CTCS 412: Stars + Celebrity: Jennica Core Blog Post #5 Elvis: Pulling on the heartstrings of young Americans to coverup the white trash culture he perpetuates

As someone who was not alive to witness the Elvis Phenomenon I clearly remember from an early age knowing who “the king” was even though I had not seen any of his films and had listened to little of his music. Aside from Elvis’s extremely physical and emotional performances that explicitly challenged the confined and repressive nature of America in the Post World War II and Cold War years described in Erika Doss’s article, it is perhaps the most interesting to investigate the contradictory nature of Elvis’s legacy that he has left.

I myself knew Elvis as a symbol of American popular culture not as a star performer who paved the way for exposing and popularizing a “trashy” physicality, and consumer excess. However, as the “White Trash” article points out, Elvis represented everything that individuals believed was “Un-American”- excess, gluttony, laziness, and primitive. Yet it is the way both he and his fans embraced this “counterculture” persae that contradicted dominant and well established pure American values that paved the way for his legacy as someone who went against the grain of American Dream being part of the working class who relied on image and excess as opposed to hard work to climb the social ladder. His exception to the rule and his success doing so popularized this lifestyle and way to reach success as something slightly less “trashy” than it was thought of. Because the lines become blurred with Elvis as he contradicts hegemonic values yet also becomes successful by utilizing a way of life thought to be primitive and embarrassing to the other social classes, his success brings to question many aspects of the various “low” art forms that are deemed trashy as how can something be considered “trash” that so many people consider it treasure?

Just the fact that Elvis is called “the King of white trash culture” is contradictory in itself combining the high culture of the English monarchy illustrating someone who condones such power, and charisma to be worthy of worship yet at the same time is linked to such a culture that condones behavior that is what the elites deem disgusting, excessive, and embarrassing. In many ways Elvis’s popularity somewhat emulates American’s rise to being a global superpower. At the same time America attempts to maintain order and a positive global image, citizens are craving to break free of establishment thus Elvis who was someone who was tangible in the way that you could “see” and visualize the exciting and erotic and sense of freedom brought about with his performance, it gave America a chance to challenge “cold war containment” and visualize the possibilities of such a participatory culture that only existed when he called on such anti establishment behaviors thus pulling on the traditions of white trash culture. While Elvis’s tactics and performances were deemed “trashy” they did allow him to develop an individualized persona that allowed fans to connect with him and made them “feel like they were always part of his family.” While perhaps today one of the reasons why his “trashiness” is overlooked is because the baby boomers who were largely the individuals to worship him felt such a connection to him as a person much like a family member they look past the “trashy nature” of his character and behaviors like we do for our family members when they behave in ways that aren’t optimal because they are family and we don’t ever think of our family members as trash because of this sense of belonging they provide. Like family members who give to make our lives better, Elvis is remembered by his fans as “how much he loved to give…to people” thus unlike white trash culture which describes individuals who largely take as consumers but never produce Elvis contradicts this by producing music, serving his country, and generously donated to charity thus disconnecting him from the more one of the more despicable aspects of white trash culture because of his willingness to give rather than just consume. As we’ve discovered with many of our stars this semester they develop contradictions to society but also manage these contradictions at the same time. Elvis is a great example of this as he opposes traditional culture by utilizing elements of fascination with white trash culture in terms of performance and clothing marked by excess by manages this excess in ways that he too gifts his fans sharing his wealth and his talent in ways that fans believe are irreplaceable. While fans get together to impersonate the king and pay respects to him at the Elvis festivals perhaps the reason they really do this is not to worship white trash culture but rather to worship the values the king unconsciously perpetuated through his music and career including compassion, dedication, and community as Elvis not only worshiped his music but his country and the people of his country which is perhaps one of the main reason the context, questionable performances, and excessive habits of the King were rather overlooked and instead embraced.

In many ways the story of the obsession over Elvis reminds me of societies obsession with “reality TV.” Shows like Keeping Up with the Kardashians, and the Shahs of Sunset that emphasize many of the white trash elements discussed in the articles especially excessive consumption, yet in some ways these “trashy” behaviors resonate with individuals. Elvis through his sharing of his wealth and his participation in the US army brought about a “real” sense of an individual that participated in normal culture even amongst the excessive dancing, fame, and fortune at heart he was like family because of his struggles and his accessibility to the general population. Reality stars too are able to contradict and deviate from “white trash” culture because amongst all of the consumption they are able to produce a sense of belonging and normality that makes them attractive allowing audiences to dissociate these figures with traditional white trash culture.