A new article in the L.A. Times (July 9, 2025) explores the accomplishments of the new Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman over the first six months of taking office. According to prosecutors and law enforcement officials, the new district attorney has delivered “a return to normalcy” after the contentious term of progressive luminary George Gascón. One of his accomplishments over his predecessor explored in the article has been to close the Marilyn Manson investigation and not bring any charges against him. The L.A. Times however does not present it as an accomplishment, but as a political pitfall along with another high profile case he is involved in, the Menendez Brothers. According to the L.A. Times: "In January, Hochman announced he would not bring rape charges against rock star Marilyn Manson — roughly four months after he held a campaign event alongside some of Manson’s accusers to attack Gascón’s handling of the case. 'You don’t parade people out. … I found t...
James Dean and Marilyn Manson (and another interesting comparison between Natalie Wood and Evan Rachel Wood)
At the peak of his career at the age of 24, James Dean died on September 30, 1955 after crashing his Porsche Spyder, which he nicknamed "Little Bastard", on the highway. Within a year of the accident nearly four million people had joined his fan club and his studio was receiving up to 4,000 letters every day. Since today is the anniversary of his death, I thought I would share what I think is a relevant interview with Natalie Wood, his co-star in Rebel Without A Cause , where she analyzes the James Dean she came to know in the months before his death, as opposed to the pop culture icon the world came to love. Listen to this interview in light of the Marilyn Manson allegations, and the perception of Marilyn Manson and his art as opposed to the reality, and see if you can take from it what I took from it, which I think Natalie Wood explains eloquently and sincerely. Since we are on the subject of Natalie Wood as well, I thought it would be fun to share something I wr...