This talk proposes Rosemary ’s Baby as the guiding thread through a sequence of cultural and political events, beginning with the ascent of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy in 1961, and leading to the publication of a novel in which Ira Levin engages in sustained acts of religious and moral blasphemy—acts that were rapidly translated into a film script following the book’s release. In 1968, the project was subsequently entrusted to a young Polish director, Roman Polanski, who at the time professed no belief in the supernatural. Even though the United States had already witnessed several political assassinations, municipal authorities across the country chose to ban the film upon its release. Public unease would deepen further in 1969, when followers of Charles Manson carried out the murders at Cielo Drive.