Dark Vibrations - How The Wizard Manipulated California's

Dark Vibrations - How The Wizard Manipulated California's Golden boy
by John Doyle

Ryan Oksenberg simmers with energy. At 21, he displays a
confidence that goes hand in hand with that stage in life,
but also carries a wiley worldliness, the kind many of his
generation trade away for all the latest fads and shallow
glamour to come hustling for their attention. From Toronto,
Ontario, Oksenberg is making a name for himself at the
Chicago Institute For Film Production And Screenwriting, and
his debut documentary, "Cease To Exist", which chronicles
the relationship between The Beach Boys' Dennis Wilson and
the abominable enigma Charles Manson, is turning a lot of
heads stateside right now. With the story re-hashed and
bastardised so often, Oksenberg is careful not to indulge in
"grave robbing", instead putting fresh focus on Wilson's
unwitting role in California's first taste of Armageddon.
Ryan details the curiosity which kick started his project
"After reading a chapter of Steven Gaines' revealing Beach
Boys' biography "Heroes And Villians" that briefly detailed
the relationship between Wilson and Manson, I was
immediately drawn to the story so I picked up a stack of
books exclusive to Wilson, Manson, and The Beach Boys and
did my homework. Initially I started writing a treatment for
a feature screenplay and began outlining its structure based
upon the chronology of events that took place. I adopted
the structure of the screenplay into a documentary that
combines both 3rd person narration, my own voice to fill in
for specific accounts I don't have footage evidence for, and
interviews I dug up to complement the narrative" In the long
run, Oksenberg, an ardent admirer of the 1967 - 1979 period
"A radical time in American film history", and all things
John Ford, is consumed by a desire to "Revive the New
Hollywood mentality, kind of a much needed renaissance to
counter the majority of throwaways today", for the present,
he is focused on the overlooked factors which helped to
slaughter the aesthetics, and literally, flesh and blood of
the love generation "The project is very important to me, as
film-making is to me, and doing a truthful job on the final
product is a principle concern, and of course it affects my
private time, because it's all I really care about right
now" Another aspect, is the fact that someone so young has
undertaken this task. Did Ryan encounter patronising
attitiudes from more "experienced" people in the trade?
"Let's just say that somehow, I suppose it's in the magic of
YouTube, people supposedly affiliated with the Manson and
Wilson parties have expressed their concerns about this
project, ranging from my lack of clearance for certain bits
of footage, which I will get onto once I finish, because,
I'm not looking to make any money off this, rather than just
have it seen (and) have it exhibited at festivals and such,
I've also got complaints that this is a chapter in someone's
life that still effects surviving family members, so that
kind of made me feel both bad and defensive. I'm not looking
to exploit anybody or anything, (I'm) simply presenting the
information and exploring the material" Positive feedback
also goes with the territory, and Ryan seems generally
satisfied, even affording himself the luxury to put his self
criticisms on hold "My narrative film sensibillities often
clash with the art school mentality. I suppose I play it
straight here, even though I think my idea is unique, not
commonly explored, but it's all because the film is highly
polished and "slick", as one person said. Many are
fascinated with it and think it's very well put together;
others associate it with an "E! True Hollywood Story" kind
of deal. However this film takes its time to tell a story,
and it's not intensified with the Rock N' Roll hyperactive
editing seen on those kinds of programmes. But people are
digging it for the most part, so that kind of steers me away
from my own harsh criticisms for a moment" Exploring the
finer details of a physcopath's manouvres is a risky
venture, and when it's someone beyond "merely" notorious,
like Charles Manson, the risk spirals dangerously. In Ryan's
case, it inspired him beyond the "bad vibrations" and the
hold "The Wizard" still has on many people "Funny, at first
I was suffering from from extreme paranoia at night, becasue
I was diving into Manson territory pretty intensely. By
that, I mean logging hours of interview footage, reading
book after book about his personal history and philosophy,
both from legal, sociological, and pro/anti Manson
perspectives. So I got to know him as much as I could;
therefore, became somewhat haunted by him in my thoughts. I
believe in the idea of "method" directing or editing when
tackling a project, and by that I am semi-refering to the
Stanislovski practise of method acting, where actors, or in
this case, the writer/director, will replicate in their own
lives emotional experiences of the character they are
portraying. I found myself immersed in the characters, at
social gatherings I would become either the girl crazed
party boy that is Dennis Wilson, or the preachy "self
proclaimed" guru that is Manson" Sounds convoluted, but Ryan
eloquently describes the passion behind his approach "This
idea even parrallels the sensibillities of the New Hollywood
directors of the 70s who would obsess over thier projects in
an effort to create the most vivid illustrations of the
realities that America was facing, and nearly destroy
themselves in the process" Dennis Wilson, originally mocked
as a dumb surfer dude, but later recognised as the Beach
Boys' post Pet Sounds messiah after brother Brian completely
surrendered his faltering grasp on reality, was similarly
destroyed by a multiude of processes. Some of his own
creation, others, less clear cut. When his booze soaked 39
year old body was located in the reasonably shallow waters
of Marina Del Rey in the late afternoon of December 28th
1983, he was in the foetal position, mercifully, there had
been no struggle. Despite the many highs of his post Manson
existence however, he never truly "recovered" from the
horrific events, and a belated sense of "closure" is
something Oksenberg believes Wilson deserves "It's
definitely going to portray him in the light that he is
human and by way of nature, is susceptable to such trouble.
But after establishing who he is, and all the crazy things
that go down between him and Manson, the loss of control in
his life, the little contribution he's made to towards the
group in their rougher times, there will be a note of the
"revelation" that Wilson goes through, illustrating for a
short moment he got himself together and started being
productive in the studio, (The Beach Boys' 1970 album
"Sunflower", and Wilson's only solo album, 1977's "Pacific
Ocean Blue" are prime examples) but he was an extemely
depressed guy after this situation, and it led to (a) 2nd
wave of abuse, and that's with alcohol. (I'm) not sure if I
can give him a sense of "closure" although it will put some
truth to rest in this very case in his life. We'll have to
leave that to the biographies or crummy made for TV films
that come out every decade" After this exhuastive labour of
love, what does the future have in store for Ryan?
"Eventually I'd like to get a few screenplays into
production that I've written - but I'd first need money to
do that. So for now, I'll just pump the ideas out on to
paper as usual, and I'll get to the "Cease To Exist"
screenplay by the Summer. I kind of want to adapt a
screenplay based on the book "The Life And Legend Of
Leadbelly". Hudie Leadbetter was a great folk musician in
the songster tradition, and his life is equally interesting,
just like the time period is. It raises a lot of race/class
issues in American history that are unfortunately still
breeding within the social consciousness today. Furthermore,
I just want to tell good stories that are involving,
engaging and entertaining".