Once Upon a Time in Hollywood? My thoughts:

A few days ago my husband and I were having breakfast and he asked me what I thought about the new Quentin Tarantino movie. I didn't know what he was talking about and he told me, "It's about 1969 Hollywood, the Manson murders and Sharon Tate is in it." My honest first reaction was feeling a little upset about the film being made. I have literally mixed feelings about Sharon Tate and the Manson murders being depicted in Hollywood. I really like Sharon Tate in Valley of the Dolls (a favorite book and film for me, guilty pleasures) Eye of the Devil and The Fearless Vampire Killers. I think she was good in these roles, and I think she might have gotten really big if she had not been killed. And if I may put my tinfoil hat on, I wonder how things would have turned out with Roman Polanski. I know Roman Polanski cheated on Sharon, but I still wonder... (He's probably just a sexual predator and nothing would have changed his path but...) I have done a ton of reading about Sharon Tate, and EVERYONE describes her as a beautiful person inside and out. It makes me so sad to think that a beautiful person will forever be remembered in such a terrible way. I feel like sometimes people just milk her story. I am not saying it shouldn't be talked about, I'm just saying we should be respectful rather than sensationalizing an innocent woman's death. Let's face it..sensational is a word I feel could be applied to most if not all Quentin Tarantino's films. So my first reaction was being sort of prickly about the film. But then...

I watched the trailer and it looked very interesting. As much as I try to feel self righteous about my feelings towards Sharon Tate, as well as the others at 10050 Ceilo Drive and the Labianca's and Gary Hinman and all the other victims there could be...I am one of the people who eats up everything about the Manson murders. It's fascinating, it leaves you wanting more. I have read many books about the Manson Family and their murders. I have a big interest in cults and that was my main interest in the Manson Family. I never found Charles Manson as interesting as his followers. Maybe it was because they were mostly young girls, and I related to them more. So here I am, feeling a pull between my sensitivity around the Manson murders, and a morbid curiosity and wanting to know everything there is to know about this case. So the whole movie is not completely about the Manson murders, it is more about 1969 Hollywood. This also made me feel a little more comfortable with the film, not completely..but more comfortable.

OK, all that said, there are certain things I saw in the trailer that left me feeling, a little excited. One of my favorite things to learn about is vintage Hollywood. I hate Southern California (too hot and dirty) but Hollywood captured my heart when I was young. I love Hollywood history and crime in Hollywood. I remember getting a book from the library about crime in Hollywood 1910-1960 when I was like 9-10 years old. The black Dahlia was so interesting to me, and one day when I was feeling like a real weirdo I scratched the corners of my mouth open while staring into the elementary school bathroom mirror. I wanted to know what happened to her, I thought somehow injuring myself like her would give me some sort of answer. I don't know why, but I guess I was young and dumb. I actually never knew who Sharon Tate was until I was 15 and I saw The Fearless Vampire Killers. Anyways I am getting off topic, things I like about this film thus far: 

1.) CAST- I really love most of the actors in this film. I adore Margot Robbie and she does look eerily like Sharon Tate in what I saw, good makeup, hair and styling. Dakota Fanning is also in this movie and I love her. And of course Brad Pitt and Fat Leo (my affectionate pet name for Leonardo Dicaprio) They both are decent actors imo, I always want to dislike them because I am a contrarian, but they usually do a nice job.

2.) LOOK OF FILM- The cinematography and color editing are warm, and captures the essence of what I understand the late 1960's. I worked color correcting photos for years so I am pretty picky.

3.) THE SETTING- I love old Hollywood as I have mentioned above. I was excited to see how authentic it looked. There are some films that try to do old Hollywood and it just looks like obvious costumes and fake. The most egregious of these films is the absolutely terrible The Black Dahlia (2006) by Brian De Palma. This was so terrible, and it pissed me off especially bad because I love the novel by James Ellroy. I saw it on opening night, and I knew it was going to be terrible after the first three minutes. Speaking of James Ellroy based films, LA Confidential (1997) was a good old Hollywood story. Even though I love this film, I felt it was a little bland looking. This is a personal opinion but I feel this subject matter does well when it is stylized. A good example of a film taking place in the late sixties, being stylized yet seemingly authentic at the same time is Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998). From what I have seen of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is that it takes the Fear and Loathing stance. It's really the setting that has drawn me in, this is such a ripe time period for dramatic films.

That is how I feel about the movie at this early stage. I'm not like, a HUGE fan of Quentin Tarantino films, but they are ok. I also am aware is that the Sharon Tate character is supposedly not named Sharon Tate, and is just "inspired" by her. I may have just talked in circles in this post and been super hypocritical and contradicted myself at points, but like I said my feelings on this are all over the place. This movie comes out in July, and maybe then I'll have a clearer sense of my feelings. 

\take care be well

M