Former Manson Family Member Responds to ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD Twist Ending
I’m not going to get into the nitty gritty, but I am going to allude to what happens in this film. It’s not a full-blown spoiler, but it’s more than I would have liked to know going in, so beware.
While Quentin Tarantino’s latest film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, has received mixed reviews and criticisms for various portrayals and story choices, one viewer had a particularly unique point of view while watching the film, as she was a member of the Manson family, and has a first hand account of the true goings on of the time. Recently The Daily Beast sat down with Dianne Lake, formerly known as Snake, to hear her perspective on the places and people she recognized, as well as the twist ending of the film.
The fourteen year old Lake was the youngest member of the Manson family and spent two years as a part of the commune, but says she didn’t know of the dark criminal acts committed by its members until after they were in the news and Tex Watson confessed. Two months after the infamous murders, the Spahn Ranch was raided, and Lake was a key witness in the convictions of the murderous members, including Charles Manson.
While watching the film, Lake commented that some of the portrayals were not exact, and probably less flattering than she remembers the people who took her in. But she did say the scene involving Margot Robbie’s Sharon Tate did make her emotional, seeing the beautiful person she was, and knowing her fate. Of the ending, which was more of a Tarantino fantasy than real life, Lake said:
“I thought the ending was very clever. During the whole movie, you know what it’s about. When Charlie shows up at the house, there’s this buildup. How is [Tarantino] going to reveal [the murders]? How is he going to reveal it? It’s going to be mayhem. You just know it’s going to be mayhem. But in the end, they go to the wrong house. He got the mayhem in, but––”
At that point, Lake’s voice cracked. She took a beat. “You know, I loved those people. It’s hard. But they did commit these horrific, brutal... They committed mayhem. It was only fitting that the mayhem ended up on them.”
No kidding, lady. That ending was a triumph, and how any of us would have wanted it to end if we could go back and make it so. I laughed, I cried, I yearned for a history that just wasn’t so. It’s good to hear that Lake was able to get out of that situation and go on to have a normal life. You can read the whole interview at the link above. Did you love Once Upon a Time in Hollywood? If not, why?