Which page was he on, r333?

So, maybe an unpopular opinion coming up, but after seeing "Elvis" a dozen times, here goes: Baz bent over backwards to convey his, the director's, opinion of the influence Blacks had on Elvis.

For one thing, Little Richard and "Tutti-Frutti" are accorded something Elvis is not: a full and focused performance with no multiple angles or screens.

"Baby Let's Play House" is truncated and interrupted by the screaming voracious fans. "That's All Right" cuts back and forth to Arthur Crudup. "Trouble" is ended by an arrest. The '68 CS comprises mostly a medley. The triumphant Vegas "Suspicious Minds" is, albeit cleverly, interspersed with the Col. and a hotel exec.

"If I Can Dream" showcases only the last two stanzas, omitting the first two which contain Elvis's main point of brotherhood and peace (although Elvis is shown practicing a bit of the beginning).

Okay, I digressed. Back to my point:

Every song, ever performance by Elvis is connected to something in the Black community.

From the "That's All Right" Boy Elvis peeks at to his Black Gospel Revival Tentvshakes interspersed with Young Man Elvis preparing to go onstage at the Hayride.

From his "love of all things Beale Street" and his (beyond beautiful face) wide-eyed glimpse of BB King through a clothing store window to later in life quoting the words of BB about "going where you want" to play music.

From hanging out at Club Handy to expressing a wish to sing "Tutti-Frutti" to deferring to Fats Domino as the "real King of Rick and Roll."

From having his career and emotional state severely affected by the deaths of not only his mother but also Dr. MLK, Jr. and Mahalia Jackson (along with Bobby Kennedy but hey---Baz couldn't really overlook him, given it was 1968. Anyway, he shows Bobby calming the citizens of Indianapolis after the assassination of MLK, so still...Black-connected [Note: Indianapolis was the only major city not to erupt in protest.]).

Baz, in short, frames the career of Elvis not only through the Colonel's Unreliable (and Overbearing) Narrator's eyes, but also through the Black Experience.

Black Blues and Gospel segue directly to Elvis at the Louisiana Hayride. Arthur Crudup's "That's All Right" returns prominently for Las Vegas Elvis.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe's "Strange Things Happening (Every day)" leads directly, beats never stopping, to the field of Elvis's "Trouble."

Big Mama Thornton is shown singing "Hound Dog," her lyric of "Stop snoopin' 'round my door" later being sung by the movie's '68 CS Elvis, though that line is not in the actual recorded version.

Beale Street Blacks are shown admiring Elvis, asking for autographs or handshakes, surrounding him---but not tearing off his jacket (he is shown, in fact, putting one on), not throwing "intimates," not roughing him up. On Beale Street, Elvis can "let it all hang out," in BB King's advice. The Colonel and Elvis's White peers don't get it.

His music, moves, fashion, advice, friendship, a social conscience, success---Elvis According to Baz gained it all from Black America.

The movie should, and seems to have, shut down the "Racist Thief" accusations.