The Brilliant Symbolism of Spahn’s Movie Ranch in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Tarantino’s Repurposing of American History and Popular Culture to Express Criticisms of Society Today

The buried treasure in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019) lies in the sequence where Cliff (Brad Pitt) visits Spahn’s Movie Ranch. This sequence explains why Tarantino chose to make the Manson Family and Spahn’s Movie Ranch such a big part of this film. It isn’t just for spectacle.

Spahn’s Movie Ranch, and the Manson family are all symbols and narrative devices amongst many others employed by Tarantino to address the evil undercurrent boiling beneath Hollywood, and Hollywoods concurrent fall from the ideals of its Golden Age. Furthermore, Tarantino uses these symbols to express a criticism of the current state of American entertainment culture.

Analysis

A strong theme in this film is good over evil, the good guy vs. the bad guy, which is usually the prevailing theme in Western films. The Spahn’s Movie Ranch sequence is clearly an homage to a scene in any typical Western, where a stranger (the good guy) intrudes into a community overrun by outlaws.

The good guy, is typically a representation of law, truth, goodness, and justice. Cliff…