{"id":1553522,"date":"2022-07-14T07:20:24","date_gmt":"2022-07-14T11:20:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1553522"},"modified":"2022-07-14T07:20:31","modified_gmt":"2022-07-14T11:20:31","slug":"new-elvis-film-shows-how-social-media-killed-celebrity-talent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/new-elvis-film-shows-how-social-media-killed-celebrity-talent\/","title":{"rendered":"New \u2018Elvis\u2019 Film Shows How Social Media Killed Celebrity Talent"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/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%2Fnew-elvis-film-shows-how-social-media-killed-celebrity-talent%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=1553522&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--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Elvis-e1657652678319.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Director Baz Luhrmann\u2019s\u00a0\u201cElvis\u201dis the target of much online scorn. NPR labels the film <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2022\/06\/23\/1106734497\/elvis-review-baz-luhrmann\">\u201cdizzyingly absurd,\u201d<\/a> Mashable calls it <a href=\"https:\/\/mashable.com\/article\/elvis-movie-review\">\u201cbizarre, dark and confounding,\u201d<\/a> and the Daily Beast writes that it\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/baz-luhrmanns-elvis-starring-austin-butler-is-utterly-exhausting\">exhaustingly loud [and] terribly boring<\/a>.\u201d Luhrmann\u2019s creation is also being criticized for not lambasting the King of Rock \u2019n Roll for his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/culture\/culture-news\/elvis-presley-biopic-grooming-cancellation-1374156\/\">\u201cblack culture appropriation,\u201d<\/a> and according to Rolling Stone, Gen Z TikTok users \u2014 the epitome of cultural expertise \u2014 are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/culture\/culture-news\/elvis-presley-biopic-grooming-cancellation-1374156\/\">\u201ccalling him out.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p>When I learned a new Elvis movie was in the works, I thought, \u201cElvis? <em>Really<\/em>? Why Elvis, of all people?\u201d To me, trying to reincarnate the animal magnetism of Elvis on screen is like getting someone to understand how good fresh Italian gelato is by describing it with words. You just can\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, I enjoyed the film. Not because star Austin Butler captures the charisma of the King \u2014 I agree with critics who say Butler nailed the voice and dance moves but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2022\/06\/23\/1106734497\/elvis-review-baz-luhrmann\">\u201cnot the soul or sex appeal of Elvis Presley\u201d<\/a> \u2014 but because it reminded me what it\u2019s like to be captivated by a celebrity who exudes authentic, irresistible <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/je%20ne%20sais%20quoi\">je ne sais quoi<\/a><\/em>. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>An early scene in the movie shows a young Elvis taking to the stage for one of his first performances. He\u2019s nervous and slow to come alive. But when he does, the crowd goes wild, with puritanical 1950s housewives in hats and gloves disturbed and concerned that their daughters, screaming and swooning over \u201cElvis the Pelvis,\u201d were being possessed by an agent of Satan or something.<\/p>\n<p>By today\u2019s standards, in which Miley Cyrus twerking on Robin Thicke in a flesh-colored plastic bikini with a foam finger is now considered one of her tamer performances, Elvis is hardly provocative. But back then, and what Luhrmann illustrates, Elvis was doing something innovative and daring. He was initially censored on TV and his performances edited to conform with Federal Communications Commission rules. Nonetheless, as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicrockhistory.com\/elvis-presley-censorship-and-the-power-of-the-people\/\">ClassicRockHistory.com notes<\/a>, \u201cElvis Presley\u2019s talent, work ethic, drive and appeal trumped the censor\u2019s ability to apply the brakes to the Elvis train.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Hollywood of Clones Afraid to Speak<\/h2>\n<p>These days, though, the worst thing you can do for your Hollywood career is challenge the status quo, and there\u2019s no \u201ctrumping the censors.\u201d Rather than shooting to stardom, you are simply canceled for daring to counter the establishment. Your voice is cut off and your career ended. Look what happened to Gina Carano, <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/people\/antonio-sabato\/\">Antonio Sabato Jr.<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/opinion\/technology\/487640-hooray-for-hollywood-unless-youre-a-conservative\/\">many other stars who have been silenced<\/a> for being different. And so we are left with a Hollywood composed of uninteresting, uninspiring plastic clones afraid to think, speak, or behave on their own accord.<\/p>\n<p>It makes sense: if you\u2019re afraid to make up your own mind and express yourself genuinely, how artistic and creative can you really be? To be a star now, you can hardly be relevant without social media, the zeitgeist of the modern conformist age whereby actions and opinions are scrutinized and echo into eternity. If you have a thought or did a thing and didn\u2019t post about it online, did it really happen?\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>Famous for Doing Nothing<\/h2>\n<p>Jennifer Aniston was recently raked over the coals for blaming the internet for shaping \u201ca new culture about people becoming famous. This thing of people becoming famous for basically doing nothing. I mean \u2014 Paris Hilton, Monica Lewinsky, all those\u2026 You\u2019re famous from TikTok. You\u2019re famous from YouTube. You\u2019re famous from Instagram. It\u2019s sort of almost like it\u2019s diluting our actor\u2019s job.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Aniston, whose parents were actors, was attacked for being a <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/06\/14\/jennifer-aniston-slammed-calling-hollywood-people-famous-for-nothing\/\">\u201cnepotism baby.\u201d<\/a> But many people came to her defense too, pointing out that in the \u201990s you \u201cactually had to have talent.\u201d I was struck by the truth of this while watching another blockbuster film in theaters recently. My brother and I both found \u201cTop Gun: Maverick\u201d entertaining, but we had the same reaction: the actors playing the young guns \u2014 Hangman and Rooster \u2014 were so lame, especially compared to the fun-loving bravado effortlessly owned by Maverick, Iceman, and Goose in the original movie. <\/p>\n<p>The young guys just don\u2019t have the swagger or the imagination necessary to make their characters memorable. They\u2019re good-looking and competent, but like Butler\u2019s Elvis, seem to be more impersonators than movie stars with their own self-made cool factor. Think of James Dean in \u201cGiant,\u201d Marlon Brando in \u201cThe Wild One,\u201d John Wayne in \u201cTrue Grit,\u201d or Humphrey Bogart in \u201cKey Largo.\u201d The reason Old Hollywood is so venerated is because its members were bold enough to offer audiences dynamic personalities to admire. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>It didn\u2019t help that I watched \u201cElvis\u201d and \u201cMaverick\u201d around the same time I re-watched the 1989 \u201cLonesome Dove\u201d mini-series, in which even the minor characters are stars in their own rights. The way Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones use speech patterns and mannerisms to make their characters charming and real and unforgettable is masterful. But it takes a certain daring I don\u2019t see in the new actors and \u201cinfluencers\u201d who fit the cookie-cutter mold but lack a lasting flavor.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/spectator.org\/see-elvis-before-it-leaves-the-building\/\">Deroy Murdock is spot-on<\/a> when he writes that the \u201cElvis\u201d movie \u201chighlights two key aspects of American exceptionalism: the eternal quest for success and this country\u2019s infinite paths to personal reinvention.\u201d In a world where \u201cquesting for success\u201d in Hollywood involves simply posting salacious selfies, and cancel culture makes \u201cpersonal reinvention\u201d largely impossible, this movie is a fun reminder that at one time, not so long ago, characters could be larger than life, it paid to have style, and celebrities were worth celebrating.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Teresa Mull is an assistant editor of Spectator World and writes from the Pennsylvania Wilds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Director Baz Luhrmann\u2019s\u00a0\u201cElvis\u201dis the target of much online scorn. NPR labels the film \u201cdizzyingly absurd,\u201d Mashable calls it \u201cbizarre, dark and confounding,\u201d and the Daily Beast writes that it\u2019s \u201cexhaustingly<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":992,"featured_media":2315279,"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-1553522","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\/1553522","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\/992"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1553522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1553522\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1553522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1553522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1553522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}