Charlie Says

Scenes depicting notorious Manson murders are relatively brief but quite disturbing: A couple bound and hooded; viewers see them being stabbed repeatedly as blood flies, they scream and gurgle. Sharon Tate begs for her baby's life as blood-covered murderers loom over her with knives, slashing her cheek before the camera cuts away. A woman is repeatedly hit in the face by Manson, who then pushes her down and moves against her sexually. Later, that woman tells another that "Getting hit by the man you love is no different than making love with him." Women are instructed to make men "comfortable" or "feel welcome," implying they should be sexually available. A man is coerced into performing oral sex on a woman. A woman in labor is given a makeshift episiotomy by a character who "sterilizes" a knife by holding it over a flame for a few seconds (viewers don't see the cut, just the knife and the woman crying).

Sexual content is mature and disturbing; much of it coerced (see "Violence"). In other scenes, women offer sex as a way to further Manson family aims: A woman moves her hand rhythmically in a man's lap, another leads a store employee behind a Dumpster, where implied oral sex ensues. A fairly explicit group sex scene and other scenes show women nude from the front, back, and side, and men nude from the rear. Viewers see bodies writhing and hear moans and sighs.

Language includes "damn," "bulls--t," "f--k," "f---ing," "s--t," "hell," "piss," and "blackie" (a word Manson used to describe African Americans). A woman is told after having sex with a man of her choice (instead of Manson's) that she's "whoring around."

Characters talk about being high frequently, and viewers see them snorting methamphetamine, smoking pot, and taking LSD, then dancing ecstatically and engaging in group sex.

Parents need to know that Charlie Says is a movie about three jailed members of the Manson Family who remember and reflect on their crimes thanks to the guidance of a prison educator. The movie depicts the notorious Manson murders; there are violent, if relatively brief, reenactments of the crimes. A woman begs for her life before being slashed in the face, and a couple is hooded and tied up before being stabbed, leading to blood, screams, and terrible gurgling sounds and thuds. In other scenes, a woman is hit in the face repeatedly before Charles Manson (Matt Smith) rubs against her sexually, and other women and men are forced into sexual acts as a means of control and abuse. Women are frequently told to show their bodies and to make male guests "welcome" or "comfortable," and some decide on their own to have sex with men to further Manson's aims. Drugs played a large part in the Manson Family culture: Characters snort methamphetamine, smoke pot, and take LSD. Drug use often precedes sexual scenes like one in which a group of a dozen people engage in sex in the same room; men are shown nude from the rear, and women are seen nude from the side, front, and back. Bodies writhe, and we hear moans. Language includes "f--k," "s--t," "hell," "damn," and "bulls--t," as well as derogatory words for women and African Americans. Feminist messages are clear in the sympathetic way that women are presented, even those who are criminals.

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