iwant2beaskinnybitch

You know what burns my butt? That we have decades worth of Elvis Presley to showcase and imitate, but we focus on bloated Elvis. We make jokes, we use his voice to talk about peanut butter and banana sandwiches, we puff out our bellies and we make bodily sounds while doing a “funny” impersonation of him singing.

By “we” I don’t mean “me”. I don’t even know if I mean “you”. But “You” know who you are.

I was taught to never speak ill of the dead. When I was a kid, after Elvis died, I was shocked to hear all the jokes people told about how he lived, how he died, how he looked, etc. Not because we were huge fans but because it was so disrespectful. Now surely Elvis’ death was not the first instance of distasteful talk about a deceased person, but it was the first one I noticed.

It still bothers me today. Not because of the respect thing because I am older, more realistic, and don’t expect anything better out people. We just don’t know how to behave anymore. The reason it bothers me is that there is SO much good Elvis footage out there. So many great performances to emulate and showcase. You know why no one imitates THOSE versions of Elvis? Because they cannot. Mid 50s Elvis, Comeback Concert Elvis, ‘73 Elvis… ALL SO AMAZING! You can’t touch it!

If the best thing you can come up with to make a joke or entertain people is a fat Elvis joke, that speaks volumes about you. Taking a beloved figure and tearing him down to make yourself look big and great is sad.

My feeling here extends beyond Elvis. I am mortified by comedy I have seen and heard at the expense of Anna Nicole Smith, for instance. And the FACT that it is so nonchalant and accepted in our society is doubly disappointing.

To make up for the lack of happy, healthy, vibrant Elvis, the one that spanned decades as opposed to the short lived unhealthy, unhappy Elvis that we are overexposed to, I wanted to find some of my old favorite footage from the fifties. I hope you enjoy here the REAL Elvis.