Hello!
The different discussions on this board have been fascinating, especially in the past few days! I've been doing some "research" on other sites, and there is an entire universe out there about Elvis--all sorts of stuff--regular fan sites, stores, and the esoteric, such as religion, alien abductions, conspiracy theories, etc. It boggles the mind!
I can't think of another person who can generate this much ... stuff (sorry, my vocabulary a little short today). This is especially in light of the fact that Elvis has been gone for almost 30 years, when people my age have never seen him live, aside from DVDs, and have become new fans.
What is it about Elvis?
It is easy to admire Elvis when he was young, charismatic, and handsome, but who else could become more endearing after an emotional and physical decline?
There must have been other likeable "stars" who had similar backgrounds, but don't produce the love, respect, and admiration as Elvis had acheived(and still does).
The only other person who came close, in my opinion, was Princess Diana, but even she is beginning to fade away.
I admit that when I first started to dabble in Elvis info, I was quite adamant in only focusing on the 1950s. I thought it would be too "yucky" to read or look at pictures from the 70s. The enduring image I had of Elvis were the mean-spirited parodies of him on TV, etc. On top of that, I thought "Elvis fans" were strange--again, the only exposure I had was from watching people of TV ridiculing the fans.
Now, though, after reading, listening, and looking at all kinds of Elvis stuff, I feel so lucky to have "discovered" him for myself. I used to avoid the end of Elvis' biographies, when they talk about his final years--physical and emotional decline, etc., or not looking at anything from the 70s because it did not match the "perfect" image from the 50s. Instead, all his problems have made him so much more endearing.
So now I count myself as an Elvis fan--and proud of it! :clap:
What do you think?
