A review of "Elvis Religion: The Cult of the King".
I was somewhat disappointed by this book. To be
honest, I had expected a detailed description of crackpot Elvis cultists who
venerate The King as a literal Messiah. Instead, Gregory Reece has written a
rather boring, almost encyclopedic treatment of Elvis Aron Presley's influence
on American populare culture.
That influence is, of course, considerable. Elvis has never *really* left the building, has he?
Some scholars of comparative religion claim that the celebrity cult around Elvis is rapidly evolving into something like a new religion, but Reece (who is himself a scholar specializing in new religious movements) begs to disagree. After visiting Graceland, Las Vegas and other Elvis-related places, interviewing impersonators and analyzed everything from the novel "Orion" to the movie "True Romance", the author reaches the conclusion that while Elvis afecionados might be a bit "out there", their actions don't resemble religious rituals, nor do they see themselves as acting out a new religion. There are some exceptions, especially on the web, where Reece has found a number of Elvis-worshipping "religions", but most of them seem to be jokes! Indeed, irony seems to be a big part of the Elvis fandom phenomenon, and it's not always easy to see the difference between real admiration and said irony. But then, there is no necessary contradiction either. I mean, why should there be?
Sometimes, the Elvis phenomenon is intriguing. For instance, the singer Orion (Jimmy Ellis) was named after a fiction character which resembles Elvis Presley. Orion himself attempted to mimic Elvis after the pop icon's death, and some fans actually believed that Orion *was* Elvis. Even stranger, the author of the original novel about the fictitious Orion, Gail Brewer-Giorgio, believes that the King is still alive, and that her book was stopped by the publisher because she came too close to the truth...
Still, "Elvis Religion" feels like something of a let-down. I had expected Presleyans to be crazier than this! But perhaps it's good to get a reality check from time to time? However, I admit that I prefer Raymond Moody's "Elvis after life", which actually is about people who reported supernatural occurances related to Elvis Presley.
That influence is, of course, considerable. Elvis has never *really* left the building, has he?
Some scholars of comparative religion claim that the celebrity cult around Elvis is rapidly evolving into something like a new religion, but Reece (who is himself a scholar specializing in new religious movements) begs to disagree. After visiting Graceland, Las Vegas and other Elvis-related places, interviewing impersonators and analyzed everything from the novel "Orion" to the movie "True Romance", the author reaches the conclusion that while Elvis afecionados might be a bit "out there", their actions don't resemble religious rituals, nor do they see themselves as acting out a new religion. There are some exceptions, especially on the web, where Reece has found a number of Elvis-worshipping "religions", but most of them seem to be jokes! Indeed, irony seems to be a big part of the Elvis fandom phenomenon, and it's not always easy to see the difference between real admiration and said irony. But then, there is no necessary contradiction either. I mean, why should there be?
Sometimes, the Elvis phenomenon is intriguing. For instance, the singer Orion (Jimmy Ellis) was named after a fiction character which resembles Elvis Presley. Orion himself attempted to mimic Elvis after the pop icon's death, and some fans actually believed that Orion *was* Elvis. Even stranger, the author of the original novel about the fictitious Orion, Gail Brewer-Giorgio, believes that the King is still alive, and that her book was stopped by the publisher because she came too close to the truth...
Still, "Elvis Religion" feels like something of a let-down. I had expected Presleyans to be crazier than this! But perhaps it's good to get a reality check from time to time? However, I admit that I prefer Raymond Moody's "Elvis after life", which actually is about people who reported supernatural occurances related to Elvis Presley.
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