Did the US Army actively pimp for Elvis Presley? That’s one of a few takeaways I had from the biopic about Priscilla Beaulieu Presley, longtime girlfriend and wife of The King from 1967 to 1973. The scene is a malt shop on a US Army base in West Germany, 1959. FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLD (14! I’m not sure I can stress this enough) Priscilla Beaulieu is alone at the counter when an officer confronts her with “how would you like to meet Elvis?” or something to that effect. This is a biopic co-written by Priscilla Presley herself. This happened.
Look, maybe this was all innocent. Maybe this is the way things were done 64 years ago. However, in 2023, if a strange adult approaches a 14-year-old with “how would you like to meet (insert single young hot adult celebrity here)?” and your reaction is not, “DANGER!” you are not doing your job as a human.
At the party, Elvis does meet Priscilla, and then heads to the piano to belt out “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” a song made popular by Jerry Lee Lewis in 1957. That same year, Jerry Lee married his 13-year-old cousin, Myla Gale Brown. I don’t need to spell this out for you, do I? The fact that Elvis did indeed marry Priscilla less than a decade later necessarily means there WAS a sexual component to this meeting, no? Am I extrapolating? Exaggerating? I don’t think so. “Here, Elvis, I brought you a girl. Sure, she’s young; but I think you’ll like her anyway.” And Elvis did.
Such begins the romance between The King and his future Queen. The movie made it very clear that Elvis wasn’t into any underage funny business … he just wanted to collect Priscilla, stow her away in Memphis and let her graduate from high school before the deflowering began.
True gentleman, that.
If Priscilla Beaulieu (Cailee Spaeny) is to be believed -and I see no good reason as to why she shouldn’t be- Elvis never cared for her opinion on anything. Elvis (Jacob Elordi) may well have been a gentleman, but there’s a big difference between being respectful and … being respectful. Is it a misperception to say that a man who would hold a door open for a woman is much likelier to vote against her right to choose? I doubt it. Whether or not that’s true, however, what seems apparent in the movie is that Elvis treated Priscilla like a porcelain doll, or, better yet, a valuable toy– something he would keep stashed away in a safe place and take out play with when he wanted to.
Did Elvis have other toys he liked to play with? Well, it seemed that Priscilla was constantly opening magazines and newspapers to discover yet another woman in Elvis’ life. When confronted about it, Elvis would lose his cool, a pretty good indication that he’d been caught.
The arc of t
his film is the sloooooowww realization that Priscilla was enamored with a child – a well-mannered, extremely talented and charismatic child, but a child nonetheless. Elvis liked being the image of Elvis more than anything else. He enjoyed the attention, the trappings of fame, and the constant entourage of sycophants. He didn’t like being questioned. He didn’t like being told, “no.”
The problem here is none of this makes the film a winner. We see Elvis through the eyes of his wife-to-be, but her life is sadly one-dimensional. Elvis kept her in his Graceland toybox, and that is exactly where he wanted her to be. After the Jerry Lee Lewis moment, there is precious little live music in the film, which seems odd given the subject matter. Can Jacob Elordi even play the guitar? I doubt it. The poignant moments of this film include bickering over Elvis affairs and the drug habit Elvis pushed on Priscilla. None of that makes a great movie, either.
I’m wondering now if writer/director Sofia Coppola didn’t make Priscilla as a direct response to Elvis. (And why didn’t they get Austin Butler? We already know he makes a good Elvis) I think this was intended to be a feminist re-interpretation of The King. But Elvis didn’t exactly come off as “world’s best husband” in Elvis, knowwhatI’msayin’? Hence, I found this material sadly, how shall I put this?, one note. That said … as with the case of Barbie and Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.. I’m not the target audience. You might wish to consult a Southern Belle what they think of Priscilla before asking me.
♪Well since my baby found me
I’ve got a new home. That’s swell
It’s down in a corner of Tennessee
And it’s a gilded slice o’ Hell♫
Rated R, 113 Minutes
Director: Sofia Coppola
Writer: Sofia Coppola, Sandra Harmon, Priscilla Presley
Genre: Ogres in pretty packages
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Women
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Men who think they’re alphas
♪ Parody Inspired by “Heartbreak Hotel”
