JOUR 420: B#3

The Hippie Occult that Changed Everything, and a Deeper Look into Pop Culture Tragedies

The 1960's, filled with rock n' roll music, love, peace, sex, drugs and the birth of the hippie movement. During times of struggle in the decade -- riots, war, assassination -- many felt that they were able to overcome; that their message of love and peace would prevail.

That all changed in in the final months of 1969.

A man with a broken childhood and a criminal past moved into Laurel Canyon. His name was Charles Manson, and he moved there after becoming obsessed with groups such as the Beatles. He taught himself how to play music, began writing songs, and seemed to fit in naturally with the hippie movement in Laurel Canyon.

Charles Manson

But Charles was different. He didn't function under that "All You Need Is Love" mentality. He began recruiting members to his "Family," which were usually young, attractive girls from privilleged families, and who were "damaged" in some way (life at home, trying to live the hippie life, etc.).

Michael Walker, author of Laurel Canyon, described Manson's philosophies as "a hash of biblical revelations, Scientology, and his own song lyrics." (Walker 121).

This was not a religion. This was an occult.

And when Manson didn't get the record deal he dreamed of, he influenced his followers to commit brutal murders. The first being of actress Sharon Tate (who was eight months pregnant at the time), along with everyone else in her house,,,a total of five others...one whom was shot, and the other four all stabbed 102 times. The word "PIG" was written on the front door with Tate's blood. The second attack came the next day, with the murder of Leno and Rosemary LaBiancas. Leno was found with a carving fork sticking out from his stomach and the word "WAR" carved into his skin. Rosemary was stabbed 41 times. Smeared in blood on the walls were the phrases, "DEATH TO PIGS" and "HEALTER SKELTER" (one of Manson's theories).

He and his followers who took part in the crime were eventually arrested and convicted, and their trial is a whole other story. The people of Laurel Canyon became paranoid. They wondered: "How could they have done something like this? They seemed so normal...like one of us." 

Manson being escorted to his arraignment in connection to the murders in 1969. 

Contrary to the hippie beliefs, Manson and his followers didn't think as highly about love, peace and no war as his counterparts did. So when they heard about these crimes, it was a total shock to their system. It began to break down the hippie movement of the '60's.

One of the most interesting facts that I caught in this situation was that Manson's "Healter Skelter" theory was based off the White Album from the Beatles, in which he believed that they were directing a personal message to him of an apocalypse and race war to come.

The Beatles....the group that brought so much joy to America, and helped ease the pain after the assassination on President John F. Kennedy, influenced these massacres? Was the problem their music? Did they really have subliminal messages that warned of war and apocalypse?

What was the Problem? The Music, the Message, the or Movement? Would this have happened even if is wasn't in the midst of the hippie movement? Was the music and the messages given through them the reason for blame?

Here's my answer...................................................................................................................No.

This incident would not be the first time that people claimed music had influenced them to do something unthinkable, such as murder. Over time, situations such as this have caused a lot of debate, as to if the artists who create the music, pop culture itself, or the listeners are the ones to blame.

Here are just a few very well known examples of this pop culture/murder influence:

Mug shot photo of Mark David Chapman

• Mark David Chapman, who murdered Beatles member John Lennon. He was found and arrested while reading the book, "Catcher In The Rye," and compared himself to the main character in the story, Holden Caulfield.

Mug shot of John Hinckley, Jr.

• John Hinckley, Jr., attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981 after obsessing over the film, Taxi Driver in 1976. The reasoning? To win the affection of actress Jodie Foster, who played a prostitute in the movie. Hinckley had stalked her for months before the murder attempt.
• A Russian-roulette scene in the movie The Deer Hunter, which was said to have influenced a rash number of suicides in 1978.

Richard Ramirez

• Richard Ramirez killed 15 people in the Los Angeles area, who was dubbed "The Night Stalker" before his capture in 1985. A self proclaimed lover of heavy metal and a Satanic worshiper, he said that he was a fan of music that incorporated Satanic innuendo in their music and imagery, and noted that his favorite song was Highway to Hell by AC/DC.

James Holmes

• James Holmes, who obsessed over the superhero Batman and his nemesis, The Joker, stormed into the Aurora Colorado Theater for the film The Dark Knight Rises; He was dressed in heavy armor and opened fire where he killed 12 people and injured 70 others.

So who is to blame for all of this? Pop culture? Even though many might be able to make a case to blame it, and I believe that some of these situations (such as AC/DC's, Highway to Hell) do have can have many negative influences, it is the person who commits the terrible act, not the pop culture.

The songs that AC/DC wrote, the films mentioned above and the White Album from the Beatles never instructed for someone to kill somebody else. These were the acts of people who were either crazy, mentally unstable, and/or demonically possessed. No one is to blame other than the actual murderer.

I believe that these situations still exists today, and that unfortunately, tragedies such as these will emerge every once in a while, with a killer claiming that they were influenced or told to do something by pop culture. There are still cults that exist today such as the well known Santeria, or even some that establish themselves as religion such as Scientology (which happened to be one of Manson's influences). 

What is important here is being able to recognize this, and always remain vigilant at all times, because you never know who may be "influenced" by pop culture in the wrong way next.