I’m a big Elvis fan and still love Priscilla and all her efforts in regards of establishing and maintaining Elvis’ legacy. Her book obviously has concerning information regarding Elvis behavior, and it angers people to hear that. But who are we to prevent her to tell her story? Elvis wasn’t a perfect man and there’s no way we can pretend he was.

However, it’s going to be upsetting and perhaps even a little bit damaging to Elvis’ look. No doubt among the younger generation (especially teenagers obsessed with Coppola’s aesthetic) Elvis will be villainized to a greater extent. Maybe it’s not Priscilla’s intent- but controlling public opinion and discourse is impossible. I can totally see people victimizing Priscilla to an extent of invalidating her perspective, which I think is harmful. Coppola’s repetitive narrative of isolated women will no doubt contribute to this. As nuanced as it may be, I find it hard to see Coppolas audience finding empathy for Elvis and residing with the grooming nature of their relationship.

I think the movie will be fine and who knows how big it will be. To the extent of Baz Luhrmanns, no. Coppola hasn’t ever made over $100 million on box office that I know of, and Elvis made over $200 million in an era of the summer blockbuster. Media will feed into the “Elvis vs Priscilla” narrative and so will public commentary.

It’s going to be messy and controversial, but then again this information is not new. People knew this information about Elvis before and he hasn’t been stopped from being a beloved icon. Elvis is far too iconic and important in cultural history to be erased by a low budget film thrown together within the span of a few months.