Sophia Maddox, 26, spent her life hearing from her father about how he had never met his own father. Four years ago, a match on a genealogy website revealed the shocking truth: her grandfather was Charles Manson, the notorious cult leader and criminal. This discovery is the subject of her new Hulu documentary, My Grandfather Charles Manson.
Discovery and Emotional Impact
When Maddox's father, Daniel Arguelles, learned the truth, he couldn't bring himself to tell her for two months because it was so dark, she told the Guardian. In the documentary, Maddox grapples with complex feelings about being related to one of history's most infamous criminals. 'I come from a murderer,' she says in the film's opening seconds. 'Who the fuck would accept me?'
Exploring the Manson Legacy
Manson, the svengali-like leader of the Manson Family cult, instructed his followers in August 1969 to murder actress Sharon Tate, who was eight and a half months pregnant, along with Jay Sebring, Abigail Folger, Wojciech Frykowski, and Steven Parent. The next night, the cult killed Leno and Rosemary LaBianca. Manson and three female followers were convicted of murder; Manson died in prison in 2017 at age 83.
Maddox only learned of Manson's crimes as a teenager after Googling 'Helter Skelter' but didn't fully comprehend the impact until watching Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood. The documentary juxtaposes happy home videos of her father with clips of Manson, highlighting physical similarities and shared traits like childhood trauma and mental health issues.
Personal Journey and Therapy
The film evolves into a practice of unpacking generational trauma. Maddox is filmed in therapy sessions, working through her feelings. 'I grew up kind of lonely and when you grow up pretty isolated and lonely, you want to be heard and seen,' she said. Co-director Alexandra Orton noted that 'if you want to understand how to stop bad things from happening, you have to understand that every monstrous thing is done by a human being.'
Family Dynamics and Reconciliation
Maddox's father, Arguelles, was conceived during a one-night stand and raised by his mother and stepfather, who sent him to military reform school. He struggled with the discovery and the similarities he shared with Manson. 'I never knew him, but I know him. I am him, but I’m not him,' he says in the documentary. A tense confrontation between Maddox and her father is captured on film, and they have not spoken since.
Maddox hopes to reconcile with her father and that he will watch the documentary. 'I hope he feels seen because he lived a lot of his life with people turning a blind eye,' she said. 'I also hope he’s proud of me, that I’ve dug deep into our generational trauma.'
My Grandfather Charles Manson is available now on Hulu in the US and Disney+ elsewhere.
