{"id":1532289,"date":"2022-06-29T12:04:16","date_gmt":"2022-06-29T16:04:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1532289"},"modified":"2022-06-29T12:04:24","modified_gmt":"2022-06-29T16:04:24","slug":"elvis-biopics-black-roots-are-real-not-woke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/elvis-biopics-black-roots-are-real-not-woke\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Elvis\u2019 Biopic\u2019s Black Roots Are Real, Not Woke"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Felvis-biopics-black-roots-are-real-not-woke%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1532289&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Baz Luhrmann\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt3704428\/\">Elvis<\/a>\u201d isn\u2019t your standard-issue biographical film.<\/p>\n<p>There have been other Presley biopics released over the years, including one starring Kurt Russell (1979) and a miniseries with Jonathan Rhys Meyers (2005). But the director of \u201cMoulin Rouge!\u201d and \u201cThe Great Gatsby\u201d figured something \u2026 different was in order.<\/p>\n<p>Luhrmann\u2019s \u201cElvis\u201d brims with razzle-dazzle sequences, concert recreations and those Presley hip gyrations that caused a societal stir. Anyone expecting conventional rags-to-riches storytelling, though, will be disappointed.<\/p>\n<p>Co-star Tom Hanks, playing the duplicitous Colonel Tom Parker, gets so much screen time it\u2019s almost like you\u2019re watching \u201cElvis and the Colonel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Luhrmann doesn\u2019t ruminate on the icon\u2019s \u201970s excess but digs into his formative years. That means showing a young Presley attending black churches and peeping into clubs where black musicians made music outside the cultural mainstream.<\/p>\n<p>None of the presentation is woke. It\u2019s a celebratory recreation of Presley\u2019s backstory. And this \u201cElvis\u201d doesn\u2019t condemn its subject for cultural appropriation.<\/p>\n<p>It honors that amalgam of music, culture, and style.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s undeniable that Presley allowed the music industry to elevate gospel and R&#038;B stylings via a white performer who captured their essence.<\/p>\n<p>That doesn\u2019t tell the whole story, though, since some black artists did <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/entertainment\/archive\/2014\/07\/whats-so-great-about-elvis-he-didnt-invent-or-steal-anything\/374081\/\">crack the mainstream<\/a> during the 1950s, including The Dominoes, who made a run at the pop music charts with \u201cSixty Minute Man\u201d in 1951. With the lyrics \u201cI rock \u2019em, roll \u2019em all night long,\u201d the track is even considered by some as the origin of the \u201cRock and Roll\u201d genre.<\/p>\n<p>Plus, Bill Haley beat out Presley on the charts, albeit barely, with 1954\u2019s \u201cRock Around the Clock.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Presley, though, became a once-in-a-generation superstar.<\/p>\n<p>Born in Tupelo, Mississippi, he spent his early days in a racially mixed community. His tight-knit family attended the Assembly of God Church, exposing him at a young age to gospel music.<\/p>\n<p>The future star moved to Memphis, TN, in his teen years, where he absorbed the sounds of historic Beale Street. Teen Presley shopped on the celebrated street and soaked in the blues and gospel singers who called the region their second home.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.graceland.com\/\">Graceland.com<\/a>, dedicated to keeping Presley\u2019s legacy intact, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.graceland.com\/biography\">elegantly captures<\/a> how the singer incorporated those influences into his art. \u201c[Presley] uniquely combined his diverse musical influences and blurred and challenged the social and racial barriers of the time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The movie finds him comparing creative notes with the likes of B.B. King (played by Kelvin Harrison Jr.), and it\u2019s clear being a white star channeling blues and gospel notes let him rise beyond some black peers.<\/p>\n<p>Presley\u2019s mammoth talents did the rest.<\/p>\n<p>He openly spoke of how black singers impacted his creative choices. A 1957 interview with Jet Magazine, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/the-truth-about-elvis-and-the-history-of-racism-in-rock\">recalled by The Daily Beast<\/a>, offers a window into his generous spirit:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI always wanted to sing like Billy Kenny of the Ink Spots. \u2026 I like that high, smooth style. \u2026 I never sang like this in my life until I made that first record\u2014\u2018That\u2019s Alright, Mama.\u2019 I remembered that song because I heard Arthur (Big Boy) Crudup sing it and I thought I would like to try it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Black musicians, in turn, embraced him as an artist, not merely a white colleague. James Brown, for example, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/elvis-presley-40-years-later-was-king-rock-n-roll-guilty-appropriating-black-651911\">called him \u201chis brother\u201d<\/a> and upon Presely\u2019s death said, \u201cThere\u2019ll never be another like that soul brother.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cheatsheet.com\/entertainment\/sammy-davis-jr-turned-down-elvis-presleys-in-the-ghetto-wanted-king-of-rock-n-roll-sing.html\/\">Sammy Davis, Jr. similarly hailed<\/a> Presley and spoke openly of their respectful bond.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cElvis\u201d wisely ignores any cries of cultural appropriation. Luhrmann\u2019s film honors Presley\u2019s musical gifts while acknowledging his cultural influences. This shrewd approach to assessing the icon\u2019s body of work is not only fair to the subject matter, but it\u2019s also accurate to how Presley embraced those influences.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cElvis\u201d shows the superstar commiserating with Harrison Jr.\u2019s B.B. King in scenes that lack the depth and details that haunt the rest of the superficial trappings. They reveal a musician willing to learn from his peers, no matter their skin color.<\/p>\n<p>He worshipped music in all its wondrous shadings.<\/p>\n<p>Not everyone signed off on Presley\u2019s noble heart. Music impresario Quincy Jones dubbed Presley a racist based on what <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/news\/music-news\/quincy-jones-michael-jackson-elvis-presley-1234955138\/\">band leader Tommy Dorsey claimed about Presley<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/fact-check\/shine-my-shoes\/\">Snopes.com debunked<\/a> one allegedly racist Presley quote which circulated in the late 1950s. Sun Records founder Sam Phillips similarly described an Elvis Presley who didn\u2019t match Dorsey\u2019s version: \u201cThe lack of prejudice on the part of Elvis Presley had to be one of the biggest things that happened to us \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Presley\u2019s story, as everyone knows, had a tragic ending. His medicinal addictions turned him into a sideshow \u2014 witness the \u201cFat Elvis\u201d some impersonators evoke in their act. He died at 42 but remains an integral part of pop culture.<\/p>\n<p>And his success, from his innate gifts to his ability to fuse cultural influences into one irresistible package sans hate, embodies the American dream in a way few others could replicate.<\/p>\n<p><em>Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hollywoodintoto.com\/\">HollywoodInToto.com<\/a>.\u00a0He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart<\/p>\n<p><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Baz Luhrmann\u2019s \u201cElvis\u201d isn\u2019t your standard-issue biographical film. There have been other Presley biopics released over the years, including one starring Kurt Russell (1979) and a miniseries with Jonathan Rhys Meyers (2005). But the director of \u201cMoulin Rouge!\u201d and \u201cThe Great Gatsby\u201d figured something \u2026 different was in order. Luhrmann\u2019s \u201cElvis\u201d brims with razzle-dazzle sequences, &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":279,"featured_media":1532404,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1532289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1532289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/279"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1532289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1532289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1532404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1532289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1532289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1532289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}