Monday, December 3, 2018

Elvis Presley by Ethan Grumbles


The death of Elvis Presley, August 16, 1977, was shocking to the entire world. His death was official and was announced by many doctors and a coroner. There is still the belief that somehow he faked his death and is still in hiding. Then there are sightings of him in many different places and even films, for example Home Alone from 1990. Another conspiracy theory about Presley is that he had to fake his death so that he could escape the mafia, or that he helped the FBI with a specific project(Elvis Presley Death Theories).



            Elvis Presley was someone of much liking to the world. He had great talent and put himself out there and people adored him and made him famous. People put him on stages for concerts to sing and play guitar, and he was also an actor. He starred in movies such as “Wild in the Country” and “Blue Hawaii”(Elvis Presley’s Movies). He was a great actor and worked really well with people. He was very “down-to-earth” and easy to get along with. With working his day-to-day life, he was extremely capable of managing affairs and he was very productive in every area of his life. Unless there was concrete evidence or a way to use it in the world, Elvis thought very little of speculations and theories. Elvis tried to make the best of the status quo and stayed away from changes. He did not like wandering off doing something different that could possibly endanger his security at all. He would often pass up an opportunity to do something just because he did not know the outcome prior to the event. He was a planner, a diligent planner, and he thrived on patience and persistence(Elvis Presleygeneral Characteristics).
            Despite how Elvis was not very good at playing guitar or singing at first, he loved music and performing and eventually became an icon. He had a part-time job at a movie theater and studied the actors while he worked. He and his friends would listen to African-American entertainers on Beale Street in Memphis Tennessee. He loved the way they acted and dressed, so he began to copy them and in his senior year he won the talent show and started his music career. Elvis did a lot of studying of character and style of other musicians, learning how not only to play and sing, but how to have his own style and be unique in a world so full of music stars who became big just by being themselves. He eventually was able to record his own song that he sang for Sam Phillips at Sun Records because Sam saw a future in Elvis so he decided to give him a shot. Soon after this opportunity arose, he started to star in movies in Hollywood and he loved it, but one the worst parts about it is that he had to take pills to stay awake and go to sleep. He absolutely hated taking these pills at the beginning of his career. As he was growing in the world and becoming popular, he maintained his own character and continued to shine his own light(The My Hero Project).
            Another fantastic feature of Elvis Presley was that he was super funny! He had an amazing sense of humor. He had many friends he liked to impress by playing jokes on people and making them laugh. Elvis was super optimistic to where he did not give up even when the going got tough. He was also super generous. When he became big and had lots of money, he bought a mansion for his mother and bought his friends cars and many expensive gifts. He loved seeing other people happy(The My Hero Project).


            Elvis Presley was a very expressive man when it came to his emotions and feelings. He had a way of wearing his emotions on his face meaning whatever he felt, good or bad, everyone around him could tell because it was written on his face. People around him would even say that they could feel his feelings themselves because of how expressive he was. Elvis was very loyal with those close to him and even to people he did not know super well. He was super loving to his family and those around him. Taking care of people and thinking good thoughts of them. He was extremely passionate about things he loved such as acting, playing guitar, and singing. One good characteristic is that he was humble. He never boasted about his accomplishments and was very thankful for everything to the point of giving back to whatever he received. And lastly, Elvis was super curious and loved solving problems and helping others with figuring things out(arts.answers). Elvis was so great that he had many people obsessed with him and talking about him. One person, by the name of Phil Spector, said “You have no idea how great he is, really you don’t. You have no comprehension - it’s absolutely impossible. I can’t tell you why he’s so great, but he is. He’s sensational.” Another man, John Landau, said “There is something magical about watching a man who has lost himself find his way back home. He sang with the kind of power people no longer expect from rock 'n' roll singers(Quotes About Elvis).”
Elvis Presley was a man of interest. Many ideas, thoughts, and beliefs have been put into research and thought of where he is now. There are three conspiracy theories about him that could be an answer to the mystery of where he is. The first one is that he faked his death to get out of the crazy popular life, and the other two involved the mafia and even the FBI.
“Without preamble, the three-piece band cuts loose. In the spotlight, the lanky singer flails furious rhythms on his guitar, every now and then breaking a string. In a pivoting stance, his hips swing sensuously from side to side and his entire body takes on a frantic quiver, as if he had swallowed a jackhammer(Elvis Presley Death Theories)(Quotes About Elvis).”
Time Magazine and their quote here describes how extremely different and unique Elvis Presley was(Elvis Presley Death Theories). He shocked the world with his talents including his voice and exotic dance moves(Elvis Presley Death Theories). He had so many fans worldwide and loved being on stage, working with people, acting, and making friends along the way(Elvis Presley Death Theories). He was a very likeable man and was super nice and easy going. Every girl wanted him and every man wanted to be him(Elvis Presley Death Theories). So, when he was announced dead on August 16th, 1977, due to heart failure, the world was devastated(Elvis Presley Death Theories). Some people were so obsessed with him that they would not believe he was actually dead(Elvis Presley Death Theories). Even though a coroner and doctors declared his death was confirmed, people still had their theories and were skeptical about his death(Elvis Presley Death Theories). Many people tagged along with the theories of his continued living and the fact that he probably faked his death so he could go into hiding(Elvis Presley Death Theories). So much so that three people created the Elvis Sighting Society (ESS) which consisted of posts of pictures and paragraphs of sightings of Elvis out and about in public or wherever they could use to prove he was still alive(Elvis Presley Death Theories). Also, people claimed he has been in the background of movies such as Home Alone in 1990(Elvis Presley Death Theories). But what kind of person would Elvis be if he faked his death like that, leaving all his family and fans behind like they were dirt(Elvis Presley Death Theories). Lacy Presley, who calls himself a “big Elvis fan,” said;
 “I believe that the people who say Elvis is alive are doing a great disservice to him and his family, imagine you have to go through your life saying your father did all of these things and that he conned his fans. Elvis’ death hurt a lot of people. It still does. You have to ask what kind of person would Elvis be to do that to his fans(Quotes About Elvis)?”
The last two conspiracy theories about Elvis tie in together to an extent. They are that he disappeared to get away from the mafia and/or joined the FBI. “Do I know if Elvis is still alive today? No, I don’t. But I do know he didn’t die August 16th”(Elvis Presley Death Theories). Gail was the author of the bestselling book Is Elvis Alive published in 1988 and she recalls how she poured through thousands of FBI documents during a TIME interview to come to the conclusion that he was an American hero who somehow fell into witness protection(Elvis Presley Death Theories). The theory, according to Gail, is about “The Fraternity,” which was made up of dozens of racketeers, also known as the mafia(Elvis Presley Death Theories). It was a criminal organization which Elvis was enlisted in 1976 to be an undercover agent to help infiltrate “The Fraternity(Elvis Presley Death Theories).” Elvis Presley was privileged and honored to have the opportunity to do something for the country he loved(Elvis Presley Death Theories). The reason Elvis was sucked into this was because a member of the organization had ties with an airplane that Elvis owned(Elvis Presley Death Theories). Yet, according to Gail, when Elvis was found to be a mole, he was forced into the witness protection program and citing what she said was evidence from interviews and the FBI documents(Elvis Presley Death Theories).


The last two theories are highly unlikely because eventually he would have finished what he had to do with the association of the FBI and would have returned home. But the fact is that he actually did die and he died the strangest of men, yet possibly the most loved of men. This belief is also backed up by a survey which was near 100% answered that he was actually dead today.

Elvis Presley, being the famous man he is, is such an importance to the world that his death or liveliness is something the world wants to know. Though many stories have been told, there are three main conspiracy theories for Elvis’ life ending:
1.       He died due to heart failure
2.       He faked his death to escape the mafia
3.       He went into hiding to assist the FBI
These three conspiracy theories could all be true, but the only logical explanation to Elvis’ disappearance is that he did in fact die of heart failure.




















Synergy, Top. “Elvis Presleygeneral Characteristics.” Akio Morita Characteristics, famous-relationships.topsynergy.com/Elvis_Presley/Characteristics.asp.
“Elvis Presley's Movies. Elvis Presley Made 31 Films as an Actor.” Elvis Australia News, biography.elvis.com.au/elvis-presley-movies.shtml.
“Elvis Presley.” The MY HERO Project, myhero.com/presley_millms_ul.

“Quotes About Elvis.” Graceland, www.graceland.com/elvis/quotesaboutelvis.aspx.
Chan, Melissa. “Elvis Presley Death Theories: Why Do Some Think He's Alive?” Time, Time, 15 Aug. 2017, time.com/4897819/elvis-presley-alive-conspiracy-theories/.


No comments:

Post a Comment