Re: the rolling stone review, that other piece about the review gave it some interesting context. The cynic in me wants to go people aren’t that smart and today I would most definitely believe that, however…. The further back you go the smarter film, books, music and even television are. The seventies were a particularly artsy time in pop culture as well. I do kind of have to wonder how much it might have to do with the satanic panic, like calling attention to it probably brought more scrutiny to it.
I also have all kinds of thoughts about recalling Manson in it. On the one hand, I get it. That was big deal that still shocks to this day. There is also something to be said about pop culture reacting to it in such a matter as Black Sabbath or Black Widow. Finally, a thought that would be harder today, but there is a certain amount of audacity to kind of shame folks from outside the US for not being sensitive to something that happened here. I don’t really have a grasp on how big of a story it was outside of the states at the time though.