⚡️Treat me Nice⚡️

thank you very much for this ask ꨄ︎!!

I have indeed read "Child Bride” and as for its’ accuracy I wouldn't go as far to say it's entirely inaccurate but I do have several bones to pick with Suzanne Finstad as a biographer as I believe she has let her bias (obviously not liking Priscilla) get in the way of her better judgment, which in turn, has corrupted the overall validity of her book. For example, giving Currie Grant a platform to tell his version of events regarding Elvis and Priscilla in Germany, including a claim so egregious that I truly have trouble understanding why so many in this fandom praise this book 😭

I think a lot of Elvis fans consider/recommend “Child Bride” as the antithesis to Priscilla’s “Elvis and Me” which is fair considering Finstad highlights some very valid criticisms against Priscilla i.e her hiring a second, much more aggressive, lawyer to get more money out of Elvis, and her introducing her family (Lisa Marie and later on Navarone) to the “church” aka cult of Scientology etc. etc.

- however -

The book as a whole comes at the expense of Elvis and what I mean by that is that Suzanne Finstad is not someone who has his best interest at heart (I mean look at what she has said in some of these recents documentaries about Elvis) and in order to push her narrative that Priscilla was some fourteen-year-old s*xual deviant, she has made some incredibly inflammatory statements about their relationship, and it literally starts with the title of her book (referring to Priscilla as Elvis’ “child bride”)

And the main reason as to why I cannot comprehend how fans praise this book is that Finstad goes with the story that Currie Grants tells, which includes him saying that Elvis (24) and Priscilla (14) were having penetrative intercourse after their 3rd or 4th date ⬇️

excerpt is from “Child Bride” by Suzanne Finstad

So this is why I tend to cringe when I see other fans praise this book… I know it’s not their intention but they are inadvertently promoting a falsehood that says Elvis was committing statutory r*pe against a fourteen year old Priscilla

Not only does that go against what Priscilla and others have said about the physical relationship she had with Elvis in Germany, but it goes against the pattern that Elvis followed for almost every single (long-term) relationship prior to Priscilla and even after

A girl that Elvis deemed “special” or in other words- good enough to marry- was not a girl that Elvis was going to have penetrative s*x with, especially not when he had the more worldly starlets of Hollywood and the showgirls of Germany and Paris at his disposal

PRISCILLA PRESLEY: “In the past, he said that he wanted a virgin (to marry)”

DEBRA PAGET: “He always said he’d marry a virgin”

LAMAR FIKE: “Elvis respected virginity. He used to tell Alan, “I’ll never break a virgin. There are too many whores around”

We saw this with Dixie Locke, we saw this with June Juanico and Anita Wood, all of whom, in their many years of dating him never had penetrative s*x

We even saw this with women like Linda Thompson and Ginger Alden who he waited several months with before consummating

So because of that I have an incredibly hard time believing that Elvis would abandon his morals after just 3 or 4 dates with Priscilla, especially when he was having s*x with age appropriate girls like Elizabeth Mansfield, who often took Priscilla’s place in Elvis’ bed after she left

Another issue I have with “Child Bride” is that she has often either misquoted people, or written things that contradict what they have said to other biographers- basically many things haven’t added up when cross referencing between books

I have mentioned this one before but it is just so blatant, that I feel compelled to mention it again ⬇️

So here we have Joe Esposito re-telling a throwaway comment about Priscilla made by Elvis

excerpt is from “Good Rockin’ tonight” by Joe Esposito

And then here we have Suzanne Finstad’s retelling of that comment, where she has misquoted Esposito in order to make Priscilla out to be the s*xual aggressor

excerpt is from “Child Bride” by Suzanne Finstad

Instances like this give me extreme pause when determining if a biographer could be trusted or not- and when I was reading through her book again this comment about Sheila Ryan nearly made me bust out laughing

excerpt is from “Child Bride” by Suzanne Finstad

“Sheila never had an orgasm when she was with Elvis”… like are we talking about the same Sheila Ryan or-? ⬇️

excerpt is from “Baby let’s play house” by Alanna Nash

All in all, “Child Bride” definitely makes for an interesting read (mainly the second half of the book) but it’s one that I will probably never pick up again as I cannot get over Currie Grant’s involvement, especially his claims about Priscilla and Elvis that are completely unfounded

Scandal sells quite frankly and I no longer underestimate what people will say for money, ESPECIALLY when it comes to Elvis- I mean look at the claims made by Dee Stanley who got a whopping $100,000 from the National Enquirer to tell stories about a woman she never even met (Gladys)

So I would not be surprised in the least if Currie has been handsomely compensated for selling his stories to biographers like Finstad, because again, scandal sells, and him approaching Priscilla first isn’t nearly as page-turning as Priscilla offering up s*x in order to meet Elvis

But also if you’re gonna use part of a phone call with Elvis and Red where Elvis says “that wedding thing.. I had nothing to do with it.”

Hello! This was the only picture I've ever found. But if anyone has other pictures of him in this shirt please share!

Hey Elvis lovers! I’m calling on you all for more of your favorite Elvis music! ❤️ This time, let’s hear your top three underrated soundtrack songs! I think sometimes there are songs that get overlooked because the movie wasn’t so great, or maybe it’s a lesser known song from a movie full of hits. Let me hear what you think! 😘

All I Needed Was the Rain (Stay Away Joe) - I don’t know why, but I’m a sucker for a song about rain, and I just find this one beautiful. Sorry if you love the movie, but this song (and of course Elvis’ beauty) is the only thing that made this movie worthwhile to me.

I Want to Be Free (Jailhouse Rock) - Jailhouse Rock has so many great songs that I think this one gets overlooked and doesn’t get the love it deserves. His delivery is so unique; I love the sort of staccato way he repeats some of the syllables. And the way he sings the refrain makes me think maybe these lyrics held some meaning for him.

So Close, Yet So Far (Harum Scarum) - This is another one for me that became the only reason the movie was worth watching. I think he gives a really passionate performance here, especially considering he was very disillusioned with how badly the movie was going when it was one that he had held high hopes for (from what I’ve read). Even in the lesser movies, this is a great example of how his talent shines through. ❤️

Runner-Up: Didja Ever (G.I. Blues) - Elvis seemed like he was having fun in this movie, and it shows in this performance. Even though some of the lyrics are a bit sexist (although I can’t imagine wanting to “just watch the show” with Elvis), I think the song is funny and it makes me smile.

You know the drill, everyone feel free to join in! ❤️

Dominick (Stay Away Joe) - I don’t know why but this song is always stuck in my head. At random I’ll just start singing this song or humming it. I wanted to hate it but I guess my brain is like NAH YOU LIKE IT. But also Joe Lightcloud is hot as fuck.

Clean Up Your Own Backyard (The Trouble with Girls) - Oh God, this movie, this song. Just the camera angles alone when he sings this song and the way he’s just smirking and ugh. I really just enjoy this song so much and will just play it randomly because it’s so catchy and good.

They Remind Me Too Much Of You ( It Happened at the Worlds Fair) : His voice is so beautiful and soft in this song. The lyrics, gahh.. give me a love like that. And When he’s sitting on the monorail with the little girl sleeping and he kisses her on top of the head. STOP. 😫😫😫

Tender Feeling (Kissin Cousins) : I don’t even know if this song is in the movie tbh, I watched it once and that was enough for me. Lol but his slow love songs just do it for me every time.