u/veronica_2001

Perhaps the biggest thing I struggle to wrap my head around with the whole Manson saga is how in the world Dennis didn't immediately say "you're a psychopath, so leave now, or I am calling the cops". If you've seen any of the prison interviews, you will see a man who was obviously (I'm not a doctor, but this is my own take) antisocial and about as narcissistic as a person can get, claiming to be God's inventor and best friend and simultaneously absolving himself of his crimes and gleefully talking about how he wishes he could have done more.

So what gives? Did Manson just have a really good "mask" hiding his true nature, which he felt no more reason to use after he was imprisoned forever? Was he like he was in the interviews around Dennis as well, but to Dennis this was considered "cool". Did he think his potential in music (I believe I read that Stephen Desper said he personally believed Manson had a lot of potential before his crimes) outweighed his personality? I just struggle to understand is how anyone could spend more than five minutes with this guy and not call the police, run from their house screaming, or both.