Sharon Tate herself never got to see her child, was unable to name him yet she is buried holding him and the public clamour to view that grave as though by association it is a commodity to be consumed, and voyeuristically enjoyed. This emphasises a theory termed ‘Wound Theory’ by Mark Seltzer, whereby we are drawn to view the body ripped apart it also emphasises that human beings really need a boundary sometimes. If you type into google the name ‘Sharon Tate’ the third link will tie her to Charles Manson, you will also see the fifth or sixth tab read: ‘Sharon Tate baby cut out’ and ‘baby autopsy pictures’. It marks the tragedy that as publicly consumed their death seemed that little more ‘real’, the celluloid immortals or kids of fat cats can die, or be killed. They were ‘important’ socially owned and photographed, they were not just victims of crime, they had a social worth. Sprawled, bloody, medicalised specimens, if it were not for their combined Hollywood status this is all they might have been to the world. Charting his progression from man, to criminal, to brand, Tate and her fellow victims, being just that: victims. Photographs, headlines, paintings, and other memorabilia line the walls, tracking Manson’s journey. The exhibit focus was not on Tate at all, rather the perpetrator or to be specific, inciter, the notorious Charles Manson. Recently I was researching the Museum of Death in Hollywood and was struck by the display of crime scene photographs from this murder. Tate is said to have pleaded ‘give me two weeks so that I can give birth and then kill me’, her death, and all subsequent representations in homage or deference have affected many lives, laws, and wallets since. Was it her undeniable beauty, life in the public eye or the sheer brutality and senselessness of her murder that has immortalised Tate’s image? She died just two weeks from her due date, pregnant with the baby boy devastatingly laid to rest in her arms at the Holy Cross Cemetery near Los Angeles. Try as you might (go on, try it) it is impossible to find an image of this woman that does not shine, stun and glimmer.

It has been 48 years since Sharon Tate was murdered and the memory of the woman Mia Farrow described as a ‘beautiful and gentle soul’ continues to live on.

Sharon tate autopsy phots