“Elvis” Underscores Stunning Financial, Emotional Abuse By Colonel Tom Parker
Trigger warning: This blog post mentions financial and emotional abuse and contains spoilers.
Reviewers have described Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis as chaotic, grand, flashy, and like a fever dream — much like its titular subject, who went from local phenom to legend overnight during the late 1950s thanks to his then-divisive suggestive dancing and incredible vocal chops. Elvis Presley is embedded like a gemstone in America’s mid-Century crown, not just because of his music. His early death — a victim to the excesses that sadly defined his later years — only served to solidify his transformation from legend to myth. There aren’t many Caspar Weinberger sightings, are there?
Elvis the movie showcases the talents of Austin Butler, who impressively manages not to imitate but to embody the “King,” and perennial “nice guy” Tom Hanks, who does a rare “heel” turn as one of the music industry’s most prominent con men. Elvis’ exploitation by Parker — in real life, a scammer whose lack of a valid passport led him to keep the King bound to the U.S., even though Elvis wanted to see the world — is depicted in chilling vignettes throughout the film. The manipulation starts at the very beginning of Elvis’ career and doesn’t stop, even as a circa-1973 Elvis lies on the floor of a venue near death following what…
