Eternal Elvis endures because of cultural myths, author says

By Andrea Lynn

There are plenty of reasons why Elvis Presley continues to
crop up everywhere since his death 17 years ago, but Gilbert
Rodman disagrees with most of them.

According to Rodman, an authority on stardom in general and
"the King" in particular, Elvis' unusual second life of
"cultural ubiquity" isn't - as many have argued - the result
of extensive merchandising and marketing, the refusal of
fans to let go of their idol, or the postmodern condition
that currently defines U.S. culture. Rather, the enduring
cultural presence of Elvis, Rodman argues in a book he is
writing, is due to his "uncommon resonance as a cultural
symbol and the diversity of cultural myths surrounding him,
not only today, but throughout his lifetime."

In "Elvis After Elvis: The Posthumous Career of a Living
Legend" (to be published by Routledge in December), Rodman
argues that while any number of stars who have died are
linked with important cultural myths - Marilyn Monroe with
myths of sexuality, James Dean with myths of youthful
rebellion - "only Elvis manages to encompass and be
encompassed by virtually all the major strands of U.S.
cultural mythology" since World War II.

In other words, unlike all other icons, the image of Elvis
Aron Presley seems to push everyone's buttons
simultaneously, and he serves a wide range of functions in
public debates over race, gender and sexuality, class and
the American Dream. Rodman, a doctoral student in
communications research at the University of Illinois, uses
cultural theory to get at the social and political
significance of Elvis' current ubiquity. He uses Elvis "as a
guide for rethinking the ways in which we theorize the
relationship between popular culture, stardom and society."

According to Rodman, there's also a religious component - an
aura - that surrounds Elvis, and the major Elvis tourist
sites, including Graceland, do their part to "create and
maintain" that aura. Indeed, since his death, "Elvis has
truly become a saint, if not a god, to vast numbers of
people," Rodman writes.

"The deification of Elvis, however, is more than just an
example of fandom spinning madly out of control," he writes,
"as the elevation of Elvis to holy status relies on the
combined efforts of the Presley estate, the media and his
fans." Elvis' status as a contemporary god "helps to make
him what any good deity should be: an omnipresent force
within the culture that worships him."

Elvis is everywhere, Rodman writes, "sneaking out" of
everything from songs and movies, advertisements and
children's books, to university courses, art exhibits and
home-computer software. And, whenever Elvis appears, Rodman
said, "it is largely as a mythical figure, rather than a
historical personage or a noteworthy artist."

"His body may have failed him in 1977," writes Rodman in a
recent article for the academic journal Cultural Studies,
"but today his spirit, his image and his myths do more than
live on: They flourish, they thrive, they multiply."