Philippine Butterfly

Posts Tagged ‘impersonators’

I don’t think I’m the only one who first thinks of Richard Nixon when they remember Elvis Presley.  For both of their sakes, I wish the picture didn’t exist in my head at all, but there was something about it that seemed and still seems so iconic to me.  He was as famous as anyone could ever get.  In order to set foot at the door of the White House of all places, completely gone halfway to the moon and four sheets to the wind, carrying a pistol, and be invited in rather than taken down and beaten like a savage dog is a feat only this King could get away with.  Even the Queen Mother has probably had a few shakedowns in public places before, but this is something entirely different.

There’s also something terrible iconic about Fort Lauderdale.  Where luxury hotels are every bit as decadent as you can imagine, and there is a gorgeousness of the place that still carries some of the traces of its spring break glory.  There’s a lot more to it these days, of course, but it’s easy sometimes to sit back on the water and start to see Elvis.  It could be his ghost, or it could be any number of impersonators who work at being him in town.

This kind of legacy is a fascinating one, and is kind of like Genet’s idea where love means the desire to become the other person.  Or it could be simply that there are a lot of people out there who remember Girl Happy in a better light than I do.  It would be one thing to think about Elvis and clams on the beach, but to have to live it every single day would be Sartre’s real nightmare.  Fortunately, nothing and everything can happen here in the course of any afternoon, and the best part about it is that the beach will still call you, no matter what you may have done the day before.