This concept is central throughout the novel, especially in its premise. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood reimagines the history of 1969 in Hollywood by presenting the possibility of Sharon Tate’s survival. Since the text links the historical Tate murders with The Decline of Hollywood’s Golden Era, the fictional characters struggle with the presentation of fiction and reality in Hollywood, creating a meta narrative that deals with the same issues.

This theme examines the possibility that normal citizens could have stopped the Manson Family before it terrorized Los Angeles public. However, the novel incorporates reality into the narrative as well. When Sharon Tate offers a ride to a hippie standing on the side of the road, the only criteria for whether she should give the woman a ride is that she “is in a pleasant mood, so she thinks, Why not?” (180). However, the narrative points out that a “year later, the answer to that question would be: because that hitchhiker could murder you. But in February 1969, even people who have something to steal, like Sharon in her cool black Porsche, don’t feel that way” (180).