Today is the 39th anniversary of the murder of Sharon Tate and her friends (Abigail Folger, Jay Sebring, Wojciech Frykowski, and the visiting Steven Parent) at the hands of the Manson family. Sharon was a truly beautiful woman - breathtaking, in a literal sense - and was weeks away from giving birth to a son when she was killed.
(above) Sharon, taken on the day before her murder
What's really a shame is that Manson continues to be a cult figure ala fellow murderer Che Guevara. Do a search on the murders and you'll find three sites that glorify Manson and his minions to every one that mourns Tate. One page not only quoted the killers and said 'I love that quote!' [emphasis theirs] but offers for sale pieces of the fireplace from the room in which she died. *
I will repeat what I wrote here once upon a time. Quit celebrating these monsters. Render them 'John Doe' or 'Mr. X' while repeating the tales. We don't disclose the names of rape victims or juvenile offenders, the former largely by journalistic discretion; why not deny killers their chance at fame by doing the same?
Study them, write about them, make your morbid money, whatever; just do it while severing their names from history.
One last thing. I've always held it against Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails) that he chose to live in the infamous murder house. After reading the following I've changed my mind and have much more respect for the man.
While I was working on Downward Spiral, I was living in the house where Sharon Tate was killed. Then one day I met her sister. It was a random thing, just a brief encounter. And she said: 'Are you exploiting my sister's death by living in her house? 'For the first time, the whole thing kind of slapped me in the face. I said, 'No, it's just sort of my own interest in American folklore. I'm in this place where a weird part of history occurred. ' I guess it never really struck me before, but it did then. She lost her sister from a senseless, ignorant situation that I don't want to support. When she was talking to me, I realized for the first time, 'What if it was my sister?' I thought, 'Fuck Charlie Manson.' I went home and cried that night. It made me see there's another side to things, you know?
* I refuse to link to the site; find it on your own if you wish
4 comments:
What a sad event this was. What a horrible, demented group of individuals that did this deed. What a demonisitic leader that orchestrated this horendous event. May they all rot in the firery pit at the end of their lives.
Joyce
What a beautiful woman.
As for Manson and his gang, should they be in prison or a mental hospital? How can one say they weren't/aren't insane?
Charlie
She was very beautiful, indeed. I'm glad to read that about Trent Reznor, makes me feel better about him, too.
Joann
I'm with you on expunging the names of murderers from the records to minimize the infamy, but it would make it difficult to track those who aren't killed (executed) or incarcerated without chance of parole.
There is a passage in the Bible about an infamous deed that names the perpetrator and then says that his name would die and never be uttered again. The epitome of irony.
;^) Jan the Gryphon
PS: Someone suggested the other day that the Canadian bus berserker ought to be put in with Manson. Aside from the question of jurisdiction, I'm certain that's not a good idea. There is a difference between crazy and evil, even if the effect is similar. -J
Post a Comment