"Priscilla", d. Sofia Coppola
Grace and Grit in the Rock ‘n’ Roll World of the Twentieth Century
Sofia Coppola is well known for her “aesthetic” filmmaking. Subtle, but impactful, the storytelling in every single one of her films carries significance in the smallest details.
Just like The Virgin Suicides (1999) and Marie Antoinette (2006), Priscilla (2023) tells the story of feminine identity, emphasizing the female gaze. The movie works as an antonym for Elvis (2022), Baz Luhrmann’s motion picture. Although the two protagonists are part of the same story, their portrayals in the two films are fundamentally different. While in Elvis, the rockstar is portrayed as a good person whose moral values have been disturbed by the greedy world in which he lives, in Priscilla, his portrayal becomes unstable and violent, betraying his abuse of power in his relationship with the much younger Priscilla.
Starting off as a fairytale-like story, the relationship between Elvis and Priscilla quickly becomes questionable. From the moment she moves in with him (even though she is still in high school), Elvis tries to make her integrate into his glamorous world, changing her appearance in the process. For example, he tells her to dye her hair black (Priscilla is a natural redhead) so she could look more like him. Then, he continues to influence her clothing choices, constraining her to a very limited social image that is extremely beneficial for him.
Their story can be broken down into four stages:
STAGE 1: ATTRACTION IS OBLIVION
Elvis and Priscilla’s beginning is overly romanticized, which paves the way for a story that should’ve bloomed differently but that wilts instead.
Priscilla is just a freshman when she meets Elvis, already a full-grown man, but the attention she is offered by such an influential figure is enough to turn her world upside down. This sheds light on Priscilla’s upbringing as a girl to always seek guidance.
She is forced to mature early for the sake of a man who promises her love but ends up brutalizing her. Elvis’s behaviour is charming in the beginning, although not cautious enough to lack red flags, hence why those are scattered in between his words and actions.
For example, at one of the first parties Priscilla attends, when Elvis invites her to his room but tells her to climb the stairs first and wait for him there so that no one will notice their plan, what Elvis does is to establish the first possessive act, as if saying it is my reputation that matters, not yours, but because you’re a woman, the one who has to be approached to be seduced and loved, not the one who seduces and loves, you have to obey.
From then on, Priscilla signs a contract of her dehumanization, because she turns into someone who even uses Elvis’s fame to bribe a girl at school to help her cheat on an exam with an invitation to some of Elvis’s parties. Aware of the charm her man has on other women, but still angry that he is not as faithful as he promised, she spirals down into a miserable situation: is she living her life… or his life?
STAGE 2: HER CONTROL IS IN HIS HANDS
Throughout the movie, Priscilla’s control over her life becomes limited, as she is taken over by Elvis’s monopolistic influence. It leaves the viewer under the impression that her control is in his hands, something to which she subscribes both consciously and unconsciously.
To some extent, at some point, female freedom becomes such a distorted notion that it becomes unbearable to watch Priscilla locked in this golden cage where she has everything she wishes for, yet nothing.
For instance, because Elvis is always surrounded by a group of boys when he accompanies Priscilla to a clothing store, the boys are invited too. In this scene, the presence of Elvis’s cohort seems to be tied to female validation, their opinions on Priscilla’s several outfits becoming verdicts of what she has to buy and wear.
After 50 minutes into the movie, we can’t help but wonder whether Elvis loves Priscilla or loves the feeling of possessing Priscilla.
To support the idea that in this movie possessive behaviour is the underlying cause of Priscilla’s discontent, we have compiled a table with several pertinent examples that address the matter, along with our commentary on them.
EXAMPLE #1
Priscilla wants to work at a boutique, discovering her interest in fashion but Elvis states clearly the terms and conditions of their relationship, ‘It’s either me or a career, baby’
COMMENTARY #1
’Possessive’ is the word we’d choose to describe Elvis’s actions. He is a pawn in the game of sex stereotyping. He praises more his success and fame than Priscilla’s happiness. To his mind, there’s nothing more that Priscilla needs, now that she has him. This denotes the fact that even outside of society, inside the confines of a relationship, discrimination persists.
EXAMPLE #2
When Priscilla wants to get intimate with Elvis, he steers away from that kind of interaction just because she, a woman, in his opinion, can’t be the one to initiate such an act.
As an explanation, Elvis tells her that having sex is ‘very sacred to him’
COMMENTARY #2
Elvis’s words make us believe he lacks empathy and interpersonal observance. In his world, he seems to be the central pillar, whereas Priscilla is only something lying on it. To Elvis, to initiate the sexual act is sacred but he doesn’t even consider Priscilla’s view on initiating intimacy. He takes it for granted that she always grants his wishes.
EXAMPLE #3
Upon substance use, Priscilla and Elvis start photographing each other's bare bodies. Even when they use a photographic machine to immortalize this nudity, most of the pictures are of Priscilla’s body, taken by Elvis.
COMMENTARY #3
This explains very well the dynamics of sexuality among the two sexes. A woman is more sexualized than a man is and Elvis, although overprotective, still falls prey to acknowledging how easy it would be to lose Priscilla. Her femininity is something special to him, yet when Priscilla plays with him and hits him carefully with a pillow, he has an episode in which he talks harshly, ‘Not so rough, you’re not a goddamn man’
MALE VIOLENCE
This is where male violence erupts. To better showcase this dynamic we have gathered some episodes from the movie.
VERBAL VIOLENCE
When Priscilla confronts Elvis about the rumoured affair he’s having with another woman, he denies cheating so straightforwardly that it’s obvious something is amiss. This is where verbal violence is transformed into physical violence.
Priscilla despises Elvis’s superiority, which he builds upon reading all sorts of philosophical books. When she confronts him on this matter, underlining the importance of her desires being at least considered, if not properly listened to, he is angry again, saying, ‘I see a madwoman’
At their wedding, Priscilla’s mother feels that something is not right between the two lovers, especially because of Elvis’s absent, yet dominant reactions and her daughter’s visible discontent, so she asks her, ‘Are you alright?’ Priscilla is quiet for a second, in which the viewer is reminded of all the violent acts she had to endure, then, with a dead expression on her face, sketches a smile. Throughout the ceremony, her mother tries to approach her several times, but she can’t reach her daughter.
PHYSICAL VIOLENCE
Elvis sees Priscilla’s courage to confront him as a sign of aggressivity, not as a right she has to maintain a healthy relationship. Because Priscilla doesn’t want to fully give up on her freedom and her right to discuss important subjects, Elvis becomes so angry that he starts screaming and scattering her clothes around the room.
Priscilla is sincere, so when her opinion on one of Elvis’s songs is asked, she says she finds something she doesn’t fully enjoy, Elvis has another outbreak of rage and throws a chair in her direction, barely nudging her and destroying a wall. His verbal response to this violent act is dull, ‘Sorry, I’ve got my mama’s temper’
Elvis tries to rape his wife at some point in the movie, with the argument, ‘I’m gonna show you how a real man makes love to another woman’, and we’re calling it ‘rape’ because Priscilla is uncomfortable all the time, expresses her fear, dissatisfaction and misery, and even fights Elvis.
STAGE 3: ALL ENDS WELL IF SHE’S WELL
After she gives birth to their baby and has to face her husband’s ignorance, she moves to LA. The conversation she’s having with his husband inspires empowerment. After all she had to bear, she tells him that he’s not losing her to another man, but to a life of her own. ‘I have to go, if I’ll stay, I’ll never leave’, is the line that remained stuck with us, because it pinpoints the exact ‘rebirth’ of Priscilla. Surprisingly, Elvis’s reaction isn’t outrageous, which might imply that he’s not taking the drugs he used to consume anymore.
Priscilla has simply had enough, so she steps away from this relationship, which was already put ‘on pause’ by Elvis, and even starts taking karate lessons. Falling in love with her karate teacher, she opens up her heart, learns what romantic love truly means and frees herself from the ‘golden cage’
One thing that is important to mention is the fact that most of the women living in Elvis’s house, from his maid to his grandmother, appreciated Priscilla and gave signs that they, too, had to tolerate Elvis’s temper. The final scene, in which these important women in Priscilla’s life bid her goodbye without asking her why she had decided to leave as if they knew very well why and couldn’t agree more with her decision, gave us chills.
CONCLUSION
The woman’s condition in this movie was projected through different lenses, presenting both the bitter and sweet parts of living with a man blinded by fame in a time when male fame was a woman’s ticket to genuine validation.