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Home , Religion and mythology, Stranger in the Crowd

The Church of Elvis

by Jamie Hildebrand

I have reason to believe those who subscribe to its premises. The We aU will be received anthropological study of involves an In analysis of the "meanings embodied in the symbols which make up the religion proper" coupled with the relating of these symbols to social structural and psychological processes". . the anointed King of rock and "All human have " and roll. died on August 16. 1977. Empirical fact? Many certain themes are common to all myths. Religion people are undeterred by this trivial piece of seeks to resolve binary opposites. life and death information from believing a mythology which being the most compelling example of this seems to be constructing itself on the premise that opposition. Religion is also concerned with Elvis lives on. There are two fundamental providing a "bridge between man and ". explanations for a surviving Elvis. Many believe Mythologies must also provide. through symbols. a that Elvis' death was a hoax:.perpetrated by the star "template" for social activity and world view; himself to escape the relentless scrutiny of his fans "models of' and "models for" the way in which a and the media. Still others feel Elvis is among the people see the world and their relationship to it. living in supematural form. comforting the sick Religion seeks to mediate the binary and the troubled as a ghostly and benevolent opposites that are "intrinsic to human thought". apparition. Many might well scoff at these beliefs The most fundamental example. life and death. is as completely irrational. And yet this phenomena resolved through the creation of a third and special can no longer be relegated to the collective category. that of the supematural. In order to obsession of the lunatic fringe. About 2.000 visitors mediate death. the supematural category must a day make the pilgrimage to Graceland. 700.000 transcend the confines of mortal life. It should annually. and the tenth anniversary drew 10.000. come as no surprise that "non-rationality" is the There are over 600.000 members of fan clubs in the "very essence of ". Myth is constructed United States alone; and the nation is petitioning specifically to function in areas where rationality the govemment for a commemorative postage fails. From this perspective when a girl utters" here stamp. Stories of sightings of a live Elvis or a comes Elvis" as her dying words from her hospital supematural Elvis are spilling out of supemiarkets bed. she is looking to Elvis to mitigate the despair and into bookstores. Abandoning the standard of in the finality of death. Elvis returning from the rationality and looking at these beliefs as pure dead is comfort in the reassurance that there is myth from the anthropological perspective sheds a another world beyond the mortal one. great deal of lig..11ton how and why a mythology Redundancy, a trait characteristic of all with Elvis Presley as its focus comes into being. mythology. is well attested to in the sheer bulk of Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary defines stories regarding Elvis' survival. These stories religion as a "cause. principle. or system of beliefs present themselves in many different versions. held to with ardor and ". and myth as a story another characteristic of myths. In a book entitled which serves to unfold part of a world view of a Is Elvis Alive?.•.Gail Brewer-Giogio presents a people or explain a practice or '. According to number of hypotheses. all varying in their specific Edmund Leach" a belief which is factually untrue is details. of how Elvis faked his death to escape the a species of religious ." Roughly paraphrased. destructive adulation of his fans. Dr. Raymond A. Clifford Geertz' view of religion is of a cultural Moody Jr .. in the book Elvis After Life has system reliant on symbols which establish and chronicled many accounts of posthumous reflect the world view of a people. For the sake of visitations from an Elvis of the spirit world. The this discussion the terms religion and mythology infinite variety of conflicting details does not at all are interchangeable and are explored in the affect the credibility of myth since "each aforementioned context. I.e. a system of symbols altemative version of a myth confirms his (the based on beliefs not reliant on empirical believers) understanding and reinforces the phenomena. that are an expression of the ethos of essential meaning of all the others". The essential meaning in this example is the mediation of the purposes a complete stranger? The "sexual binary link between life and death. attractiveness of male prophets is to be accounted Redundancy and non-rationality as for less in the amatory skills of the prophet. and essential elements of mythology point to an more in the conditions of being women". In many interesting relationship between myth and the societies women constitute an "underprivileged supermarket tabloid. Tabloids are completely class". The relationships between men and women reliant on sensationalism. Boca Raton, publisher of have been determined for the most part through the National Examiner, goes for the "Hard to "overt ordering of different kinds of sexual access". believe, the harder to believe the better. because Access to power or wealth is realized in "being the that's what our readers are looking for". According wife of a rich and important man". To be a wife or to Edmund Leach. the myth that is the "least lover of Elvis would represent access to the ultimate probable" is also the one to which is attached the degree in power and prestige. Where sexual access is greatest importance". Finding a ready market in the an accepted form of currency it is to be expected that fascination for outrageous stories concerning Elvis power and access to wealth will be expressed in Presley provides the incentive for proliferation of these terms. For women the prophet Elvis mediates material. Proliferation and non-rationality a class distinction imposed via sexuality. In a actually lend credibility in fulfilling fundamental social climate that regards women as "chattels", criteria of mythology. Proliferation leads to both men and women must subscribe to this order. credibility leads to proliferation ad infinitum. The male view expressed in these terms would be This is no explanation of why a large segment of the unlimited access to women as a consequence of population finds its religious focal point in Elvis, power. Scores of hysterical female fans would but it does describe a special relationship between certainly b'6lster this image. If Elvis ever the tabloid and the spontaneous generation of committed a crime in his B movies it was the crime myth. In so-called technologically primitive of womantzing, an indiscretion which more often societies myths are transferred by word of mouth elicits a slap on the back than on the wrist. across generations. In our modem media-oriented "Women have come to Memphis to deliver , the nature of the media and the babies, claiming Elvis is the father and that he will fundamental desire for ever-increasing market size come down from heaven when the boy is 16 to accelerates the process. I mention this because it is anoint him, sort of like in the Jordan River." somewhat amusing that in a society which views Another woman is convinced that her living son is the beliefs of primitive cultures as backwards and Elvis reincamated.· These stories are another naive of scientific , we display an even example of a "common structural theme" found in greater propensity to create myth. The point here is many ; that "women may sometimes be not so much prophet created for profit, but more made pregnant by means other than insemination correctly, prophet as a by-product of profit, by by a human male". A main task of religion, once it acceleration of a process which affords credibility. has created the category of the supematural , is to Religions which look forward to a future provide a "bridge between man and God".. Rather resurrection of a prophet are termed as than the rather fooUsh literal interpretation millenarian. With Elvis as prophet, the mythology advanced by a consensus of theologians which surrounding the dead singer displays a millenarian concluded the Virgin Mary was inseminated aspect in almost all of its manifestations. From the through the ear, these myths express a theme which belief that Elvis will come down from heaven, to the attempts to untte man and God in a vital way. prospect of an emergence from a shadowy retreat Virgin birth, or in the case of Elvis, supematural opposite the Kalamazoo Burger King, to the belief insemination, describes a "metaphysical that Elvis will be reincamated through their topography of the relationship between and children, acolytes yeam for the retum of their men".. It provides a route of access to the mystical spiritual leader. Characteristic of the prophet in power of the prophet. The situation which places millenarian movements is his or her powerful the emphasis on the physical of the sexual attractiveness. The power of sexual prophet will naturally find its expression in the attraction of Elvis over his female fans is yearning of the more devout that it should be their overwhehning. In a documentary film depicting the child. events surrounding and including an Elvis concert Perhaps it is tenuous to claim that Elvis can in the Intemational Hotel in Las Vegas, a woman in be described as a prophet at all. Prophets are the crowd informed an interviewer that her love of generally associated with specific and articulated Elvis was of the deepest and most sincere form. teachings. The lack of any formalized message does although they had never met. Her husband was not present any major stumbling block to the resigned to the fact that he would always be second faithful. On the contrary, Rev. Robert D. Martin best and his acceptance of this fact had a decidedly suggests that the "rise of a new religion". with "Elvis reverent quality. How can a woman believe that she as God and Graceland the shrine" could rely on is deeply in love with what is to all intents and Elvis' music as the requisite teachings. Although the message is not articulated in any formal way, BaMbuti the power is shared equally. 1 Elvis fulfills the requirements of a message in his The Geertz definition of religion as a complete expression of other traits that create and cultural system gives an illuminating perspective to define a prophet. Elvis is a "particularly intense the Elvis phenomena. Religion is a system of expression of those qualities which his audience symbols acting to establish powerful and pervasive regards as specifically fitting the nature of man". moods and motivations through the forming of The religious aspect in "charismatic societies will conceptions of a general order of existence. As a manifest itself in the " "hypnotic expression of an symbol Elvis must embody the particular world extraordinary personality". Because of this intense view of his audience. Elvis Presley represents fame expression of what the Elvis audience regards as the and fortune. for many the pinnacle of status and. nature of man. followers are willing to supply the achievement. The means to power was supplied by necessary requisites to authenticate their belief. In virtue of his musical talents. Musical talent is a gift Is Elvis Alive, a book erroneously touted by its of almost mythical proportions and is chiefly seen author as investigative journalism. there are as god-given. not something to be acqUired. In this . several references to Elvis' deeply spiritual nature. way Elvis displays a requisite access to "a source of He studied at a secluded mountain top spiritual inspiration that transcends man's ordinary wits". and felt he had the power to faith heal. From humble truck driver to superstar. Elvis is the Elvis subscribed to fundamentalist religious views. classic and so loved rags to riches story which As the expression of American machismo affirms the capitalist ethic. In the land of equal incamate he was even enlisted as a secret Special opportunity while it is true that anyone may aspire agent of the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous to the achievements of the wealthy and the, Drugs. a mission he volunteered for. The same book powerful. it is also true that the talent which also finds several parallel connections between provides access to opportunity is not universally Elvis and Jesus that are significantly noted by fans distributed. In an article about Melanesian cargo . as well as Elvis himself. Elvis so encapsulates the cults. Peter Worsely relates that for the natives. cultural model that the spiritual or mystic "completely ignorant of factory production". the requirements necessary to a prophet are a mere "secret of the cargo" represents a knowledge of a formality easily created where they may be lacking. decidedly magical dimension. Similarly. the The link with spec1ftc aspects of is an moving experience of witnessing a performance is. effort to lend credibility through close association for the Elvis fan. completely divor ed from the with what is the accepted and established mode of notion of methodical practice or exerdses in vocal religious thought. Presbyterians are unconcerned technique. In the mind of the average factory which era or music album is revered. they include worker. watching the boss drive home in his any and all of the available memorabilia. so the Mercedes does not conjure images of diversified importance of the content. lyrical or musical. is '" mutual funds and income property. The vast avoided in this paper. It is limited to the discussion majority of the blue-collar contingent find the of Elvis as a "pop" star or celebrity image. "Pop"can acquisition of wealth beyond their realm of be loosely defined as reflecting or aimed at the knowledge. The mysterious aspect of the generation general masses of the people". No doubt the primal of wealth in a moneyed society is evident in a nature and ritualistic component of rock and roll description of economists by John Kenneth are fascinating aspects but they are a whole topic in Galbraith likening them to "witch doctors". themselves. "cultivating the belief that they are in privileged Describing a society as charismatic and association with the occult". The of Elvis' affected by the hypnoiic attraction of me life expresses the hope and heiplessness; it afflrtrts extraordinary personality of the prophet points to a and explains the condition of the working class. If '-t chief characteristic of western civilization. It is one of them. a humble truck driver. can achieve the difficult to imagine the BaMbuti of Colin 1Urnbull's ultimate success. access is universal. But that access book The Forest People as placing any inordinate is granted selectivelyby virtue of being possessed of significance in the power of attraction of one special qualities. transcendent of ordinary person. An essentially egalitarian society does not realities. Just as professional wrestling is a depend so completely on the leadership. physical or description of "what fans know". that "working spiritual. of a single individual. They live by hard and doing right" is no guarantee of success. consensus and do not allow for any exclusion from Elvis' story aptly describes the same message. It participation in the life and decisions of the affirms the truth of inequality that they know and community. Power and resources are shared at the same provides a hero to admire who is equally. A culture which has the extraordinary one of them. Elvis is the perfect candidate for he personality as its focus must presume inequality as "sees in himself all those to whom he speaks, and its fundamental rule. The prophet is the very model they see themselves in him-a communion from of inequality that they aspire to. Power in western which charisma is surely born". In the recognition society is concentrated in the prophet. for the of inequality and at the same moment affirming a potential mitigation of that inequality by as a "template". to shape the world of men. In this identifying with the prophet. the Elvis myth application -we find the motivation: its exhibits another basic function of religion. consummation is the shaping and adhering to the Religion seeks to recognize "injustice" on "the created world view. A capitalist society differs from human plane while simultaneously denying that a feudal society in what it requires of its populace. these irrationalities are charactertstic of the world Feudalism demanded strtct adherence to an ordered as a whole". While pain and suffertng may be the hierarchy. submission and cooperation. immediate . mythology seeks to deal with Capitalism demands participatory cooperation as questions of life "in terms of what it takes to be well. The consumer lifestyle must be continually wider. non-hypothetical truths". sold to the populace. In an economy that assumes In a similar manner as the supematural scarcity at every tum. opulence and power must Elvis mediating the binary aspect of life and death. provide an unattainable ambition while at the the special category of pop star serves to mediate the same time giving that ambition the appearance of class distinction. As Elvis travels freely from life to accessibility. In gravitating to a prophet. the death and back. so he travels freelybetween classes. singular expression of achievement. the individual transcending the oppositions of economic realities. is emphasized. We can empathize with an Elvis and The moods produced in religious symbolism be inspired to succeed on our own. The envisioned are thought of in terms of their source. while lifestyle of the rich and famous is the carrot that motivations are considered in terms of their propels us around the track of consumertsm. "consummation". Moods emanate from the "model In the words of Clifford Geertz. "human of' the world perceived. motivations are the behavior is so loosely determined by intrinsic formulation of the "model for" the pattem of (instinctive] sources" that we must rely on response to that perception. "extrinsic" cultural ones. Human behavior is se complex and interdependent that a cultural systerr. is absolutely imperative for our "creatura~ viability". Eclipsing the function of providing rules_ is the task of finding meaning in life. religion'f most "important field of application". Sinct: religion cannot be abandoned and it seeks first anc' foremost to supply meaning. it is perfect!) reasonable to assume religion will evolve ir: response to new conditions. The fact that somt: prophets are effective while others are not suggestr an implicit criteria of relevance. In order to givt: meaning religion must function in the confines 0: the current social realties. The image of Elvis iE current in what it represents. but it is also curren- in the fact that it is a highly defined and visiblt image. Moviesand magazines are the stuff that po~ stars and movie stars are made of. 0: media stars is a prime charactertstic of the world 1r: which we live. By virtue of publicity Elvis is a demi- god. People see stars as larger than life. inhabitanh -of -the-celluloid _universe; mystical-.- eerie.an( immortal. Being the subject of media attentioL lends credibility. both in the relentless access. an( the transcendental nature of the special category 0 media star. To be immortalized in mm creates <- persona of mythical proportions even before tht mythology has been articulated. Ustening to the tape supplied with Is ElvL: Alive is an interesting expertence. The familial drawl is convincing. the noticeable charactertstil of the conversation however. is its completel) trivial content. It is intentionally vague anc aimless. Nothing is affirmed or denied by tht: prophet. and yet one is caught unawares by the yearning for maybe just maybe ...he lives. Th< mythology finds its focus mainly on style and no content; on who says it and not what is said. Th< style is the message. This is partially due to dependence on a multi-media environment, but it also gives the religious aspect the latitude of tnfintte flexibility of interpretation. Contemporary References Cited religions will of necessity exhibit this trait as they respond to an almost daily change in life pattems Ashley, Montague. 1937. Coming Into Being Among as technology accelerates cultural evolution to a the Aborigines, London, Routledge. breakneck pace. Using the anthropological approach has Brewer-Giorgio, Gail. 1988. Is Elvis Alive?, New provided some insight into the evolving church of York: Tudor. Elvis. The seemingly spontaneous creation of a myth system which extensively displays the criteria essential to myth and religion is proof that religion is still a necessary and viable activity of Baine. George. 1988. "Tabloids", Macleans the collective consciousness. The growth of this Magazine, Dec. 22, p.46 millenarian tendency with Elvis as the new prophet will be determined by a number of factors. Already Corliss, Richard. 1988. 'The Kind Is Dead - Or Is mentioned is the snowball effect of a sensationalist He?", Time Magazine, Sept. media interacting with current mythology. Another important factor is the degree of despair of the Farnell, L.R. 1921. Greek Hero Culture .•.Oxford: adherents. In a United States where statistics Clavender Press. soundly indicate more· and more money in the hands of fewer and fewer people. the acuteness of Freedman. Jim. 1988. Drawing Heat. Windsor: inequality will largely determine the reliance on Black Moss Press. mythology for solace. Just as Melanesian natives have no "notion of the workings of world- Galbraith, John Kenneth. 1975. Money. Whence It commodity markets" and could not comprehend Came, Where It We~ Boston: Houghton M1ffltn why their economy was collapsing, American auto Co. workers in a recent recession did not understand the reasons for massive lay-offs. reduced wages, and Geertz. Clifford. "ReligionAs A Cultural System," in unemployment. The oppressed have "always ready Anthropological Approaches to Religion. Edited to pour their hopes and fears. their aspirations and by ed. M. Banton, (Ass. Social Anthrop. 3) frustrations. into dreams of a millennium to come". London: Tavistock Pub .. 1963. In a culture of constant bombardment of new ideas via radio. television and magazines. the influx of " Gower, Charlotte. 'The Supematural Patron in new ideas is staggering. The concept of religious Sicilian Ufe". diss. University of exclusivity is constantly eroded in a multi-media. Chicago. Riddle, op.cit. multi-cultural environment. As the traditional approaches to religion lose their cultural viability, Klapp, Orrin E. 1949. The Folk Hero. In Joumal of new ones will be created. New approaches are more American LXII•.p.p. 17-25. than just accurate reflections of prevalent social . and psychological conditions. Religion is what we Klapp, Orrin E. 1948. Creation of Popular Heroes. In do to describe ourselves collectively and American Journal of Sociology, continuously. In finding its eApression in th.e .-_. - . ------. worship of Elvis the pop star. the church of Elvis Leach, Edmund. 1969. Genesis As Myth and other defines itself as a popularist religion, the essays, London: Grossman Publication.