Independent Viewing Part II

OPTION #1
Claim: Due to the rising hippie movement of the 60's and 70's, Charles Manson was able to effectively sway the minds of young people to agree with his beliefs, and may not have had the same success in another time period as shown in this documentary.
Evidence:

• Drug use and sexual liberation were allowed to all members of Manson's "family".  Nomads who had left their conservative homes and moved to liberal California.  At first, this family of women was protected by Manson and lived in a bus.  Later, they moved onto a ranch and formed their own "society" where everything was free and they were secluded from the rest of the world.  This was liberating to the young girls and later men who joined this family.  The "utopia" always had music, stories, and drugs available.
• With increased trust and ties in this "family", it was easy to be convinced to commit crimes.  Many of the members, including Lynette Fromme, decided to kill others in order to benefit the family.  Most of these crimes were supported by Manson, who was much like a father or protector to the girls of the family.  The hippie movement was a time of opposition to the government by young people.  The Manson family took protest to the next level by attempting to kill many government officials, including Fromme who attempted to assassinate President Gerald Ford.  
• The Beatles, a popular band of Manson's time, used the term "Helter Skelter" to describe an apocalyptic war that would arise from racial tension that the civil rights movement brought attention too. With violence that was appearing within racial gangs such as the Blank Panthers, it seemed as though this war was coming soon.  The Manson family played off of these fear in order to recruit more members into their utopian society.  This also seemed to be justification for the murders that were committed by the members.

Refutation/Rebuttal: Some may say that with the technology and communication that exist today someone like Manson could have spread their ideas just as effectively.  However, the justice system of today is also better at catching those who commit commit crime and have technology to use evidence to charge these criminals more easily.  Therefor, it would be likely that Manson and his family would be arrested before they had the chance to influence others and commit as many murders as they did.

Independent Viewing Part I

Bibliography: Charles Manson Then and Now. Dir. Nick Bougas. Perf. Charles Manson. Wavelength Prod., 1992. Film.
Rhetorical Devices: By using a narrator to explain the story of Charles Manson, his story is much easier to understand for viewers who know little (or not the whole story) about Charles Manson.  The narrator often gives background info of the time period, a time of a rising counter-culture.  The 60's was a time of sexual liberation, drug experimentation, and rebellion against the government and formality. This background info gives insight of a cause and effect, as this period was perfect for the influence of young people by Manson.  In addition, the references to the civil-rights movements and famous musicians at the time  allows viewers to make connections to the topic, creating credibility and draw parallels between their personal experience and the film.  
The film also includes testimonies from Manson and those connected to the murders which were committed.  This provides alternative points of view to the situation, and thus eliminates bias and makes the film more credible and logical to viewers.  The director also displays credibility by showing pictures from the time period and the setting, in order to take a viewer from any time period (1992 through today) into the setting and make the documentary as close to the actual events as possible.  This gives a viewer who has little communal memory a good understanding of the story which is being told.