What Happens After Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
3. The 1970s Are A Very Different Time
The 1960s are often referred to as the "Swinging Sixties" due to the massive counter-cultural upheaval which occurred throughout the decade, with social taboos relating to sex and freedom of expression being broken down, while landmark movements were made in the stead of basic civil rights.
But the 1970s was sadly a far darker, less hedonistic time, largely due to a number of tragic events closing out the 1960s, including Vietnam's brutal My Lai Massacre, the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy in 1968, and yes, the domestic terror of the Tate murders.
While we can't hang the tenor of the '70s solely on Charles Manson, the sensationalist nature of the murders and the lengthy trial which followed kicked the decade off on a depressing and upsetting note.
It's little surprise that Hollywood of all places reflected this anxiety with some of the angriest and bleakest works major filmmakers have ever produced - including Polanski's own Chinatown.
Tate and co.'s lives being spared wouldn't have solely "saved" the '70s, but as the last major tragedy of the '60s, the murders certainly set a somber tone, while unfortunately stigmatising hippie culture and the general "flower power" movement.