The Col often takes inspiration from the comments and there was a big debate in there recently about brainwashing... how if you look at the photos and the docs and you can see that the girls were in fact slavishly eating up Charlie's bullshit.
I could not agree less. Have any of you people done any drugs at all?
If you look at both Hendrickson documentaries what you see are people out of their heads on drugs. Weed, sure, speed likely, who the hell knows what else.
You don't see people accurately brainwashed. In fact the most drugged out people in those are the "heroes" Watkins and Posten. These were young people partying and fucking in the desert. When you get faded, or do LSD which was in heavy rotation then, the most stupid shit sounds profound. "Because the world is round it turns me on". Heavy man. "Coming down fast twenty miles above you." Oh, wow. "There is an upside down river in he desert." Shit man, let's go.
Did Charlie "lead"? No doubt, he had 15 years on most of these people. Did he brainwash? Well not like the fucking Manchurian Candidate.
There's one theory I have which I have never sewn together that involves the kids need to please Daddy. It makes a lot of sense. Leaving aside Kasabian who never makes any sense in any fucking occasion, why send the other three to Tate? Because they owe him. Tex for drug burn, Sadie for bikers trashing Saloon, Katie because she fits in no where. So Daddy is pissed at Melcher and then shouts somebody should fucking do something.
And stoned out of their boxes, they do.
I really don't see evidence of brainwashing at all in this case. I do see a shitload of drugs though.
Later on during the trial I see brainwashing. But it could all be explained by the fact that the girls are scared out of their minds and only trust Charlie, and he is having fun putting on a show.
