Sofia Coppola’s film “Priscilla” follows the relationship between Priscilla Beaulieu Presley and Elvis Presley. It’s based on the former’s 1985 memoir titled “Elvis and Me”. The movie is set to be released this Friday, November 3, and stars Cailee Spaeny as Priscilla and Euphoria’s Jacob Elordi as Elvis. But the controversy surrounding it that started when the project was first announced, continues after the death of Lisa Marie Presley who had begged the director, Sofia Coppola to refrain from representing her father in such a bad light.
Variety reports that before her death Lisa Marie did everything she could to persuade the director, Sofia Coppola, to reconsider the portrayal of her father, Elvis. In her messages to Coppola, Lisa Marie called the script “shockingly vengeful and contemptuous” and appeared to be in disbelief that anyone would go out of their way to produce such a venomous image of the beloved pop culture icon.
She also tried to convince the Oscar-winning director not to exacerbate her problematic relationship with her mother, Priscilla, who, although one of the executive producers of the film, had not sought any input from her daughter and indeed, disregarded her concerns.
Lisa Marie also begged Sofia Coppola not to embarrass the family who was still grieving the death of her son, Benjamin, in 2020.
Presley’s objections to Coppola speak to a larger issue: do living public figures have a right to control their own biography? Indeed even beyond that, what about the rights to privacy of family members who are not public figures?
At the center of the controversy is the relationship between the 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu and Elvis Presley, the King of Rock and Roll, when they met in Germany in 1959. Elvis was 24 at the time and already a famous musician and movie star. Many people accused him of being a pedophile, a predator, and a bad influence on young girls. Elvis and Priscilla maintained their highly unusual relationship for eight years, until they got married in 1967, but then divorced in 1973. Lisa Marie objected to Coppola’s portrayal of the relationship, but the fact is that it was already a hot controversy at the time that it was ongoing.
“My father only comes across as a predator and manipulative. As his daughter, I don’t read this and see any of my father in this character. I don’t read this and see my mother’s perspective of my father. I read this and see your shockingly vengeful and contemptuous perspective and I don’t understand why?” Presley wrote in one of her messages.
Presley made it clear that she would speak out against the project and her mother, who has participated in publicity for the release of the movie. “I will be forced to be in a position where I will have to openly say how I feel about the film and go against you, my mother and this film publicly,” Presley wrote. Lisa Marie’s objections did nothing to convince Coppola to change her vision of the pop icon and she responded, “I hope that when you see the final film you will feel differently, and understand I’m taking great care in honoring your mother, while also presenting your father with sensitivity and complexity”.
Lisa Marie’s tragically premature death effectively put an end to the conflict between her and Coppola, but the issue involved—the rights to one’s own biography– remains intact and unanswered.
