Raised mostly by his doting mother Gladys, Elvis spent his childhood in the poorest parts of Mississippi. He finds an escape in the comic book adventures of Captain Marvel Jr. and especially in song, though once he moves with his parents to Memphis, he is ridiculed by his peers due to his fascination with the African-American music of Memphis’ Beale Street. At this time, Parker is a carnival “huckster” who fancies himself a modern-day P.T. Barnum. Although Parker is partnered with country singer Hank Snow, Parker immediately realizes Elvis’ crossover potential when he hears the white artist “sounding black” on the groundbreaking single, “That’s All Right”. That night, he sees Elvis at a Louisiana Hayride performance, finding him a talented musician with strong sex appeal.
Parker persuades Elvis to let him take exclusive control of his career, beginning a meteoric ascent that sees the Presley family lifted out of poverty. The regional public is divided in their view of the singer. Segregationist Southern Democrat Mississippi Senator Jim Eastland expresses the view that Elvis’ music will corrupt white children, stoking racial hostility. Eastland calls Parker to an informal hearing, during which he questions Parker about his mysterious past.
After Elvis’ charged dance moves at a concert, the singer finds himself facing potential legal trouble. Parker persuades the government to draft Elvis into the US Army instead to avoid any legal entanglements. During his military service in West Germany, Elvis is devastated by his mother’s alcoholism-induced death. He only recovers when he meets Priscilla Beaulieu. After his discharge, he resumes his movie career, and years later, he marries Priscilla.
As the popular culture of the 1960s passes him by, Elvis is heartbroken by the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy. Although he wants to become more politically outspoken in his music, Parker only allows him to release frivolous feel-good songs. Elvis eventually decides to revamp his image with the help of an outside group of consultants, redirecting a corporate-sponsored Christmas special television shoot into a career revival based on a return to older songs and a direct acknowledgement of Elvis’ use of sexuality in performance via the wardrobe choice of an all black-leather performance outfit. The film depicts the performance choices in the special, including the closing number, as being presented and perceived as acts of political commentary. Corporate sponsors are infuriated and threaten litigation, while Parker is disgusted, believing to have been “brainwashed by hippies”. The show is a massive hit.
Headlines at the largest showroom in Las Vegas, the International Hotel, and then resumes concert tours. Parker’s control of his life becomes even stronger as he refuses and request for a world tour and tricks him into signing a contract for a lengthy Las Vegas casino residency. Elvis discovers that Parker cannot travel abroad because he is a stateless illegal immigrant; having surrendered his original Dutch citizenship, he would not be able to return to America after leaving. When he attempts to fire Parker, the manager responds by suing him for an impossibly large sum of money. They argue, and Parker convinces Elvis that the two need each other. They rarely see each other afterwards, though Parker continues in his role as manager.
Nonton Elvis (2022)
