Every time I watch a historical flick, whether it is set in the ’70s, ’80s, or the eighteenth century, I take note of the social climate of the time and the relationship it had with the choices that people made, then I ask myself if the choices I would have made would be different. For most of the movies or documentaries that have been made about Charles Manson, his Helter Skelter doomsday prophesy, and the senseless murders carried out by the Manson family cult, I cannot help but think about the historical events that would lead to the forming of this cult that would cause a group of young people to be subservient to a single individual; to the extent that they would be willing to commit murder for him.

Public knowledge would point the precipitation of the hippies or yuppies movement to the Vietnam War that claimed too many American lives. Despite repeated appeals from the American people to end this war, the then president, Nixon, insisted that the war should continue, and by the time this war would eventually come to an end, about 58000 American lives were lost. Most Americans saw this loss of lives as unnecessary, and there was an outrage in society. Details as to how this outrage would play out can be found in various documentaries and movies; you could search for documentaries about the Vietnam War or google topics like “Woodstock,” which could give you a closer picture of how this counter-culture filtered into society.

Charlie Says focuses more on the post-Manson murders and zooms its lenses on three of Manson’s faithful: Leslie “Lulu’ Van Houten (Hannah Murray), Patricia ‘Katie’ Krenwinkel (Sosie Bacon), and Susan ‘Sadie’ Atkins (Marianne Rendon). It is based on the book “The Family” written by Guinevere Turner and Ed Sanders. The movie is also based on the book written by Karlene Faith titled “The Long Prison Journey Of Leslie van Houten”; Karlene Faith is played by Merritt Wever, who I first noticed in Nurse Jackie of which she won a primetime Emmy award for best-supporting actress in a comedy series.

As with most movies, you may not find a sequential flow of events but multiple uses of flashbacks. Good familiarity with the whole anthology of Charles Manson and the Helter Skelter-associated murders will help the viewers understand. Inasmuch as the murders are not the main theme of the story; there are scenes that display the damage that could be caused by a mind that has been hijacked through mind control techniques. You can expect to see more of the Manson girls regurgitate Charlie’s philosophy and less of Charlie doing it himself.

In our upcoming podcast, we discuss leaders with followers who hang on to their every word. We have heard of people like Jim Jones who had followers who were so subservient as to drink poisonous cool-aid and die. Or David Koresh, a pastor who told his followers that they were not allowed to sleep with their wives, alluding that he alone was the one sent from God with the sole license to sleep with their wives. We examine some of the things that people believe through the lens of Charlie Says. Be sure to make time to watch it. The new episode drops next Friday (Sep 17).