As we are told by both fans and detractors alike in Eugene Jarecki’s ambitious new documentary The King, Elvis Presley wasn’t just the embodiment of the American Dream – he was America personified, the story of his career serving as an allegory for the evolution of the country itself. He rose to success and rapturous adulation by appropriating the music of another culture, and when he died, he did so in the most embarrassing manner imaginable; his previous achievements reduced to a mere punchline, as has been the case with the wider world’s view on America’s now-fractured democracy.
Although it’s being released to coincide with the 50th anniversary of his iconic comeback special, The King is arguably more of a story about the changing face of American democracy, using the cautionary tale of Elvis’ career to illustrate its thesis. It’s an inspired, illuminating watch – although, occasional cutaways to Trump’s Presidential campaign ensures a lack of subtlety, unnecessarily hammering its allegory on American democracy into obvious territory, even after the audience has grasped it.
That such a lazy cultural commentary trope (arguing how X pop culture artefact foreshadowed the Trump Presidency) is forgivable here is largely due to The King’s insightful, thought provoking nature elsewhere.
Democracy has left the building, thank you and goodnight
The conceit is simple: Jarecki travels across various US cities, from Elvis’ birthplace of Tupelo and later hometown of Memphis, to disparate metropolitan cities like New York, in a 1963 Rolls Royce previously owned by Elvis himself. Along the way, everybody from Ethan Hawke to Alec Baldwin climbs on board, waxing lyrical about everything from America no longer being perceived as being the birthplace of democracy, to the implications Elvis’ death on the toilet had on the wider perception of the American dream.
Jarecki’s masterstroke is his refusal to turn this into a hagiography of the beloved musician. Chuck D, of Public Enemy, is invited to say some damning words about Elvis’ legacy, and how problematic it is for him to still be so unquestionably fawned over to this day – which, admittedly, is no surprise for somebody who rose to fame with an album containing the lyric “Elvis was a hero to most, but he didn’t mean shit to me”.
Surprisingly, one of Elvis’ big supporters is David Simon, the liberal creator of The Wire; he doesn’t refute Chuck D’s arguments, exactly, but says that for a country that’s built upon the very nature of cultural appropriation, such claims are something of an irrelevance. The King frequently presents contradictory arguments in unison, highlighting the complicated nature of Elvis’ persona, without ever taking a side and overtly stating he was a more controversial figure than remembered.
This also isn’t a celebrity love-in, where renowned public figures sound off their thoughts on the changing face of a country they’re separated from the realities of due to their successes. We meet the family now living in the house where Elvis was born, where the wider working class neighbourhood is more multicultural than any simplified examination of “Trump’s America” would have you believe.
And yet, at the same time, we still see celebrities completely misjudge the mood of the nation as a whole – in a cringe inducing moment, Alec Baldwin looks directly at the camera and says Trump will never win the election.
As stated above, the Presidential campaign footage is The King’s misstep, making the thesis more obvious than necessary. But in this moment, there’s a delightful cynicism in seeing a man confidently speaking about the American dream, before making a wrongheaded statement that shows he doesn’t truly understand the country he’s talking about. The underlying, unspoken thesis here could be that, like their relationship with Elvis, the country’s well-off citizens had been led to romanticise the country for so long, they were blind to the underlying problems it had.
A Revolutionary Approach to the Music Documentary
As an overseas viewer, this documentary is likely to play better than it would in America itself, where the commentary on a changing culture and how Elvis’ career trajectory mirrored that may appear too obvious. Although it’s insightful about Elvis when devoid from this allegory, even using Moby Dick as an unexpected alternate analogy for his career at regular intervals, there is debate to be had as to whether it offers anything new to say about the man himself.
All the information presented about Elvis here, from his passive aggressive treatment by Colonel Tom Parker to the difference in his persona after returning from military service, has been documented in-depth by numerous biographies and documentaries prior to this.
The fact only a few talking heads included here personally knew Elvis, and aren’t just waxing lyrical on his legacy in general, means that this is more of a curio for Elvis fans rather than the definitive documentary on his career. Jarecki’s film is far more ambitious than this, charting the story of a country through the worldview of one man – often deviating from the titular King altogether to fall down a Presidential campaign rabbit hole. I have no idea if a diehard fan would get anything from the documentary, but I certainly prefer this approach; addressing a controversial legacy and placing it within an even more grandiose context.
After recent documentaries like Asif Kapadia’s Amy and Kevin McDonald’s Whitney, which told the story of its subjects via their own words and through loved ones, it’s surprising to find the more insightful takes on a musician’s legacy here are via those they never even met. There’s mostly impartiality between the subject and the interviewees, allowing for a more candid dissection of Elvis’ career than a more conventional documentary would allow.
Conclusion: The King
The King has notable missteps in its overtures to the 2016 election and the worn-out cultural commentary that provokes. But strip that away, and you’ve got a quietly revolutionary music documentary: one that assesses the changing face of a nation via the enduring legacy of one man, adding newfound depth to long established facts.
It might be the first music documentary in history tailored to the tastes of non-fans rather than devotees of the subject at hand – and that’s exactly why I can’t stop thinking about it, in spite of its flaws.
What are the definitive music documentaries?
The King was released in the US in June, and will be released in the UK on August 24. Find international release dates here.
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