Who Was THAT Guy?
By Bill Hopson
 As
I watched the CBS movie "Helter Skelter"
last night, I kept thinking to myself, whenever
the character of Charles "Tex" Watson
was being portrayed, "Who was THAT guy?"
Everyday for the last four years, I've worked
as a janitor with Charles, scrubbing showers,
sweeping and mopping floors, emptying trash cans,
etc., in a 200 man cell block at Mule Creek State
Prison. A few years ago I was going through my
incarcerated life somewhat frustrated with my
Christian faith. It seemed that the harder I prayed,
the more I'd feel emptiness and a growing feeling
that God wasn't hearing me. One day, between wringing
out our mops, I kind of jokingly brought up the
fact that I believed God was: "Putting me
on hold on the prayer phone."
From that moment on, Charles "Tex"
Watson began to gently and quietly minister to
me. He guided me to Scriptures and Psalms that
helped me begin to renew and strengthen my waivering
faith ... and so, watching the mindwashed automaton
character of Charles in "Helter Skelter"
had me not recognizing the guy I know now.
I enrolled in a class that Charles teaches through
the Chapel here, called: "Breaking the Cycle".
It's a class of approximately 38 convict students,
who Charles ministers the word of God to. Charles
makes time to insure that everyone gets his questions
answered, and is guided to other sources of material
to feed their spirit and build their faith in
God.
Charles Watson doesn't just "talk the talk",
he "walks the walk" day-in and day-out,
and in the four years I've known him, I've never
seen him stumble in his faith. To see the drug
infested, Manson family "Tex", unquestionably
carry out orders from a mad man had me thinking,
that Satan was sure working within my friend then!
Today, Charles is the first one there when anyone
needs help, in any way. He's quick with a laugh,
and a smile and is genuinely interested in your
reply when he asks, "How are you doing today?"
The knife wielding, Buntline revolver shooting,
acid dropping, space case in "Helter Skelter",
isn't even close to the man walking around in
here, 35 years later.
Countless times I've heard Charles testify about
being born again, and how it was being Charles
Manson's right-hand man. Countless times I've
heard him express remorse for his notorious and
heinous crimes. I've heard his heartfelt expressions
of remorse for what he did to his victims and
their families, their friends, his family and
friends. I believe he'd give his life to bring
his victims back.
In "Helter Skelter" THAT Charles obviously
had no feelings at all, and it's no wonder I saw
no similarities between the "THEN Tex",
and the "NOW Tex".
I know the Manson family murders took place.
I know that with the work of the D.A.'s office,
the public, the witnesses, the victims and perpetrators,
that somewhere between the summer of 1969 and
today, a somewhat accurate portrayal of these
events has been presented. Charles Watson himself
has always been open and forthcoming when anyone
asks him about the facts of those horrible murders,
and life within the "family", but I
still have a difficult time putting Charles in
that scenerio. God has worked a miracle within
the heart of Charles Watson.
I wish the movie could have spent a little more
time showing the audience some background on the
major members of the family, and just how Manson
was able to take them in, from good homes to form
this twisted family.
I was a child of the '60s and in the summer of
'69, I was between my junior and senior year of
high school. I was what could be considered a
"hipp". I was a long haired activist
and radically against the war in Vietnam. Like
the young hippy girl at the end of "Helter
Skelter", who was being interviewed by a
TV reporter, I too felt the Manson family left
society with an image of all "hippies"
as long haired murdering scum. That image made
our baby boomer activism that much more difficult.
The Manson family and their horrific crimes will
be with us forever. It is history, and often times
history is deeply tragic, but we can learn from
it as a society.
I now work and worship with one of the most notorious
ex-members of the Manson family, but because of
the miracls of the Lord Jesus Christ, and Daddy
God, Charles Watson is not the same man he was
35-years ago. That prompted me to ask myself several
times during "Helter Skelter": Who was
THAT guy?
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