I've wanted to checkout the Elvis movie for some time now. Although I'm not a huge fan of Elvis, I love stories about music and how different celebrities got their start. I should probably start with not only am I not a huge Elvis fan, I actually leaned towards not liking the guy at all. This movie kind of changed my attitude and perception of the so-called "King of Rock n Roll". A title I never really felt he deserved. Still not sure about that, but he certainly did lay the foundation of the rock n roll movement. It might even be safe to say, without Elvis, Rock n Roll as we know it, may not have ever became a thing.
Most of the movie seems to be from Colonel Parker's perspective. Colonel Parker was his manager. He took one look at Elvis and knew he was something special. Colonel Parker was a very controversial character and there is still a lot of mystery surrounding this guy. The guy really didn't have an identity until Elvis. He was born in the Netherlands, entered the United States illegally, changed his name to Colonel Parker and worked in a traveling carnival. Conspiracy theory aside, this just added to my belief that there is a huge government influence in the entertainment industry. This guy's backstory is shady as hell and he did seem to have some government influence. Do your own research on that.
There Will Be Spoilers
There will be spoilers but let's face it, most of us already know the Elvis story. At least I thought I did. This movie was a huge eye opener for me though.
Growing up my mother strictly listened to Connie Francis and Elvis. That's it. Rarely would she listen to anything else. I'd come home from school to one of the two playing on my parents hi-fi stereo as my mom cleaned the house and prepared dinner for my father before he got home from work. That stereo played a lot of Elvis!
For me, Elvis was the fat guy in ridiculous outfits that my mother listened to. Keep in mind, at that time I was listening to Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath, and Iron Maiden. Musically, there was a huge generation gap in our house. My mother was stuck in the 50s, my father listened to country western, and I was the black sheep listening to heavy metal, punk rock, and 70s acid rock.
I'm not sure about the accuracy of the movie, but we get a really nice backstory of Elvis. He actually grew up in a poor black community. His musical influences were black blues musicians and gospel revival music. He and his friends would peak through the window of the local road house and watch the blues musicians perform. He also attended Christian revivals and enjoyed gospel music. Gospel and blues were huge influences on him musically.
Frankly, I always thought Elvis was produced and created in a studio. Like a 1950s boy band or something ripping off the black music of that era. That didn't really seem to be the case though. Elvis was the real deal growing up in a poor black neighborhood, with black friends, and listening to black music. He was just being him. There was no creating Elvis in a studio, he was the real deal.
When this happens today, we try to build "street cred" and show the roots of the person. Back then, I think they tried to sweep his backstory under the carpet. White people didn't consort with black folks, let alone sing and dance like them.
This was actually a huge controversy. I didn't realize he was so controversial during his time. Fast forward 40 years and these same people would have a heart attack if they seen Marilyn Manson perform! LMAO, Elvis was the least of their worries. I suppose it could be said though, that without Elvis, we might not have Marilyn Manson.
I mean for the most part, Elvis simply took early blues, sped things up a bit and they rebranded it as Rock N Roll. I've had several arguments with people, but blues and rock n roll are the true roots of American music. Some argue that country western is, but that actually came over with bluegrass roots and can trace it's origins to the Irish immigrants who came over. Black music is the true foundation of rock n roll and the true made in America brand of music in my humble opinion. Without blues, rock n roll would have never been a thing. Without Elvis bringing this music to the masses, we may not have had rock n roll.
It's funny because up until this point, I always seen Elvis as the Vanilla Ice (poser) type and not the Eminem (street cred) type. I think that was intentional during that time. Segregation was still a huge thing. As much as Eminem may cringe, Elvis really was the first Eminem.
For Elvis, controversy seemed to really come when he was photographed in a black club hanging out with black musicians. The powers that be were appalled that a white guy was singing and dancing like a black musician let alone hanging out with them. It may have also been one of the reasons they drafted him just as his career was really starting to rocket up. Something had to be done. 🤣
I have to admit, it made me a little more than ashamed of our culture back then. I think in many ways Elvis may have been a huge influence during the civil rights movement. At least in bringing the attention of black musicians to the masses. Elvis may have paved the way for musicians like Little Richard, and Chuck Berry, into mainstream America. Unfortunately, it really should have been the other way around.
It was really surprising how much they tried to change his image. They tried to make him a pop star and respectable, and all he wanted to do was play rock n roll and be himself. It's sad, but they fought him every inch of the way. I never realized that until watching the movie.
With all that said, the rest of the movie was about how hard he worked. It was also obvious the Colonel took advantage of Elvis financially. After growing up poor, Elvis worked incredibly hard to make sure his family had everything they needed. He took great care of his mother and father and many of the people he grew up with.
It also touched on the drug use and how he used drugs to work harder. It appeared like they gave him speed before shows and downers afterwards so he could sleep, then on to the next performance. Wash, rinse and repeat. Towards the end of his career, it was pretty obivous what was about to happen. It also makes you wonder if some people might have thought he was worth more dead than alive. I hope that wasn't the case. He was a cash cow to a lot of people towards the end of his career though.
Overall, this was a really great movie. It really changed my attitude about him and most of my perceptions. I never really got Elvis. I think this movie made him a much more relatable character for me.
At the very least, I think this was a great movie that showed the very start of the rock n roll movement. In some ways Elvis was kind of the Madonna of his time, taking what was happening in the underground, and churning out a product that was consumable by the mainstream market. Although it was black blues musicians that led the way, Elvis brought it to the forefront.
On a final note, I actually loved the soundtrack. A lot of early rock n roll was remixed to a more modern sound with touches of rap music. Somehow they made that work and peppered in some traditional arrangements from that era. The movie was about 2 and a half hours long but honestly the time passed quickly. There was never a dull moment. I enjoyed this one a lot.
If you like movies about the music industry and how entertainers got there start, this was a good one in my opinion.
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