to that.

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Starting the title with "Once Upon A Time" doesn't change the fact that the ending sucked and was a total cop out.

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The ending when the Manson family scum get massacred was oddly very satisfying despite being very far removed from the actual events by so much time and exposure.

A very sad and sick and old event that somehow was good to see an “alternative ending” for, even if in fiction and nearly 50 years after the fact.

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CATHARSIS.

It's probably the biggest reason that this movie is so beloved by members of my generation. I was too young to remember the actual event, but was in junior high when the book and TV movie Helter Skelter came out, and it was on all of our young teen minds back then. The creepiness of Manson and his followers... the tragedy of a pregnant beauty being foully murdered. And then around that time we had former Manson bitch Squeaky Fromme in the news again, attempting to assassinate President Gerald Ford. The whole Manson thing was like a nightmare that wouldn't go away for us.

Then there is this movie, when the 'right' thing happens. Sharon Tate lives, her baby lives, those creepy Mansonites get their just desserts, and the good guys win.

That's why we all loved it.

Catharsis.

I have kept the movie on the DVR and watch bits and pieces often. I never tire of the scene when Cliff Booth pegs Sadie right in the face with the can of dog food like a fastball, always yelling out "BOOM!" every time.

Catharsis.

But in my many viewings, I am always catching things I missed the first time. A few examples:

-- When the Mansonites first burst in, and Cliff asks, "Uh, can I help you?" Brandy is about to go after them. In a subdued motion, you see Cliff's hand signal her to stay put, referencing his near total control over this loyal pet we saw earlier.

-- When Cliff goes into the shed to get tools to fix the antenna, the firethrower is in there, right by the shed door.

-- the first and last lines of Cliff Booth in the movie (in 'real' time) are essentially the same. When told he is a good friend, he replies, "I try".


A couple of other historical notes--

The blonde talking to Steve McQueen about the Sharon/Roman/ Jay triangle is supposed to be Connie Stevens (I originally thought it was Joey Heatherton or Rona Barrett). She had earlier been married to James Stacy, who was the star of Lancer and played in the movie by Timothy Olyphant.

James Stacy/Olyphant is last seen leaving the set on a motorcycle. In real life, a few years later (1973) he was involved in a motorcycle accident which literally cost him an arm and a leg. Afterwards, he would appear in guest roles on TV shows where his disabilities were visually appropriate: Vietnam War vet, civil war vet, etc. Many years later he was convicted of molesting an 11 year girl and did six years in prison.

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DaleGribble

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Tard.

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Tard.

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Keep sucking that Tarantino cock, little man.

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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.

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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.

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It copped out by altering the real story of what happened that night. He shouldn't have used the Manson Family as a plot device. Period.

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Well, if that's the story you wanted to see, then put pen to paper and write it. I thought it was a brilliant plot device. The Manson murders are the demarcation line for when the '60s went bad and the promise of peace and love met the violence of the '70s Vietnam era. This isn't a true crime movie, it's a romanticized version of a generational change. In this fantasy, the hippies lose and Sharon Tate lives. I don't see anything wrong with that.

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There are probably 20 somethings out there right now that saw this stupid shite and believe that this is how things actually happened.

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Who gives a shite if some lazy children don't know history? frick them.

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The Manson murders are the demarcation line for when the '60s went bad and the promise of peace and love met the violence of the '70s Vietnam era. This isn't a true crime movie, it's a romanticized version of a generational change.

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