Pink Suits and Manbags: Elvis Tears Down Stereotypes in Baz Luhrmann's Biopic
The hottest pop heartthrob wears candy pink suits and lacy blouses, and drives teenage crowds into delirium with his beestung pout and perfectly styled banana. Forty-five years after his death, he is preparing for a successful summer. Step aside, Harry Styles - Elvis is back in the building.
An opulent biopic directed by Baz Luhrmann arriving in cinemas later this month portrays the king rock'n'roll as a daringly counter-cultural artist whose music and image challenges the prejudices and stereotypes of the world around him.
" I try to make films to deal with what's happening now," the director said at a GQ magazine screening in London this week. Luhrmann and his wife and collaborator, costume designer Catherine Martin, created a delicate and feminine on-screen portrayal of teenage Elvis. He wears lace blouses and carries his tapes in a shiny leather bag. Heavy eyelids and pout under a sailor cap, he sways on stage with an energy that speaks as much to Beyoncé and Christina Aguilera as to traditional rock'n'roll. In Luhrmann's luscious tale of mythology, the title role, played by 30-year-old American actor Austin Butler, is cast as a beautiful innocent trapped by the tricks of her manager, Colonel Tom Parker, played against type by Tom Hanks. /p>
The film explores how Elvis' upbringing in a predominantly black Memphis neighborhood shaped his music and style. At the GQ screening, British singer Yola, who plays Sister Rosetta Tharpe - the queer, black "godmother of rock 'n' roll" revered by Lizzo as a hero - recalled Luhrmann, saying: "We have to put the story in context, to show that [Elvis] came from a black world.The young star is mesmerized by gospel music during a church service and sings with BB King at the Club Handy blues venue on Beale Street, Memphis. Newspaper headlines played on the screen - "Elvis the pelvis belongs to the jungle", "The white boy with black hips" - testify to the prejudice and hostility with which the black roots of his hits were greeted by the American establishment. Luhrmann told GQ that Elvis was "at the center of culture, for the good, the bad, and the ugly. And you can't talk about America in this era without talking about race." /p>
The hottest pop heartthrob wears candy pink suits and lacy blouses, and drives teenage crowds into delirium with his beestung pout and perfectly styled banana. Forty-five years after his death, he is preparing for a successful summer. Step aside, Harry Styles - Elvis is back in the building.
An opulent biopic directed by Baz Luhrmann arriving in cinemas later this month portrays the king rock'n'roll as a daringly counter-cultural artist whose music and image challenges the prejudices and stereotypes of the world around him.
" I try to make films to deal with what's happening now," the director said at a GQ magazine screening in London this week. Luhrmann and his wife and collaborator, costume designer Catherine Martin, created a delicate and feminine on-screen portrayal of teenage Elvis. He wears lace blouses and carries his tapes in a shiny leather bag. Heavy eyelids and pout under a sailor cap, he sways on stage with an energy that speaks as much to Beyoncé and Christina Aguilera as to traditional rock'n'roll. In Luhrmann's luscious tale of mythology, the title role, played by 30-year-old American actor Austin Butler, is cast as a beautiful innocent trapped by the tricks of her manager, Colonel Tom Parker, played against type by Tom Hanks. /p>
The film explores how Elvis' upbringing in a predominantly black Memphis neighborhood shaped his music and style. At the GQ screening, British singer Yola, who plays Sister Rosetta Tharpe - the queer, black "godmother of rock 'n' roll" revered by Lizzo as a hero - recalled Luhrmann, saying: "We have to put the story in context, to show that [Elvis] came from a black world.The young star is mesmerized by gospel music during a church service and sings with BB King at the Club Handy blues venue on Beale Street, Memphis. Newspaper headlines played on the screen - "Elvis the pelvis belongs to the jungle", "The white boy with black hips" - testify to the prejudice and hostility with which the black roots of his hits were greeted by the American establishment. Luhrmann told GQ that Elvis was "at the center of culture, for the good, the bad, and the ugly. And you can't talk about America in this era without talking about race." /p>
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