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How Much Is That Elvis In Your Vagina?
By Shcomedy
The film came out a few years back. It was one of those typical previews that I saw on the big screen that didn't really seem like it was going to be a great classic film, though that is exactly what it wound up being to me. I didn't rush to see it since I wasn't expecting it to be any more enjoyable than most of those 'feel good' movies critics and the public are always raving about. I managed to see it before any of it's scenes were ruined for me by friends with big mouths and I loved every minute of it. It's the kind of film that comes along every few years to give you hope for Hollywood and make you wish that all writers and directors would work as hard as the people involved in this film. And believe me, there were a lot of people involved in making this movie.
What is most unique about "Pleasentville" is it's hidden agenda, which seems to be buried in an amusing science fiction plot that works on so many emotional levels it's hard to count them all. This film, no matter what Elvis Presley meant to you, or means to you now, was nothing more than a subtle metaphor for what the King of Rock and Roll did to white America. But this film is hiding that fact with a cleverness that leaves it free from criticism from political correct zombies of our current culture. After all, you can't just come out and say 'Y'know Elvis did a lot to end racism in this country.' That would be taboo today. Only those with black skin can be given credit for that without a barrage of insults being thrown your way. People like Elvis, JFK, Abbie Hoffman, and even Abraham Lincoln can no longer be given any recognition for what they did to bring together peace and harmony between their fellow men. Their efforts have faded into historical documents, FBI files and be-bop tunes of yesteryear. It must be Malcolm X or Martin Luther King Jr. who get the credit, or the Jews and Orientals who suffered brutal humiliation from our ancestors. (The Italians did too, but they made up for it by forming the Mafia and ignoring our rules completely.)
If you've seen this film, I'll bet as you watched it, outside of the playing of an Elvis tune on the jukebox in one scene, the idea of Elvis didn't even enter into your mind. And why should it? Metaphors aren't seen as what they really are, they're just similar. And nothing is more similar than what Elvis did to white America and what happens when this teenage girl from the future takes a young inexperienced local yokel up to Pleasentville's version of Lover's Lane and rocks his gonads off. And what a better representation of Elvis is there than a teenage girl's sexual passion. Her vagina itself, in this film, was Elvis, aching to make some kind of impact on an entire town's population and not caring at all what the outcome might be. As the scene unfolds in the car, feet up in the air, squeaky rumbles coming from the shock absorbers, you can almost hear Elvis singing, "Have you heard the news? There's good rockin' tonight!"
Pleasentville is a TV show, much like Ozzie And Harriet, with a town full of tedious proper people who do nothing evil to anyone without feeling guilty about it and crime is non-existent and nobody even knows what sex is. There are no other cities mentioned because Pleasentville is the only thing the town's inhabitants know. It's one of those really classic shows that has marathons on television channels dedicated to nostalgic TV and that's where this particular story comes in--during advertisements for such a marathon. The main star of the film, Tobey Maguire, plays a young teenage boy that is so nerdy and geeky he is obssessed with this particular show and must know everything there is to know about it. That, believe it or not, is actually his main purpse in life. He can answer any trivia question posed to him about the show and knows each character better than he knows his own family. The only problem is that his older sister (Reese Witherspoon) has a really hot date on the same night as the marathon and wants to watch something else with her hunk of burning love. A fight ensues and the remote winds up being broken in the process.
"See what you did?"
"What I did? It's your fault! You--"
Doorbell rings.
Enter Don Knotts, who was cast for obvious reasons (the Andy Griffith Show is one of the most loved shows from the golden days of the boob tube,) a TV repair man who doesn't even have to be phoned to find the right house who needs him. He immediately offers to repair the remote. Confused and surprised, the kids decide to go along with it. And who could blame them? Where could anyone find better service than this? However, it seems that Mr. Knotts has a more sinister plan up his sleeve. When he finds out the geeky kid is a Pleasentville expert he offers to give him a 'very special' remote control that he might just find more interesting. The kid agrees and the remote is given. No mention of payment is offered or asked--Don walks out the door to let the fight between Mrs. Sexpot and Mr. Andy Griffith Wannabe continue. However, this time, the battle for the remote winds up zapping both the teenagers into the world inside their television: Pleasentville. A world where people eat breakfasts large enough to feed an entire military battalion. A world where ice cream parlors are the chosen hangout for most teenagers. A world where Fathers work, Mothers stay home, and everybody is in bed by 10 at the latest. A world where television only happens at night and there are only three channels offered. And you can bet your bobby socks that it's a world where 'teen sex' is certainly not a phrase anyone is familiar with. In fact, even the adults show no sign of understanding it. Well, don't fear; Reese Witherspoon is about to change all of that.
And the reaction to this female Elvis from the future, with her sideburned lined vagina and her rockin' pelvis, is exactly perfect, completely honest, reflecting how both generations really reacted to Elvis when he appeared on The Milton Berle Show and caused such an outlash of insults from reporters everywhere. This can't happen! We refuse to hang out with the coloreds! Like the actual reaction from the establishment, who very wisely chose to ignore the real basis for their fears and spoke out about Elvis' talent instead, this film hides it's real meaning; Elvis changed white America and his effect was a positive one. But it says more than just that. It says that deep down we all really wanted to make peace and get along with everyone. Like Anne Frank's final thoughts shared on the wall of the basement she hid in, it says that we all wanted to get along--even with the coloreds. And it says that we wanted to be colored ourselves. Maybe not for the humilation, oppression and horrors that went with it, but for that special underground feeling of being free to do whatever comes to mind. To be totally independent. The film is about sexual freedom and the ability to respect it in others no matter what their choice is. It's about love, loss, hope, change, passion and maturity. But mostly, though as I mentioned earlier his name is never spoken, it's about Elvis Presley, who according to rock journalist Lester Bangs, "kicked 'How much is that doggie in the window' out the window and replaced it with "Let's F*ck!" The spirit of Elvis is alive more in this movie than films that are actually about Elvis, and the choice of the writers to put that spirit in the heart and soul of a young teenage girl from today is pure genius. Because today's women have changed, thanks to Elvis.
Right now some of you hardened liberals are probably reething in anger screaming out "Are you trying to say that Elvis influenced the feminist movement!?" You're damn right that's what I'm saying! Elvis influenced everything that came after 1956 (with the exception of Pauley Shore, I don't think Elvis had anything to do with that,) and before the women of the 60's became sexually liberated and began re-thinking their values someone had to come along and influence their hidden desires. Elvis was the man to do it. Sinatra was fading. Music was sucking. Passions were cooling and the country needed something to shake it loose of the puritanical squeeze that was put on it. Oh sure, if it had been some other white boy who sounded black that walked into Sun Studio that day it would've been someone else. But it wasn't, it was Elvis Presley. And he put the fire into our lives that we were missing. This film recaptures that fire better than any documentary I've ever seen. It's a great film and a great testament to the power and effect and continuing inspiration that Elvis Presley (and the black music that inspired him) had on America, including the awesome special effects of modern day Hollywood used to make the film hit home even harder. It even has the way the defiant one (Elvis / Reese Witherspoon) winds up giving into the way of the establishment, finding more interest in reading books as opposed to going back up to Lover's Lane to break more rules. And in doing so, it shows WHY Elvis made that move better than anything ever quoted from members of the Memphis Mafia, because his talent had caused the very change he was rebelling against. He made the change being different, and now that we were all different with him, it was necessary for him to become our opposite again. It was his very nature. Non-comformity was what Elvis was all about.
This film is today and yesterday all rolled into one, the psychology of it brilliant. The battles that still rage on today are shown in this film; Rush Limbaugh vrs the left wing extremists. Howard Stern vrs the uptight establishment. The battles of yesterday are even more obvious; Elvis vrs. the racists. Mark Twain vrs Christianity. And the biggest battle of our lifetime, the one that always remains no matter how much changes around us; Conformity vrs freedom and independence. Is it art reflecting life or life reflecting art? It's both. Like the painting that finally lands our hero (Tobey) and his friend and boss (Jeff Daniels) in jail, as they stand up for what is right and fight vehemently what is wrong; censorship, this film does just that once again in a kind of sad reverse way to keep those wolves at bay who might scream 'fowl' because they never really tried to understand what Elvis stood for. Like the battle between two teenagers fighting over a remote control, the memory of Rock and Roll's defiance in such oppressed times has an importance that still rings clearly in our memory. Finally the record is set straight and the power and force with which it all happened is captured on film accurately. Presley changed America forever and it will never be the same. And now, in a weird quiet and secretive kind of way, this film just might be added to the list of things that will forever make him immortal. Memphis. RCA. Las Vegas. And now, Pleasentville. What a nice 'colorful' addition to the family.
By Shcomedy
The film came out a few years back. It was one of those typical previews that I saw on the big screen that didn't really seem like it was going to be a great classic film, though that is exactly what it wound up being to me. I didn't rush to see it since I wasn't expecting it to be any more enjoyable than most of those 'feel good' movies critics and the public are always raving about. I managed to see it before any of it's scenes were ruined for me by friends with big mouths and I loved every minute of it. It's the kind of film that comes along every few years to give you hope for Hollywood and make you wish that all writers and directors would work as hard as the people involved in this film. And believe me, there were a lot of people involved in making this movie.
What is most unique about "Pleasentville" is it's hidden agenda, which seems to be buried in an amusing science fiction plot that works on so many emotional levels it's hard to count them all. This film, no matter what Elvis Presley meant to you, or means to you now, was nothing more than a subtle metaphor for what the King of Rock and Roll did to white America. But this film is hiding that fact with a cleverness that leaves it free from criticism from political correct zombies of our current culture. After all, you can't just come out and say 'Y'know Elvis did a lot to end racism in this country.' That would be taboo today. Only those with black skin can be given credit for that without a barrage of insults being thrown your way. People like Elvis, JFK, Abbie Hoffman, and even Abraham Lincoln can no longer be given any recognition for what they did to bring together peace and harmony between their fellow men. Their efforts have faded into historical documents, FBI files and be-bop tunes of yesteryear. It must be Malcolm X or Martin Luther King Jr. who get the credit, or the Jews and Orientals who suffered brutal humiliation from our ancestors. (The Italians did too, but they made up for it by forming the Mafia and ignoring our rules completely.)
If you've seen this film, I'll bet as you watched it, outside of the playing of an Elvis tune on the jukebox in one scene, the idea of Elvis didn't even enter into your mind. And why should it? Metaphors aren't seen as what they really are, they're just similar. And nothing is more similar than what Elvis did to white America and what happens when this teenage girl from the future takes a young inexperienced local yokel up to Pleasentville's version of Lover's Lane and rocks his gonads off. And what a better representation of Elvis is there than a teenage girl's sexual passion. Her vagina itself, in this film, was Elvis, aching to make some kind of impact on an entire town's population and not caring at all what the outcome might be. As the scene unfolds in the car, feet up in the air, squeaky rumbles coming from the shock absorbers, you can almost hear Elvis singing, "Have you heard the news? There's good rockin' tonight!"
Pleasentville is a TV show, much like Ozzie And Harriet, with a town full of tedious proper people who do nothing evil to anyone without feeling guilty about it and crime is non-existent and nobody even knows what sex is. There are no other cities mentioned because Pleasentville is the only thing the town's inhabitants know. It's one of those really classic shows that has marathons on television channels dedicated to nostalgic TV and that's where this particular story comes in--during advertisements for such a marathon. The main star of the film, Tobey Maguire, plays a young teenage boy that is so nerdy and geeky he is obssessed with this particular show and must know everything there is to know about it. That, believe it or not, is actually his main purpse in life. He can answer any trivia question posed to him about the show and knows each character better than he knows his own family. The only problem is that his older sister (Reese Witherspoon) has a really hot date on the same night as the marathon and wants to watch something else with her hunk of burning love. A fight ensues and the remote winds up being broken in the process.
"See what you did?"
"What I did? It's your fault! You--"
Doorbell rings.
Enter Don Knotts, who was cast for obvious reasons (the Andy Griffith Show is one of the most loved shows from the golden days of the boob tube,) a TV repair man who doesn't even have to be phoned to find the right house who needs him. He immediately offers to repair the remote. Confused and surprised, the kids decide to go along with it. And who could blame them? Where could anyone find better service than this? However, it seems that Mr. Knotts has a more sinister plan up his sleeve. When he finds out the geeky kid is a Pleasentville expert he offers to give him a 'very special' remote control that he might just find more interesting. The kid agrees and the remote is given. No mention of payment is offered or asked--Don walks out the door to let the fight between Mrs. Sexpot and Mr. Andy Griffith Wannabe continue. However, this time, the battle for the remote winds up zapping both the teenagers into the world inside their television: Pleasentville. A world where people eat breakfasts large enough to feed an entire military battalion. A world where ice cream parlors are the chosen hangout for most teenagers. A world where Fathers work, Mothers stay home, and everybody is in bed by 10 at the latest. A world where television only happens at night and there are only three channels offered. And you can bet your bobby socks that it's a world where 'teen sex' is certainly not a phrase anyone is familiar with. In fact, even the adults show no sign of understanding it. Well, don't fear; Reese Witherspoon is about to change all of that.
And the reaction to this female Elvis from the future, with her sideburned lined vagina and her rockin' pelvis, is exactly perfect, completely honest, reflecting how both generations really reacted to Elvis when he appeared on The Milton Berle Show and caused such an outlash of insults from reporters everywhere. This can't happen! We refuse to hang out with the coloreds! Like the actual reaction from the establishment, who very wisely chose to ignore the real basis for their fears and spoke out about Elvis' talent instead, this film hides it's real meaning; Elvis changed white America and his effect was a positive one. But it says more than just that. It says that deep down we all really wanted to make peace and get along with everyone. Like Anne Frank's final thoughts shared on the wall of the basement she hid in, it says that we all wanted to get along--even with the coloreds. And it says that we wanted to be colored ourselves. Maybe not for the humilation, oppression and horrors that went with it, but for that special underground feeling of being free to do whatever comes to mind. To be totally independent. The film is about sexual freedom and the ability to respect it in others no matter what their choice is. It's about love, loss, hope, change, passion and maturity. But mostly, though as I mentioned earlier his name is never spoken, it's about Elvis Presley, who according to rock journalist Lester Bangs, "kicked 'How much is that doggie in the window' out the window and replaced it with "Let's F*ck!" The spirit of Elvis is alive more in this movie than films that are actually about Elvis, and the choice of the writers to put that spirit in the heart and soul of a young teenage girl from today is pure genius. Because today's women have changed, thanks to Elvis.
Right now some of you hardened liberals are probably reething in anger screaming out "Are you trying to say that Elvis influenced the feminist movement!?" You're damn right that's what I'm saying! Elvis influenced everything that came after 1956 (with the exception of Pauley Shore, I don't think Elvis had anything to do with that,) and before the women of the 60's became sexually liberated and began re-thinking their values someone had to come along and influence their hidden desires. Elvis was the man to do it. Sinatra was fading. Music was sucking. Passions were cooling and the country needed something to shake it loose of the puritanical squeeze that was put on it. Oh sure, if it had been some other white boy who sounded black that walked into Sun Studio that day it would've been someone else. But it wasn't, it was Elvis Presley. And he put the fire into our lives that we were missing. This film recaptures that fire better than any documentary I've ever seen. It's a great film and a great testament to the power and effect and continuing inspiration that Elvis Presley (and the black music that inspired him) had on America, including the awesome special effects of modern day Hollywood used to make the film hit home even harder. It even has the way the defiant one (Elvis / Reese Witherspoon) winds up giving into the way of the establishment, finding more interest in reading books as opposed to going back up to Lover's Lane to break more rules. And in doing so, it shows WHY Elvis made that move better than anything ever quoted from members of the Memphis Mafia, because his talent had caused the very change he was rebelling against. He made the change being different, and now that we were all different with him, it was necessary for him to become our opposite again. It was his very nature. Non-comformity was what Elvis was all about.
This film is today and yesterday all rolled into one, the psychology of it brilliant. The battles that still rage on today are shown in this film; Rush Limbaugh vrs the left wing extremists. Howard Stern vrs the uptight establishment. The battles of yesterday are even more obvious; Elvis vrs. the racists. Mark Twain vrs Christianity. And the biggest battle of our lifetime, the one that always remains no matter how much changes around us; Conformity vrs freedom and independence. Is it art reflecting life or life reflecting art? It's both. Like the painting that finally lands our hero (Tobey) and his friend and boss (Jeff Daniels) in jail, as they stand up for what is right and fight vehemently what is wrong; censorship, this film does just that once again in a kind of sad reverse way to keep those wolves at bay who might scream 'fowl' because they never really tried to understand what Elvis stood for. Like the battle between two teenagers fighting over a remote control, the memory of Rock and Roll's defiance in such oppressed times has an importance that still rings clearly in our memory. Finally the record is set straight and the power and force with which it all happened is captured on film accurately. Presley changed America forever and it will never be the same. And now, in a weird quiet and secretive kind of way, this film just might be added to the list of things that will forever make him immortal. Memphis. RCA. Las Vegas. And now, Pleasentville. What a nice 'colorful' addition to the family.
