By Juliana Johnson

It would seem as though the age of Elvis Presley is upon us, once again. The rock and roll icon, who’s been deceased since 1977, has been the topic of numerous modern blockbusters, from Elvis (2022) directed by Baz Luhrmann to the more recent Priscilla (2023), directed by cult-favorite Sofia Coppola. Presley’s resurgence in the media has many asking “why” as well as wondering what to truly believe when it comes to his legacy based on these films’ drastically different representations of the icon.

Though detailing the same story, both films tell the tale of Elvis in incredibly different ways. In 2022’s blockbuster hit “Elvis,” director Baz Luhrmann shows Presley’s life as a rock and roll pioneer through his signature colorful and quick-paced filmmaking style.

A majority of the film highlights the relationship between Presley (Austin Butler) and his manager Colonel Tom Parker (Tom Hanks), and how that relationship affects Presley’s public persona. The film spends little time on Elvis’s personal life or his relationship with his wife Priscilla (Olivia DeJonge). Upon its release, the film faced heavy criticism for this very fact, as many felt that Luhrman took too much creative liberty within the story by almost completely erasing Elvis’ family life and much of his problematic nature in an attempt to romanticize Elvis’ legacy, instead of shaming it.

This erasure of Elvis’ wife Priscilla goes hand in hand with maintaining a respectable and positive image of the star, as the two had an astounding ten-year age gap, which Luhrman failed to mention within his film.

In Luhrmann’s biopic, Priscilla Presley first appears when Elvis is stationed in West Germany after being drafted into the U.S. Military when the couple first meets. Many who were previously unfamiliar with Presley’s story were unaware of the fact that Priscilla was 14 and Elvis was 24 when they first met. This omission of the extreme inappropriateness of his relationship, as well as his other controversies such as accusations of appropriating black culture, reintroduced Elvis to a younger generation as a god-like icon, leaving his shortcomings and controversy to remain hidden by the sands of time.

Luhrmann’s representation of Elvis as an untouchable, suave, dream boy icon was the catalyst for the age of Elvis infatuation in which we now find ourselves. From a reemergence of 1950s fashion to his songs climbing national charts for the first time in 60 years, “Elvis” (2022) single-handedly reignited the flame of Elvis Presley and immortalized him as a generational icon once again…until now.

In June 2023, director Sofia Coppola announced her next feature film “Priscilla,” based on Priscilla Presely’s 1985 memoir, “Elvis and Me,” detailing the struggles and the abuses she faced while married to Elvis. Suddenly, Elvis was pushed out of the spotlight and Priscilla was pushed in, simultaneously putting all his faults under a microscope for all to see.

Many believe that Coppola’s film is a direct response to Luhrmann’s 2022 picture and his disregard of Priscilla, simply based on the nature of the film’s first name titles and chronological depictions of their lives. However, unlike in Luhrmann’s film, Coppola discusses the effects the pair’s relationship had on the title character’s life.

Within the film, Coppola does not shy away from the couple’s drastic age gap and the effect that this had on the psyche of a young Priscilla (Cailee Spaeny), as well as the continuous emotional, and sometimes physical abuse that she faced during their six-year marriage.

Even if it wasn’t her intention, Coppola’s film has completely undermined all that Luhrmann’s flick did for the glorification of Elvis. It has also left many to wonder what they can truly believe when it comes to his legacy.

Following the release of “Priscilla,” it was reported that the Presley family, was extremely unhappy with the film’s representation of Elvis, with his daughter Lisa Marie calling the film “vengeful,” and that her father “only comes across as a predator and manipulative,” despite the film being completely based off Priscilla’s memoir.

On the contrary, Priscilla herself has only positive things to say about the film and the process of creating it.

“[Coppola] did an amazing job. She did her homework, we spoke a couple of times, and I really put everything out for her that I could,” Priscilla Presley said.

No matter what you think of Elvis or his legacy, it is undeniably the beginning of another era marked by his domination not only over our culture and music but also by influencing how we perceive the accuracy and representation of even our most beloved figures in film.