Fugue States
Posted: Sat Dec 28, 2024 7:44 pm
Douglas Mercer
December 28 2024
According to the book Nowhere Man John Lennon read Vincent Bugliosi’s book Helter Skelter and it scared the shit out of him. According to the same book on the morning that he murdered John Lennon Mark David Chapman was standing in front of the Dakota Building and Mia Farrow and her brood of children walked right in front of him and then crossed Central Park West before vanishing into Central Park.
Rosemary's Baby is one of the most famous horror films ever made — and also one of the most infamous. The story itself is grim enough: Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow) is drugged by her husband, raped by the devil, falls pregnant, and eventually learns that she's been incubating the Antichrist. But the film also has a reputation for being cursed due to the web of horror surrounding it. From tragic accidents to shocking murders to creepy coincidences, Rosemary's Baby has a dark real-life aura.
Based on the novel of the same name by Ira Levin, Rosemary's Baby was released in 1968, a year that marked a radical shift in Hollywood movies. For the past few decades they'd been governed by the Hays Code, a set of moral guidelines so strict that even suggestive dancing and superfluous use of liquor were prohibited — so scenes of Satanic rituals were definitely out of the question. However, after the Hays Code was replaced with the MPAA's ratings system, there was an explosion of extremity in horror, especially when it came to previously taboo topics like religion and the occult.
One of the most infamous crimes in American history shares a profound connection with Rosemary's Baby. Polanski's own pregnant wife, actress Sharon Tate, was murdered by the Manson Family alongside four other people at Polanski and Tate's Los Angeles home. Orchestrated by notorious cult leader and serial killer Charles Manson, the murders shook the country to its very core. The killings took place in August 1969, when Rosemary's Baby was still showing in some theaters. And Polanski wasn't the only link between the fictional frights of the film and the real-life horror that struck Hollywood.
One of Charles Manson's motives for ordering the murders was to ignite his prophesied Helter-Skelter race war, in which Manson claimed that Black people would violently rise up" against white people. In a flimsy attempt to frame the murders as part of this Black uprising, Manson's followers scrawled messages in blood at the scene — including Healter [sic] Skelter. The name was taken from a track on the Beatles' White Album, released in November 1968, which Manson believed to contain coded messages about the impending race war. Manson Family member Paul Watkins later said that after the album was released, the cult listened to it around a campfire for days on end while Manson interpreted the lyrics for them.
Though Manson's ideas about the White Album were obviously nonsense, they do create another connection to Rosemary's Baby. Many of the songs on the album were written during the Beatles' 1968 visit to India to study Transcendental Meditation with its creator, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Living and studying alongside them was none other than Mia Farrow, who had embarked on the retreat just two months after completing filming on Rosemary's Baby. There's even a song on the album, Sexy Sadie, that was inspired by John Lennon's anger over the Maharishi allegedly making inappropriate sexual advances towards Farrow.
The Manson Family murders aren't the only thread linking the Beatles to Rosemary's Baby. The exterior shots of the gorgeous building that plays the role of the Bramford, Rosemary's new home in the film, used a real New York City landmark. The building, located on the corner of 72nd Street and Central Park West, is actually called the Dakota.
After Lennon's death, his spirit was added to the Dakota's rumored roster of ghosts. Numerous people have reported sightings of Lennon's spirit over the years — including his widow. Yoko Ono recounted that one evening she saw her late husband at his piano, and that he turned and said to her: Don't be afraid. I am still with you.
Even though Mia was a strict Roman Catholic, she and her sister Prudence traveled to India to study transcendental meditation with the famed Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Unbelievably, she was there in 1968 at the same time as The Beatles, Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan and Mike Love from the Beach Boys. Talk about a supergroup!
But did you know Mia and Prudence were close friends with John Lennon? And would you believe he actually wrote Dear Prudence for the younger Farrow sister? On a more tragic note, Mia later lived in a Manhattan apartment building next door to The Dakota Building, where Lennon was shot and killed by paranoid schizophrenic Mark David Chapman in 1980. Spookily, the gothic-looking Dakota was also the setting for Rosemary’s Baby.
The building is called the Dakota because when it was built it was so far North in the city and nothing else was there so people said that it might as well be up in the Dakotas.
December 28 2024
According to the book Nowhere Man John Lennon read Vincent Bugliosi’s book Helter Skelter and it scared the shit out of him. According to the same book on the morning that he murdered John Lennon Mark David Chapman was standing in front of the Dakota Building and Mia Farrow and her brood of children walked right in front of him and then crossed Central Park West before vanishing into Central Park.
Rosemary's Baby is one of the most famous horror films ever made — and also one of the most infamous. The story itself is grim enough: Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow) is drugged by her husband, raped by the devil, falls pregnant, and eventually learns that she's been incubating the Antichrist. But the film also has a reputation for being cursed due to the web of horror surrounding it. From tragic accidents to shocking murders to creepy coincidences, Rosemary's Baby has a dark real-life aura.
Based on the novel of the same name by Ira Levin, Rosemary's Baby was released in 1968, a year that marked a radical shift in Hollywood movies. For the past few decades they'd been governed by the Hays Code, a set of moral guidelines so strict that even suggestive dancing and superfluous use of liquor were prohibited — so scenes of Satanic rituals were definitely out of the question. However, after the Hays Code was replaced with the MPAA's ratings system, there was an explosion of extremity in horror, especially when it came to previously taboo topics like religion and the occult.
One of the most infamous crimes in American history shares a profound connection with Rosemary's Baby. Polanski's own pregnant wife, actress Sharon Tate, was murdered by the Manson Family alongside four other people at Polanski and Tate's Los Angeles home. Orchestrated by notorious cult leader and serial killer Charles Manson, the murders shook the country to its very core. The killings took place in August 1969, when Rosemary's Baby was still showing in some theaters. And Polanski wasn't the only link between the fictional frights of the film and the real-life horror that struck Hollywood.
One of Charles Manson's motives for ordering the murders was to ignite his prophesied Helter-Skelter race war, in which Manson claimed that Black people would violently rise up" against white people. In a flimsy attempt to frame the murders as part of this Black uprising, Manson's followers scrawled messages in blood at the scene — including Healter [sic] Skelter. The name was taken from a track on the Beatles' White Album, released in November 1968, which Manson believed to contain coded messages about the impending race war. Manson Family member Paul Watkins later said that after the album was released, the cult listened to it around a campfire for days on end while Manson interpreted the lyrics for them.
Though Manson's ideas about the White Album were obviously nonsense, they do create another connection to Rosemary's Baby. Many of the songs on the album were written during the Beatles' 1968 visit to India to study Transcendental Meditation with its creator, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Living and studying alongside them was none other than Mia Farrow, who had embarked on the retreat just two months after completing filming on Rosemary's Baby. There's even a song on the album, Sexy Sadie, that was inspired by John Lennon's anger over the Maharishi allegedly making inappropriate sexual advances towards Farrow.
The Manson Family murders aren't the only thread linking the Beatles to Rosemary's Baby. The exterior shots of the gorgeous building that plays the role of the Bramford, Rosemary's new home in the film, used a real New York City landmark. The building, located on the corner of 72nd Street and Central Park West, is actually called the Dakota.
After Lennon's death, his spirit was added to the Dakota's rumored roster of ghosts. Numerous people have reported sightings of Lennon's spirit over the years — including his widow. Yoko Ono recounted that one evening she saw her late husband at his piano, and that he turned and said to her: Don't be afraid. I am still with you.
Even though Mia was a strict Roman Catholic, she and her sister Prudence traveled to India to study transcendental meditation with the famed Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Unbelievably, she was there in 1968 at the same time as The Beatles, Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan and Mike Love from the Beach Boys. Talk about a supergroup!
But did you know Mia and Prudence were close friends with John Lennon? And would you believe he actually wrote Dear Prudence for the younger Farrow sister? On a more tragic note, Mia later lived in a Manhattan apartment building next door to The Dakota Building, where Lennon was shot and killed by paranoid schizophrenic Mark David Chapman in 1980. Spookily, the gothic-looking Dakota was also the setting for Rosemary’s Baby.
The building is called the Dakota because when it was built it was so far North in the city and nothing else was there so people said that it might as well be up in the Dakotas.
