Flat-Top
I’ve just watched the first episode of Aquarius, the David Duchovny led TV programme set in 1967 LA and
revolving around the Charlie Manson ‘story’.
I mention here because it has a superb soundtrack – with songs
by Manson himself – though they are mainly quick snippets. However, so far the ’67
selection is pieced together with some flair.
Duchovny sports an emblematic flat-top haircut to
consolidate his stereotypical role as a law officer, and the presentation of
the hippie/freak scene is somewhat clichéd, though I wouldn’t want to be making
excuses for the world of Charlie Manson. What I think is rather condescending
is Duchovny’s ‘superior’ take on the moment, and I feel this has more to do
with what we can accept as a retrospective appreciation of the honest if hopeful
nativity of that time, but I don’t accept such an awareness could have been as
knowing then as it has been conveyed in the opening episode.
I look to the programme to somehow convey the charisma of
Manson, rather than just his monstrous being. If the programme is to have
genuine merit it has to present the complex rather than a crime soap opera, as compelling
as the acting and setting can make even that.
I do look forward to the further selection of that
soundtrack.
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