I was reading the reviews of Quentin Tarantino’s latest movie, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which features the time in Hollywood leading up to the infamous Manson murders. Of course, the internet being what it is, so chock full of information- pertinent and not, that I ended up spending a fair amount of time this morning researching some of even the minor details surrounding Sharon Tate and the horrible, terrifying, mortifying events that stunned America for so long. These Manson murders are so evil, that I have known and heard about the Manson murders for my entire lifetime (they occurred a few months before I was born).
Sharon Tate’s sister has been an advocate for victims’ rights and has been dedicated to keeping her sister’s murderers in jail, for the rest of their lives. She also brought a very important “aha” moment to Trent Reznor, lead singer of the band Nine Inch Nails, who had rented the home where the murders took place in 1992, nicknamed it “Pig” and shot a video there. (For the record, the home was finally demolished in 1994.) This is what he had to say:
My awakening about all that stuff came from meeting Sharon Tate’s sister. 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 don’t want to be looked at as a guy who supports serial-killer bullshit.
I went home and cried that night. It made me see there’s another side to things, you know? It’s one thing to go around with your dick swinging in the wind, acting like it doesn’t matter. But when you understand the repercussions that are felt … that’s what sobered me up: realizing that what balances out the appeal of the lawlessness and the lack of morality and that whole thing is the other end of it, the victims who don’t deserve that.
With all of the information thrown at us these days, it is so easy to get desensitized to it all. Even if we all aren’t perpetrating any evil ourselves, it’s so easy to rationalize looking the other way. Life is complicated. It is hard to figure out what hills to die on. Still, I suppose looking at everyone we come across with a little more empathy, trying to really do the mental walk of “a mile in their shoes”, might be an excellent way to start towards the journey of more benevolence, understanding and humaneness.
This post dovetails nicely with an article I was reading earlier this morning that someone posted on Quora. There was a picture of a happy, smiling group of regular folks taking a break from their office duties back in the early 1940s. Turns out that all of those people worked at Auschwitz.
The article talked about how these people worked there BEFORE it became a concentration camp. They were just regular office workers, doing their jobs, supporting their families. But when the Nazis came to power all that changed, and these folks had to learn to look the other way in order to continue supporting their families. They adapted, and accepted as normal all the stuff that was happening there. They learned not to care.
That sounds a lot like what Trent Reznor said in the interview. The events that happened at the house weren’t REAL to him; they happened long before he was born. It was just an interesting part of American folklore. Until he connected with an emotion that affected him directly, he didn’t care.
Here’s a link to the article if you want to check it out. Look at the photos. Regular folks, just like you and I. Honestly, it’s chilling.
https://www.quora.com/When-you-watch-a-stadium-filled-with-white-people-chanting-Send-her-back-about-a-US-Congresswomen-and-our-President-silently-endorses-it-what-comes-up-for-you
Kelly, thank you for that link. It is an excellent article!
Wow, that was a heavy duty one girl! I on the opposite hand try not to cry each and every day. I see it all. It seems Im a conduit for sadness as I feel every single persons plights. Crazy stuff!
It hurts to be spongy, Kit. I understand. ❤
Spongy? lol
Soaking in everyone’s emotions within your sphere of reference. Sometimes I think we just have to put on our invisible shield, or we are just not good for anyone. Anyway, easier said than done, right? Hugs!