Sarah and RJ discuss Elvis 2022. This film is Presly's dance with Colonel Tom Parker, The devilish deals that rose him to fame and drove him to his fate. This fever dream of a film invokes some major reactions that really make us reflect on our society today. We review the recent release of Elvis (2022).
The show where we analyze films from the latest to the greatest, the worst and the lamest!
Sarah and RJ discuss Elvis 2022. This film is Presly's dance with Colonel Tom Parker, The devilish deals that rose him to fame and drove him to his fate. This fever dream of a film invokes some major reactions that really make us reflect on our society today. We review the recent release of Elvis (2022).
The show where we analyze films from the latest to the greatest, the worst and the lamest!
Hello, this is RJ and I'm one of the hosts here of PostCut the Film podcast. Just a slight disclaimer, we are going to be talking about sensitive topics in this episode, having to do with race and culture. Please note that this is, because this is present in this film. If you wish to avoid these kinds of conversations, you may tune off whenever, but this is just to be advised. Hello and welcome to PostCut the show. We analyze films from the latest to the greatest, the worst, and the lamest. Hello and welcome. My name is RJ Infusino. Uh, alongside me right now is our co-host, Sarah Veerkamp.
Sarah:Hello everybody.
RJ:All right. And today we have a very special film for you. We are gonna be talking about the Elvis film that came out , uh, was it 2021.
Sarah:2022. Actually it came out this past summer.
RJ:Yeah, it's, I mean, we're , we're really gonna go into it. It's a pretty interesting film , uh, goes through the life and times of , uh, Elvis from a very interesting perspective. Um, Sarah , if you'd like, you can go through a , the synopsis.
Sarah:So grabbing the synopsis from imdb, we're looking at the life of American music icon, Elvis Presley from his childhood to becoming a rock and movie star in the 1950s while maintaining a complex relationship with his manager, the Colonel Tom Parker. This film was actually intense. Um, it's stars, Tom Hanks, Austin Butler, and Olivia DeJonge, I believe is how you say her name. And it was directed by Baz Luhrmann. Um, I think it was a pretty interesting film. What was your thoughts on it?
RJ:So , uh, I loved this film. Uh, I liked, so I think the, I think this film went about it in the best possible way to approach this topic. So the biggest element of this film, in my opinion, was you have to, cuz we're coming to a point of our day and age where young people are not going to recognize older music. Uh, and right now I think it is important , uh, especially in our culture to understand what Elvis actually did. Uh, and it introduced the story of Elvis, like the, it's almost like the legend of Elvis to just such a different audience. And this went about it in probably the best possible way.
Sarah:Well , and what I really loved about this film specifically was , uh, watching a TikTok with Austin Butler , and he was having an interview right around , uh, I wanna say the Golden Globes. And Lisa Marie was there and so was Priscilla. And they were talking about how he wanted to give Elvis the justice that he deserved in film, because I feel like a lot of times when we do these biography type films like Bohemian Rhapsody , um, that we have this very jaded view of what these a artists were actually like. And what I really liked is that he wanted to portray an authentic portrayal of Elvis versus this grandiose well , what everybody would believe Elvis to be. Because I feel like we have such a, I wouldn't say a , a , a rose colored view of what these artists are, but because they're, they're gone and they don't have a way of protecting their legacy, our view as a consumer has protected their legacy for that .
RJ:I feel like a lot of the time with these artists, and I can go through like a whole list of 'em . We have your , uh, David Bowie's, we have your , um, Michael Jackson's, we have all these artists. Yeah . Um, that we almost separate into a category of satire. I feel , uh, we, we oftentimes much like , um, we now more than anything, just we use their elements and that's it, you know, that for what we know them for and that's it. Whereas there's so much depth and so much that goes into their story. Uh, you know, who , who I would like to see a film , uh, similar to this, even though he's not a , um, artist in regards to music, but I'd love to see a film like this about the story of Robin Williams. But it , I mean , because his story's like fantastic , uh, about his upbringing and stuff , uh, and I'd love to just see a breakdown of what makes what , what made him such a fantastic human being. And that's what Al uh , so that's what Elvis did for me. Um, getting to know the story, the, the mindset of Elvis, I think it's, I mean, it's culturally , uh, important that we see what, how he was pivotal in society, you know, it's awesome.
Sarah:Well, and not only, not only that, but like, people are so tuned into what his major hits were. And the same thing with Bohemian Rapy . When we look at Queen, you know, their major hits, you know, hound Dog , you know, heartbreak Hotel, you know, all of these things that they've done, like for example, Michael Jackson and Man In The Mirror, everybody knows that song, right? It's one of those things, it's in the cultural zeitgeist of what we are as a society. Whereas when we look at the Elvis movie, they did his gospel music, which I think was beautiful. Um, his protest song that he did , um, during the Comeback special, I mean, in the scene where after Martin Luther King died and JFK and all of that stuff, like, you see all of that portrayed and you see the heartbreak that went into making that music. And you don't get artists like that anymore. And I'm not the biggest Elvis fan. Like, I don't hate his music. I was telling my coworker the other day, I don't turn it off when it's on the radio, but I don't seek it out because it's not my type of music. I like it. I'm just not gonna seek it out. And I have a much bigger appreciation for who he was as an artist after seeing this film that it , it shocked me at how much I I I was moved by his story. And I mean, when it first came out, I wanted to take my mom to the theater and we didn't get an opportunity to go see it. So I bought it on Amazon and the first thought I had was, this is two different films. Like if you watch it in one perspective from the Colonel, it's two very different films. And a lot of the critics panned it because of that. They're like, this is a disjointed film. This is not at all a cohesive storyline, but when you look at it, his life was disjointed. That way,
RJ:I think. Yeah. And i t, that's, so anyone who i s, I , I love that we're seeing the two e nd perspective, uh, the perspective of, uh, the c olonel and then the, also the perspective of Elvis, uh, as a person. U m, but i t, and it all, so it all wraps itself together in one big bow in that one conversation Elvis has with the colonel toward the end where the colonel makes it apparent. He's like, h e, he says, uh, point b lank like, we've been in this together. Like you may think it's, you know, uh, you may think everyone else is in this with you, but in actuality it's been me and you this whole time. U h, we're, it's, and all I like was thinking at that time was like codependency. Like they've been codependent on each other for so long. It's a codependent relationship.
Sarah:Not only that, but the colonel was the one who gave him his doctor, I believe it was
RJ:Dr. Nick . That's that , uh, he,
Sarah:He forced him to have his person , his own personal doctor because of the whole, like, whatever was going on and, and , and all of that stuff. He had his own personal doctor that the colonel was basically paying off to keep him dope Up.
RJ:That scared me. That was, that was, that was like , that sent me chills cuz it was, they were giving him drugs to wake up and drugs to sleep. So they were,
Sarah:Yeah. So you've got, you've got, I you've got versions of like what happened with Judy Garland, you've got versions of what happened with Michael Jackson and stuff like that. And the scariest part about all of this is the similarities between what happened to Michael Jackson and what happened to Elvis Presley considering the fact that Lisa Marie married Elvis or married Michael Jackson. Yeah . So it's like, it's this like terrifying story that just is like cyclical in in its nature. And it's so sad.
RJ:I think it makes me, so now when I look at this film, I like to compare the , um, like the artists of today, right? A lot of artists today are inspired by the culture of today, you know, but thankfully I'd like to think that we've come to a point where we , uh, because of the fact that we all see things and we're all able to see things that we, everyone's in the public eye, you know, everyone. Right . Cause and maybe that's due to history. Maybe it's due to the fact that we didn't know what was going on with Elvis and we didn't know what was going on too. Even , uh, uh, Britney Spears or, I, I mean, I guess just one that came to my mind is a is a Shia LaBeouf. Um. We don't know what's happening with them. But now, because everyone like is in the public eye, like I feel like less of what happened to an Elvis and stuff is likely to happen. I mean, not to say it can never happen at all. Like everyone has their own upbringing, you know. But Elvis, his scenario was this guy, the colonel who no one knew anything about it that time. You know, he brought him into stardom and he , um, what I always was confused about is the colonel's means of , um, cuz that was one of the weird things that , uh, was always throwing me off. He was always able to find and like negotiate and like, like find the clout. Like no one , he has also this, this second nature of understanding the press's interpretations, which I find very bizarre. Like the way he structured it was a safety net. He always wanted to stay on top of what was going on, but he didn't expect someone like Elvis to have a good understanding of what his music brings to pop culture. It was incredible.
Sarah:Well, and at the time, pop culture didn't exist when you think about
RJ:It. Right. That was the precipice. Like it was starting.
Sarah:Right. Right. And the thing with specifically the colonel and, and we have to , we're looking at it and then , I hate to say it because it sounds so stupid to say it, we are looking at it from millennials eyes.
RJ:Right.
Sarah:R ight?
RJ:No , it's true. Because absolutely True.
Sarah:We are looking at it post civil rights. We're looking at it post , uh, black Lives matter, All of these things, not to bring politics into it, But we a re looking at it from an eye of acceptance and things like that. When you, and when I watch this film and I think about the outrage that came with him, like m oving and g rooving the way that he was a nd the music that he was producing, it's like, to me it doesn't make sense why people were o utraged. Right? Yeah. But, and that they actually made, made rules that they could only film him from the waist u p and things like that. And like for me, w e're, we're, we're so far removed from that. timeframe that I b et you be cause o f the fa cts t hat the colonel knew exactly what racism was and exactly what was going on in the south. That's why he was on to p.
RJ:Yeah . He was.
Sarah:And it's like, I think it's that timeframe and that cultural shift that a lot of people were aware of how they were perceived in the media because of the fact that it was so taboo to be considered part of this quote unquote Negro revolution and things like that. Like those are the things that we take for granted being this far removed from it. Yes. And we, we don't have the relationship with that timeframe. And I mean it with no disrespect when I, when I was saying anything like that, but it's like white people of that time were so c onscious of how they were perceived. Yeah. And I think that's, that's where, that's where the taking advantage of was, was really prominent because he was the one who was saying like, oh, we don't want you to look like a black person. We don't want you. Right , right . To be like this because you have an image to uphold. And Elvis who is based off of the information in the film, was raised around
RJ:Black culture. He was inspired by
Sarah:It . Black people. Yeah. Black people.And black culture and music. He
RJ:Loved him . Yeah , exactly . It was what he grew up around.
Sarah:He didn't see, he was so naive that he didn't see that he was being taken advantage of
RJ:One.
Sarah:And that
RJ:He had such a passion, such a love for what he did. And that's what I mean. I love that they, they made that point very noted. But it's, yes , it's such to such a different degree, you know, people like him when you're, when you are a regular person in society. Right. And I honestly, I, I very, I held such strong emotions to this. When you are passionate in this world, there will always, always, always, always be something pushing you against your passion. And that's gonna be something that you're always gonna recognize right away. Right away you're gonna, that there will always be pushbacks to your passion because there's always gonna be something standing in the way of the things that you love , the things that you care about. But Elvis did not, he held that so hard, but he wanted what he wanted to do so bad. He wanted to present himself. And this culture was a part of him. And that's why he wanted to speak such a strong message about these people that he coincided with like an M l K or a John F. Kennedy. He stood by those beliefs because they were what supported his beliefs in general cuz he loved, you know, black culture and he loved unity. He loved this. And the fact that there was a part of society back then that just completely rejected it, it hurt him. It hurt him so much because it made him feel like people didn't, there was a part of society that did not love or want him, but he knew far from it that this was , he knew that progressively he, he had a better understanding of progression than most people even have today. That this is where the culture is. And ho honestly, I compared it to, I mean, Eminem already like compared Elvis to himself where he also, you know, Eminem is another one that has this appreciation for black culture as well , uh, for rap and stuff of that nature. He actually quotes , um, in , uh, the song without me. He's like , um, I, he says I am the worst thing since Elvis Presley , um, to turn , um, something about black culture. And he , and he used it , uh, to get himself wealthy. And he does that in a very good way. And then also when , when I really think about comparative to , um, being provocative, right? Like his hips were very provocative, very taboo for that time period. But now I compare it to a song like Wap . Um, and WP is very progra like provocative too . We, like in society, we don't like to talk about sex and whatever. But now we're in such a different time period where sex is all we like talk about and whatever. And now , uh, we're in a point where it's bad for women to talk about sex, you know, when they should, you know, we're reliving this right now.
Sarah:Right , exactly. With the anti-trans culture. Yeah . And the anti L G B LGBTQ culture, lady Gaga is at the forefront of being the next Elvis Presley in that culture. Yes . And that cultural standpoint, and I'm not trying, again, I'm not bringing pol politics into it, but what I'm saying is, is we are reliving, it's all cyclical. Yes . We are reliving this right now through the guise of trans trans rights and l g BT Q rights and the people who are against having drag queens storybook times and things like that. You've got states are actually actively trying to prevent male performers from dressing and drag. And the scary thing is, is we are getting to a point in time where we won't even be able to put on a , uh, like Shakespeare Right . Or those kind of things. Because if you wanna do a true Shakespeare show,
RJ:You have to dress,
Sarah:You are not going to have Yeah. You're not going to have men who can dress as the women characters. Right . And to be, to be completely authentic if you have an entire group that is being marginalized. That's, it's what we do. I, I don't understand it. But at the same time, it's like we, we live in this cyclical culture of marginalizing certain groups. I mean, back in the twenties it was the Irish and you had the Germans that were being marginalized. Then you had like the Mexicans being marginalized. And now we've got all, because it's the people who can't stand up for themselves being marginalized at certain points in their lives. And it's really sad that we have to go through that over and over and over again. And you have these artists that are creating these pieces of music that, like for example, lady Gaga's Born This Way Yeah . Is one of probably the most defining songs of L G B T Q , but it's also a defining song of a generation. Like you've got people who can take it whichever way that they want. And you've got things like the protest song from Elvis that define that generation. Yes. And what I really loved is that this film did not, did not shy away from showing the marginalization of the black community. It did not shy away from showing a senator at what you could perceive to be a clan rally. Yes . Essentially, I mean's let's be
RJ:Honest's what it was you were just
Sarah:Missing
RJ:The hoods . It's literally Yeah. And that, that scene frustrated the bejesus out me because I was like,
Sarah:But I loved that
RJ:It was there because you have to show it. You have to show that there are ,
Sarah:You've gotta show the , the nasty parts of history.
RJ:Yeah . There , the , the amount of pushback. And I mean, they could have even gone a step further and shown how badly these people, cuz it wasn't just like, Hey, the police were like tearing them apart from these people. These police officers went out of their way to then beat these people during that protest. Yeah . It was just, I mean, just awful. And I mean, it's just su to such a degree, but it's ,
Sarah:But it's the parts of history that we have to remember. Yes . And that's the, because once you forget, that's when you have to, that it's another stonewall. Yeah. I mean, you are looking at these points in history as, as through a mi like through a microscope. Yes. But we have to face them , no matter how much it hurts people, no matter how much it hurts the , the communities that are, that are seeing it, we have to remember that this happens . So we don't go back to it. Look at what Elvis did. He took an entire for gospel music for me. While it is beautiful and everything like that, I don't, I don't particularly go for gospel music because that's not the style of music that I enjoy. However, he took gospel music and he elevated it to a point that it could be consumed by the masses. Right . And that right there is important. And I'm glad that the entire film focused not just on what was going on societally, but the impact that his music had on society. Because if we did not have Hound dog , if we did not have , um, heartbreak Tell Right . And we didn't have in the Ghetto and those kind of, those kind of songs that take those melodies from Gospel and he incorporates it into like consumable package for the masses. Could you imagine where religion would be today? He took a genre of music, made it consumable, therefore making a new genre of gospel. That's true music that we, that we consume in churches today. Like if you think about New Song and these artists that are done for Christian music, they would not have a platform because there was nothing that said, let's make worship songs and make them in, in the likeness of the masses. It was, these are our traditional gospel songs, these are the songs that we have, let's just keep going. And it's tradition. Right . It's the same thing with like all the traditions of the Catholic church and the Christian Church and anything like that. They're, they're traditional. Yes . Now you've got artists that are able to take the non-traditional nonconformative melodies and ideas and putting them and making it acceptable for the church to have it in their hands. So he even redefined how you do worship music.
RJ:Yeah, that's true.
Sarah:And he redefined that kind of genre. And I'm not saying like it's, it's a , it's strange to look at it that way because we look at it and we're like, oh well it's just, it's it's worship music, you know, whatever. But he really took it and he allowed people to say that it's okay to be taken by this music . Yeah . It's okay. That's true. It like the, like the pastor says in the beginning, he's taken my Holy Spirit , holy Spirit. And it's like, it's allowing the people to give way and allow music to be the ability to understand the Bible. Because there are certain things that you, you learn about through reading, but then it hits differently when you do music to
RJ:It. Yes, most definitely.
Sarah:And it , and it, it allows you, for example, the birds, they have that song to every season Turn, turn, turn or to everything there Turn, turn, turn. There is a season, it's a , it's an actual verse from the Bible. Yes. And it took it and it allowed, it allowed the public to hear it. Yes. It's a catchy song. I love the song. Do I, do I read that passage in the Bible? No, but I know it because of that song. Yes. And it , it's a new way of understanding the words. And if it wasn't for Elvis and it wasn't for that ability to take gospel music and make it consumable and make it accepted by the masses. Cuz that's the thing, it was accepted. Right. His music was accepted. The black artists that were creating the exact same music that we saw in the beginning, because you know, they did , um, I think it was Earth Kit , was it Earth Kitt at the beginning. Oh . When she was singing Hound Dog to have that artist, she would never have been the face of that song. No . Right. Like you needed someone who would be liked by the masses who could take that song and elevate it. And not saying that he, he should have given credit where credit was due . I believe, if I'm not mistaken, from what I understand, he never gave credit to those original artists. But I , I could
RJ:Be wrong. He , um, some of them he did. So I mean, he later goes on to quote, I mean he, he turned that one picture with BB King. He um , yeah. Who is the one cuz he had inspiration from this one artist that he was inspired by like his first song and he had gone on to quote that . He wasn't allowed to mind you in most circumstances because that's true. But , uh, he had , um, given notice to the culture and the community that he was inspired by. Um, but
Sarah:He had peer
RJ:Intentions No, absolutely. In the meeting . Yes. And that's, that's one of the big things is that every second of it, later on, like toward the end when he was going into his forties and whatever, all the drugs and whatever, but all the while it's not as if he , um, was conscious of some of the negative things that he was doing. He always had these pure intentions. Right,
Sarah:Right. And that , and like the best scene in the film is when they're at the beginning and they're in and he's dressed up like , um, captain Marvel ,
RJ:Uh, it was, it was Captain Marvel, I'm pretty sure.
Sarah:Yeah. When he had the lightning bolt on his chest and stuff like that. Like you could tell he want , even, even the dir like the voiceover and everything, talking about how he wanted to be the superhero of his, of his father's story and things like that. Like he did , you can tell he had the pure intentions, but at the same time he was taken advantage of o of , and one of the best things that I heard was that the colonel was basically a snake oil salesman. Yeah . And what's interesting is my coworker made a point, like maybe they, because we were talking about the film last night. She goes, well they probably took a lot of liberty with the colonel because Woody have actually sat there and overheard the conversation of Elvis and his family right before the original concert where they were at , um, the Hayride or whatever it was called
RJ:That . Yeah, that's what it was called. It was , uh, hayride or uh , something like that.
Sarah:And so right before his performance at the Hayride and , and things like that, like they would he have actually overheard that conversation? Possibly, yeah . There's a possibility that it was overheard. Uh, would he have been as in the story like that?
RJ:No ,
Sarah:I mean probably not. He was probably his slur lurking around a corner or things like that. Sulking. Excuse me. And um, but the fact that he used Jesse , I believe, or Aaron , excuse me, the fact that they used Aaron against his mother, that was Yeah. Really bothers me.
RJ:Oh yeah.
Sarah:And like later on when she, he's trying to convince his mother, he is like, oh yeah, there's, there's two souls here and then , and , and all of that. And he is like insinuating that Aaron was there and the, the, the idea that he took advantage of the mother, it really bothers me because she was in a vulnerable point in , in her life. Can't
RJ:Say, you dunno , the ,
Sarah:The pain of losing a child for him to have done that was was completely backhanded and completely,
RJ:You're talking about the loss of the twin brother. That's uh, yeah , I thought it was Jesse . I thought Aaron's Elvis's middle name
Sarah:And what, what I really liked about the film was the , the , it sounds so funny cuz I, you know me, I'm against special effects, which is funny cuz the David is
RJ:Big and big all about , there was a lot, this movie was big lighting big. Oh my God. Their transitions were so good.
Sarah:I loved when they went to the International Hotel. Yes . Because you know, it's the Mirage Now. Actually I am pretty sure at the point that this film would've been done. I think they were demolishing the Mirage if I'm not mistaken.
RJ:Oh wow. Oh , to think
Sarah:So they had, they had to recreate that hotel because if I, again, if I am not mistaken, cuz I know they got rid of Ballys . Yeah, they did. Um, Dave and I were just, we were just in Vegas in 2021. So it was still,
RJ:Still there
Sarah:Standing. Yeah . But we didn't, I didn't know it was the international hotel, otherwise I would've went over there to go see it because that would've been cool. Right . You know, cause we were, we were on the strip and um, so it's like knowing that they had to recreate that Yeah. In CGI is insane. I don't know how long it took for this film to be made. I don't know when they started filming it. If they, even if let's just even let's go with the idea that even if the Mirage was still standing Right, right . And they filmed at the Mirage, they still had to do c g I to get the signage because that sign wasn't there. The Elvis sign was that
RJ:There? No, no.
Sarah:And then they also had to, they would've had to get rid of, because at the time that Dave and I went in 2021 , they were doing the Beatles Sur Dule show. The , um, I don't remember the name of it, but they had like Beatles all over over . So Oh , that's so cool. The hotel. So like, you would even have to think where Elvis's rooms were and stuff like that. They would've had to CGI all of that stuff out.
RJ:Yeah, they would've,
Sarah:Even if they had gone to the strip and you think, I don't think they went to the strip because you didn't see the flowing ,
RJ:You didn't see c I think it was House , you didn't see any of those. It was creation of what the Strip was because you can't,
Sarah:So they had to have do it all in CGI because there would've been no way to have taken those out. Because specifically Caesar's Palace is massive.
RJ:That's huge.
Sarah:And it wasn't around at that time.
RJ:I mean, it wouldn't be the most difficult recreation, but it would , I mean it would be taxing cuz you have to essentially, you, I I , at least based on my perspective, you would have to take structures that are already there , um, just in, in a certain given space. Not like actually in the space that it's trying to portray. But then you'd have to put a bunch of signage and a bunch of things like that to better replicate. Right. But I , um, I mean, and you know, what's funny about when they're in Vegas is what is one of the most known things that Elvis did in Vegas. This is one of the big things, is that he made a song <laugh> about being in Las Vegas, the Viva Las Vegas song. And they didn't include that in that segment probably because even though he, he did enjoy performing in Vegas, I bet you bottom dollar, that was intentional to show that he wasn't just s he wasn't celebrating being in Vegas as a whole. He was celebrating being, you know, doing art and whatever. And I, during that time was a dark period in his career where he unintentionally was signed to do like five years in Vegas, even though he wanted to travel the world.
Sarah:Well, and I thought that was interesting that, I mean, it sounds so funny, but the fact that, I mean, if it wasn't for the colonel, I don't think that Elvis would've been as big as he was. Yeah. So he had to go through the trial of the colonel. But at the same time, again, my coworker made a very good point that if it wasn't for he could have overcome the money issues. Yes. Right. Because at that point, he was a household name. He would've done one concert in Japan and would've made the money back that he owed the colonel. It was the drugs.
RJ:Yeah. It
Sarah:Was, it was because of the drugs. That was why I think it was so important that they had the scene where , um, the colonel fired the , the ho the doctor. Yeah . Because that in , in, in itself is nothing when he's about to, I'm talking about the scene where he's like making the list of the things that
RJ:Just owed him . That was bizarre. That was such a ,
Sarah:Because well, I could , and it , it shows you the abuse of artists today too. Which I'll come back to that thought . Yeah . But like, that scene in itself is a throwaway scene until you hear when he's on the phone and he is like, yeah, tell the doctor I'm not coming . No , don't come back. Yeah . Dr . Nick, see you later. Bye. We're out. And then later on you had Elvis break down , call his father and say, I want it all back the way It was
RJ:Audacity. Yeah.
Sarah:It's like, because he was going through withdrawals.
RJ:Yeah . Well and I mean, on top of that he, yeah. Well he was in a hole. He can't , he couldn't do anything. He was just like, well, I'm in debt . But he could've and I, what do you call? And on top of that, I don't have my fix right now and I can't do anything because like, I , he , I mean he was just stuck. He didn't know what to do. Mind you, he always had had , but that was the dependency, the co-dependency and the need for control. Like, he, he never had everything, every decision he had to make, he had to rebel every, everyone . So did he feel like at that point he didn't feel like fighting anymore?
Sarah:Well, but I think that goes with the dependency of the drugs. Because when you think about his producer that he got that he was trying to run away to go do the
RJ:Internet . They loved him . They were ready . They , they wanted to show him to to the world . They
Sarah:Were ready . They would have been able to make that money back. That's the point. Easy , easy . They would've been able easy, they would've fronted him the money. They would've fronted him everything he needed. Right . The colonel made it to the point where he was so hooked on drugs. Yeah . That he didn't know where, he didn't know what to do . The easy way to get his fix . Yeah . He didn't know the easy way to get that. That's the codependency. And that's the part that made it really difficult for him. It wasn't the idea of having to make the money back. Because if you think about it, he was so flipp and successful. Yeah. All he would've had to do, literally all he would've had to do was continue his residency in Vegas on his own. Right. He wouldn't have even needed the colonel for that. He could, he literally had a stage that he could perform on. Yeah. That he was welcome to perform on. That he was contracted to perform on. Yeah . It was the fear of loss of his unlimited debt or debt revoked. Right . Revoking and things like that, that the colonel had, that he used that scare tactic on Elvis and removed the drugs that were keeping him going. Yeah . And, and, and he c he it was more daunting to be clean and sober than it was to sit there and have to make that money back. Yes . Because realistically speaking, he knew that he had a million dollar gig in, in Japan. Yes. He , he knew that. So he knew he could make that money back. It was the drugs cuz he didn't know where to get
RJ:That . I liken the colonel. So the biggest comparison I have for someone like the colonel is one of my favorite individuals to reference as like evil yet also , um, what do you call evil yet also pivotal to society. A Ray Crock , the guy who started McDonalds . Oh yeah . So
Sarah:Absolutely one
RJ:Of my favorite movies of all time has to be the founder. And that movie is very comparable to this movie where you see the perspective of Ray Crock and the founder. You see the perspective of the colonel in Elvis Yep . Where they abused this idea that these, well one is a business, one is an artist, but they're both pivotal in their means of changing the foundation of society. Whereas one is , uh, changing the landscape of the fast food and honestly restaurant and business industry because they also , uh, manage to change the way we do franchises. Meanwhile, Elvis changes the way we do music and how we consume media. Because one big thing that what's his face does , um, the colonel does, which they made a point to say is, oh, we did 15 gigs in 15 days. We did satellite. Yes . Satellite concerts, wouldn't I ? He was also merchandising. He made the idea Right . Of merchandising. It's so important that you hear that. Same with Ray Crock who made franchising easier for the American consumer and made , uh, what do you call, essentially Gerald Ford's means of , um, assembly line fast food.
Sarah:Henry Ford.
RJ:Henry Ford . Gerald Ford was the
Sarah:President present <laugh> . Um , but then we go back to my original thought with when he was itemizing his bill. Right. It shows the , the abuse that artists go through because they are a slave to their record label. And that was the first real viewpoint of that. Because you think, for example, I mean, artists don't own their music anymore. No. They haven't owned their music for a good long time .
RJ:When they do, they don't make a good amount of money cuz of how the industry is. Right .
Sarah:Because you think it costs them , let's say it costs 3 million to produce an album. Yeah . That artist is in the hole for that 3 million from the beginning. So then they're a slave to having to go through the industry and having to go do concerts, having to sell CDs, having to sell. It's
RJ:All about exposure. It's ,
Sarah:It's, it's Right . It's
RJ:All , even when you have the fame , like the , like popularity, the popularity of what you do does not get you money. That's not the definition of like, like you could have someone look
Sarah:At Clay Aiken from American Idol. I mean he was a phenomenal singer. I don't care what anybody has to say about it. He has a very good voice. Right . But we don't hear anything about him anymore. The same thing with Chris Daughtry . It wasn't until like this year that I even heard Chris Dos Daughtry's name. And just because you're a good singer doesn't mean you're going to get the fame and recognition. But also are you going to have the appeal to the masses? Look at Susan Boyle. Right . You know, from Britain's Got Talent. Yes. Yeah. She, the only reason she got fame, literally the only reason she got fame was because she was frumpy. Yeah . And because the American audience related to her. So you see a lot of her stuff being sold in America. I haven't heard her name on the American Airways
RJ:In
Sarah:A very long time.
RJ:And they ,
Sarah:Because she wasn't selling.
RJ:And the biggest, and and that's one thing that the music industry is lacking right now, is that mm-hmm . <affirmative> behind every artist that you see, like whether it be on the radio or on the internet or whatever, behind every one of those, their exposure is so codependent with their management and their record label. You cannot be a multi-million dollar artist without being coincided and signing your life away to a record label. Which is why some artists really do try to pivot that. And it makes me happy that we're in kind of a point where we can almost pivot it. But even to such an extent, it's just not, it's only due to tight connections. It's not as if, you know, these artists can just do their business on their own. There's only very few and far between that. Can you have someone, unfortunately, like a P Diddy who p Diddy just provides financial, you know, and I mean DJ Khaled also helps out when it comes to production cuz he has his own like kind of label. But you think of that. Right . And it's only just because, you know, they, you know, they know each other and stuff and behind them as like a whole team of like executives at this point. So
Sarah:Right. And you have to pay their, their wages. I mean, I think the one thing that stuck out to me is like David Bowie. Yeah . When you look at his career, when he was doing , um, when he was working with Andy Warhol and all of that, the reason that David Bowie kept going on, on tour after tour after tours, he had people mooching off of him so much that he had to tour in order to even break even on some of these tours they did. I think the Glass Spider tour cost an astronomical amount of money because people were just mooching that money off of him.
RJ:That's true.
Sarah:And, and living off of his fame. And that's why he went to work with Amy Warhol and all of those , um, those artists within, and , and I can't remember what the term that they used for, for their crew, but it's like there was an entire group of people that, you know, were sick and tired of being taken advantage of. Yes.
RJ:I
Sarah:And so it's, it's one of those things that producers have been taking advantage of their, of their people way longer. But it's more prominent in, in our knowledge of it because of the kernel . Yes. Because we know what he did to Elvis. And what I really liked about this film was it was almost like a fever joint . Yes. Oh yeah. That the colonel was having about the whole thing. He was trying to absolve himself of the wrongs that he had done in order to feel comfortable with intent, with the fact that he basically killed Elvis. Yeah .
RJ:He , he was trying to rash , he was, this was his , uh, what do you call, this was his life , uh, before his eyes sort of thing where he <laugh> he had to explain himself before he died . It's like he's explaining himself to God. He's like, Hey, have mercy on me. This is what happened. Right. And,
Sarah:And it , and that I don't think comes through as well. And that's why people think it's a disjointed film. And like the first time I watched it I was like, Tom Hanks is terrible. I've never seen Tom Hanks this bad in a rule before. Like, that was literally
RJ:Things I
Sarah:Was saying. Yeah. And I was like, this is terrible. I couldn't understand him . I couldn't tell what he's was saying. He sounded like he was mumbling. And I was like, Tom Hanks is terrible in this film. Right . And then I watched it the second time for this episode and I was like, oh my gosh, how did I not catch it? It's that whole making sure you're not just letting things flow , letting things flow through your eye orbs . Wow . That's true. You know, it's like, it's, it's not a film that you can just consume. It's a film that's almost a psychological experiment. It's like the menu. Yes . The menu is not a straightforward film .
RJ:No , it's not.
Sarah:Which we, we are gonna discuss on this show, by the way. We gotta talk about the menu. The menu. But, but it's like, it's not straightforward. It's supposed to be analyzed. I think that was the point of this film is
RJ:You have to , that it was not just deep about the actual story of the artist.
Sarah:Yeah. Because like, we are all, it's, it's again, back to that Bohemian Rhapsody idea, we are all blinded by the glitz and the glamor that were these artists, right? Like, people go to Graceland to see the jumpsuits, people go to Graceland to see the grave sites and things like that, and they wanna celebrate the artist . But because of that you have these rose colored glasses that are on all about Elvis, all about Freddie Mercury, all about David Bowie. You know, we didn't see the, the pain, the turmoil, the abuse that they had to endure in the music scene. We didn't see that. And so having these films bring that to light and it's not this bohemian rapy esque storyline of Elvis. That's why people don't like this film. Really?
RJ:Because
Sarah:They were expecting, I feel like they were expecting bohemian raps .
RJ:Cause it's not Yeah .
Sarah:Because Bohemian Ramsey was watered down. Yes. Let's be honest. It was a watered down portrayal of the trials and tribulation of Queen. Because let's still be frank, Fred Mercury was, was a gay man. Yes. And it was not as accepted,
RJ:I think. Yeah. The whole, I think
Sarah:The whole point of it . Yeah.
RJ:I Go ahead. I personally, I think , um, a lot of these films, like I haven't seen the Elton John film yet. I heard, is it good? Cause I'm, I'm into loved it . So I like the idea of showing the background of the artist . I feel like we're gonna be getting, that's gonna be the new , uh, it's gonna be the new Marvel thing where we're gonna keep seeing, and I don't mind it so long as they do it to depict a time period and an idea of what we have to get the , we have to get the mindset of the artist . And I think that's what we need more than anything. Soon we're gonna be approaching a art renaissance where artists are gonna be able to really, like, they're gonna be able to fight for their craft and be like, Hey, this is how much my art is worth. Um, right. Like soon there's gonna be like a trade for the arts and needing like to present yourself because no matter what behi , see this is the thing about co-dependency, right. No matter what, the colonel could not have been as successful as he was without the artist himself. Elvis.
Sarah:Exactly.
RJ:Like even though he could have gone to anyone, he couldn't have found another Elvis and
Sarah:Right. And that's the, the, the quote unquote snow job that he was referring to and throughout the whole film. Yes . It's like he knew, he knew that if it , and that was, that was the other part about him writing up that list of expenses. He knew he was nothing without Elvis. You saw it in his, and this is the beauty of it, was his office covered in Elvis memorabilia? Probably not. Right . Because he was, I doubt that he had a space that big
RJ:No, I don't think he
Sarah:Had of his debts, I think . Right . I don't think so . That's , that was probably a creative liberty. But that was a commentary by the director saying that he was so co-dependent on all this. Right . That's why he wrote up the contract. That's why he made, that's why he made the line. And what about me? Like we know that that contract existed because that tablecloth and that napkin are existing at Graceland right now. Yes . And we can see it with our eyes. We don't know the conversation that was had between the colonel and the owner of the international. We don't know that whole conversation, but for him to actually make a point that while Elvis is performing for the colonel to go And what about me that goes to show you how the codependency was for the colonel because while, while Elvis was hooked on the colonel's drugs Yes . The colonel was hooked on Elvis Yes. And his success.
RJ:Yes.
Sarah:And that was the important part. And that's the part that people don't want to face because it's like, oh well we can just villainize the colonel and we can villainize what's going on in here. But if it wasn't for Elvis, the colonel wouldn't have been part of the story. Yes . And if it wasn't for the colonel , Elvis wouldn't be part of the story. He still would've been popular. Yes . Don't get me wrong, but he would not have been the king of rock and
RJ:Roll. Yes. No, absolutely not. He would've been , he wouldn't have had the platform. He would probably , you know, every No , no, he would not have had the platform to do it. I mean maybe if he had grown up. See that's the biggest thing is that he grew up in, in Memphis, Tennessee, which even today, Tennessee isn't the, the like precipice of, I keep using that term. It isn't the cornerstone of pop culture and what do you in , in that sense. Like it's not LA and it's not New York and it's not um, I hate to say it Chicago, but Chicago for whatever reason, media has not been, you know, oh God. Chicago is like one of the greatest, this is what bothers me. Chicago is just as good if not better than a lot of these places, yet it doesn't do nearly as well as it can for , uh, culture and community. It's upsetting. But um, in that regards, right. Memphis Tennessee isn't that place. And it definitely was not that place way back when. That's why you had to go to a place like Hollywood and you know, la to like actually be able to express it to the masses.
Sarah:I wanna ask you this question because this was always burning on me because when you think about when he was originally traveling, the colonel could have taken him to places like New York. He could have taken him to places like Chicago. Why is it that he only took him to Florida, Alabama? These places where segregation was the most, I I don't wanna say vibrant, that's not the right term, was the most prevalent in society when he could have taken him , taken him to northern states that would've been more accepting of the music. Because you think about it, he thrived on the conflict that was Elvis . He knew what he was doing in terms of taking him to these areas that were
RJ:The most he'll have
Sarah:Yeah . Ridiculous areas to take him that he would have the most he wanted the negative press he wanted
RJ:That he's even bad publicity . He actually makes that point note too cuz he says , he states that even bad publicity is publicity nonetheless. Cause he Right , he was like, he made the I hate Elvis buttons, but that was to show that, you know, you can make money either way if people don't like you. If people like you, like in the sense of a Donald Trump, people don't like him, but they all , there's also the crazy people that like him. Um, but like in that sense of , um, just like even bad publicity is publicity nonetheless your shock value.
Sarah:Right. It keeps your name out there and that's the thing. And that's why I think we have a lot of people who , um, who idolize those characters. Yes . Because, and I say characters and I mean characters as isn't their personality. I don't mean it as like a caricature of the person, but it's like you have these people who like will sit there and defend anybody to their dying breast Yes. As well as will hate someone to their dying craft . Yes. You know, there are still people out there who were , who vehemently cannot stand Martin Luther King Jr .
RJ:Just like how they,
Sarah:There, there are people out there. Yeah , I'm sure
RJ:There are . It's just like, there's people that can stand Cardi B and people who can't stand , uh, what do you call, what, what are deemed to be controversial figures about , uh, culture today? People just don't wanna accept it. It's unfortunate. Like people that don't like Eminem and stuff, just because he says bad words <laugh>, like
Sarah:Well, and I mean even it doesn't, and that , and that's the point that the colonel is making. He goes, there's, there's nothing that's gonna stop people from hating him . But he also didn't go out of his way to bring him to areas that people would love him. Yeah . You know, like if he had brought him to Chicago, it's a completely different situation. If he had brought him to like New York, it would've been a completely different situation. No, the first areas he brought him were Florida. Yeah .
RJ:You you ever noticed that that one segment where he is talking about safety? Yes. So there are , there are a couple elements about safety. When he was in like Las Vegas, one element that was made very, very note was that he didn't want him to travel internationally. He could not have him travel internationally. So he is like, let us propose that Elvis cannot travel outside of the country because he would be unsafe. Cool . Great idea to keep him under your thumb. But Right . There was truth to it. The colonel is crazy psychologically because the truth to it is also Elvis is his meal ticket. So Yep . He, even in the beginning when Elvis had to do things like, you know, he had to stop himself from using his hips and all that stuff. Right. Okay. There's two parts to it. It's not a matter of whether or not he has his deal with rca. It was also the fact that people were hurting people like him and that Right . He, his meal ticket would get hurt. Especially in the one protest, you know, where he is like, I'm evil. I I love that that that protest song was awesome, but that part, he was worried about Elvis and his family getting hurt cuz that's his meal ticket and stuff. So that's the, the importance of that. But he also knew, like, I almost feel like he knew Elvis was just gonna like go against what he says and maybe he intends on, on those kinds of things happening. He was a very, but also there's a part of it where he couldn't tell what was gonna happen next. You can never tell what happens next, but Right.
Sarah:Exactly.
RJ:You Yeah . With Elvis, I feel like if you have that longstanding relationship with him, you know, he has this rebellious childlike nature.
Sarah:Right. But ,
RJ:Um, I think that's all the time we have here today. Any final thoughts, Sarah ?
Sarah:Um, I , personally speaking, I think that this film is very important. It is one of the probably best films that we had out in 2022.
RJ:We
Sarah:Didn't have very money, but we had, we had, it was really the most important. And to be completely honest with you, if Austin Butler doesn't win an Oscar or get nominated for an Oscar , Oscar for this, I'm going to be very
RJ:Disappointed. Uh , yeah.
Sarah:Very disappointed. Not saying films, Brendan Fraser doesn't deserve it, but Austin Butler did a phenomenal job portraying Elvis. There were points in time when they did a flashback to actual Elvis
RJ:Footage . Yeah. That , that was ,
Sarah:That I could not tell
RJ:The difference . Yeah. Right. That , that made me so emotional. There are certain things, but I, I was able, you know, when you look at it, you're like, wow, they replicated it very well as if it was like an hd remaster of, of those times. So I , um, yeah, most definitely. I mean, my thoughts on this film were , uh, I didn't expect it to love it as much as I did. It was, I mean, definitely what we kind of stated earlier, it's a fever dream and it also , uh, it does like such a good, it has such a good way of taking you back to that time period and getting you into the mindset that , um, you know, we never could, you know, like if we were to ask Elvis, we would've gotten like one idea. But this really, I mean, it took you back in time and what showed you what could have , uh, been the things that were on Elvis's mind as if we're wa it's as if we're watching things , uh, bef like these were Elvis's thoughts before he died, essentially. Like if he were like having that flash sequence where, you know, you see your life flash before your eyes, I think that would probably be it. Or at least pretty close. But yeah. Right . This was a fantastic film. Um, we definitely recommend you go and watch it. For sure.
Sarah:Definitely. I do wanna say this, I am very happy that it came out in a point where the family could absorb the story and present in the story and my heartbreaks for Priscilla and the loss of Lisa Marie . Right. Um, she's had to endure a lot in this last few years. And just for the fact that she could actually take the story and give Elvis the justice that was needed for him, you can tell it was a labor
RJ:Of law . Most definitely.
Sarah:And my heart goes out to you, Priscilla. I know you'll never hear this, but it's for you. Um, and I do wanna say that out of at , at 10 out of 10 stars.
RJ:Yeah, most definitely. If we're gone , if we're doing a ,
Sarah:Can't even go on a five
RJ:Star . Um , if we're doing a five star or a 10 star, I mean , um, you know, I'd give it five stars. If I'm doing a five star rating, I'd give it five stars. Uh , if I were doing 10, I'd probably give it 10. It's , uh, it hit every note. Um, if I were to take points off, I'd probably say that they used newer Gibson guitars , uh, rather than older Gibson guitars. But that's me, like pulling hairs, that's, that's you just Nick's pulling diamond that's pulling hairs . And I don't think anyone should be doing that with this kind of film. Um , I mean we could also go and be like, Hey, they shouldn't use like that . The , there was those parts where there was like pop music or something going on in the background as well. But that's, that's just to help , uh, people of today kind of get themselves in the mind sort of what that was. Yes . But yes, please go watch this film if you haven't already. This is a really, really fun film to watch. Uh , keeps you engaged and it just , um, awesome piece of work. Um, definitely stay tuned for what we , uh, when we do another film review , uh, we're trying to do this a little more regularly. Um, it's a fun time. You know, we always talk , uh, a lot about films. Kind of the point of our show and yeah. We'll see you next time.
Speaker 3:See you guys next time. Want to find out more about post cut ? Check out our website, www.post cut.com . There you can find links to our episodes while they're send us a listener request for films to review. Until next time, thank you from all of us here at Post Cut .