New Elvis Movie! *spoilers*

[Pavement]

I went to see the new Elvis movie at the cinema, thought it was pretty good.  Austin Butler did a great job. I did find bits of it quite corny.. I also didn’t like that Tom Hanks was cast in the role of the manager, felt too cliche.  I feel they just stuck him in there for the publicity, since the other characters were relatively unknown! Just found him really annoying especially with that accent he was putting on.  Would have enjoyed it more if they used an up and coming actor for the role of Tom Parker too. 

I didn’t know much about Elvis’s personal story but I was shocked to find out he was financially controlled into staying in Las Vegas, and he never even left the USA even though he tried many times but his manager wouldn’t allow it. 

When he would try and leave his manager Parker would threaten him by saying you owe me millions of dollars, even though Parker was already getting 50% of everything Elvis made. 

Seems like nobody had Elvis’s back in that situation…  Parker was an illegal immigrant with a fake identity and didn’t even have a passport.  
Elvis could have cut him off and said ‘so sue me’ …. Parker couldn’t have done it since that would risk him being exposed as an illegal. 

Like literally nobody did anything, why did no lawyers help get him out from under Parker’s claws?  I’m assuming he had Stockholm syndrome, that’s the only explanation why he wouldn’t cut him off. 

it’s sad how he got so depressed, unhealthy and addicted to drugs, he was all bloated and slurring words - and people were still watching his shows and cheering and applauding.   That’s pretty insane when you think about it, he was literally a carnival attraction. Did nobody notice?  They only seemed to notice that he was ‘overweight’  which I believe was mostly down to water retention and swelling from all the medication he was being prescribed.  Since his body didn’t look obese, he had mostly a swollen and puffy face.

At first he was happy doing the concerts but after 100s of shows eventually he was being forced to play.  2 shows per day 7 days per week, for one month for 7 years.  At one point Parker was dunking a comotosed Elvis in ice cold water, making sure he would be back on the stage later that night. 

this just wouldn’t happen today, there would be a ‘FREE ELVIS’ viral campaign going on. 

I’ve watched a few documentaries and you can see he was a good person, he was passionate and a gifted performer, it’s sad to think what he could have achieved if he had more control over his own life. 

Edited July 3, 2022 by Pavement

[Ulax]

*spoilers here too*

For sure. Nice analysis. I agree with some points, and not others.

I think, in the movie at least, it was supposed to portray that elvis didn't have lawyers involved in the early years because the colonel persuaded him not too. 

But I did wonder why in the later part, when the colonel invoiced Elvis for the massive debt owed, why he wouldn't lawyer up. Maybe there would have been some get out clause with the colonel having a fraudulent identity.