Finding Graceland

[ajr]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120026/

I both loved and hated this movie .
It wasn't that the actors or even the plot were so great.
It just caused me to face the fact that Elvis doesn't belong at Graceland anymore . Maybe he never did.

He would never fit into the image that his "fans" have created for him.
Perhaps, that's where some of the anger comes from.....it's just disappointment because they've discovered their idols feet are made of clay.

That "king" title was bestowed on him against his will.
It's too bad "Nobody Noticed" . If you haven't seen this movie. I recommend it.

[riley]

So true.

At the end he is standing in an empty hallway of his house. And I did have the feeling that if he was still alive and he came back he would feel like a stranger in his own house.

That is the main feeling I have of Graceland. It is not his house anymore. It has been tresspassed, sold, and altered so much. I don't know if he would feel himself at home in it.

It is a museum nowadays not a home. The first floor perhaps never looked that way when he was alive and I do think it looked not the way we see it and then I don't want to speak about the upper floors. I'm wondering how that looks today. Perhaps empty and like a storage room full of boxes.
I know the stealing of valuable things began alreaddy when he was still on the bathroom floor so can you imagine how many strange hands who did not belong in his private quarters have grabbed their share to secure their comming days.

Since then Elvis has been ripped apart by so called friends.

I don't know if it is true but I heard that even his favourite horse Sun was left on the street to sell the day of his funeral by some aquintances of him hanging around Graceland back in those days.

Don't know the exact details but it sure shocked me and it makes me sad even 30years after.


Riley

[TCBEP]

....his favourite horse Sun....

Rising Sun.

[ajr]

I didn't go back to Graceland until a couple of years ago. That was because my sister had never been.
I guess I understand what it could mean to some fans.
To me it was just an empty house. A sad & lonely empty house .
I didn't feel that Elvis was there in any way.

Yes, the scene with "Elvis" sitting on the stairs crying did it for me.
It really got to me.
Now where did I read that saying ??
"Should I return; you would not know me."
It dawned on me then ......No, we sure wouldn't .
For a long time I stayed away from anything or anyone talking about Elvis.

Anyway, we definitly wouldn't know him today. He's 72 years old & I don't think he'd be wearing jumpsuits .
I'd rather remember him as I think he'd be.....

[TCBEP]

To me it was just an empty house. A sad & lonely empty house .
I didn't feel that Elvis was there in any way.

I felt the exact same way when i was there a few years ago, that night in the elevator in Heatbreak Hotel a guy that had just checked in said he couldn't wait to go over in the morning and he asked was it fantastic. I actually didn't know how i felt about it, dissapointed i suppose, he gave me the funniest look.

It really is like a museum, very hard to have any real feeling about the place as i could not get any feeling of Elvis from there.

I still had a fantastic time there tho! and can't wait to go there again!

[Lisarose]

I, too both loved & hated the movie. Somewhere I read that Lisa, as a child, remembered her father's presence in the house. The house was just a house until her Dad was home, then it came alive. He never was pretentious. One always knew his mood. If he was happy the house sang, if he was grumpy, you knew to stay away. Graceland is spectacular as a historical home. I wish I had been lucky enough to have been there when he was home, though.
THe movie was good, pretty true to the Elvis image. I'm glad they used an actor who bears absolutely no resemblance to Elvis. Harvey doesn't even appear to be anywhere near 6 feet tall.

[ajr]

I would definitly encourage any Elvis fan to visit Graceland.
Who am I to say what it could mean to them?

It's definitly a part of his history. Many go there for his birthday & of course, August 16th. I haven't had the courage or desire to visit then.

The last time I went; things were getting pretty shabby and falling apart.
I did raise a bit of heck with EPE and others about that.
Why, with all the money that's taken in ,things could not be repaired & upgraded , I just couldn't figure out. Of course, I got no answer .....except from Patsy Anderrson who agreed with me & is no longer there .

Priscilla came in & redecorated before Graceland was opened . I can see no difference if they'd redo it now.......

[riley]

AJR,

So true.

The grounds are beautiful maintained but regarding the house and inside you see that there are not made many efforts anymore nor costs.

When I visit, dust was all over the furniture.

It is a house but the life in it is so gone

In is not his house anymore, only a reminder.

Me too I had not the courage to go in August and attend the candlelight. I went in september.

[bittersuite]

When I went to Graceland last August, I did feel like it was Elvis' house. I think it depends on each fan and how they feel when they walk through the house. It doesn't matter to me how many years have passed since Elvis died, he will always be Graceland for me.

[ajr]

Exactly, bittersuite ...

It's why I say ,every fan should be able to go at least once.
No one can say how another will feel. We used to go by Graceland every year before 1977 as we went on vacation. It was different then.....

One of my daughters went to Graceland a couple of years ago....While she wasn't a hugh fan of Elvis , she started crying the minute she walked through the front door. She doesn't know why, an emotional reaction I guess.