#elvis was not racist

[lithuilgreenleaf]

Some people say Elvis was racist; this is false

 Go to the bottom for summary (tl;dr)

I sometimes see some wrongly directed hate for Elvis and just want to try to clear it up. I’m a POC and I’m not a fan of his even a little bit, and I’m not saying he didn’t do some of whatever you accuse him of, but I don’t want people hating on others with misinformation.

Elvis was not racist. He never said anything racist, and he admired and respected black people.

The only two allegations on record that I can find against him of racism are these:

One magazine in 1957 started a rumor that Elvis Presley once said, “The only thing Ne**oes can do for me is buy my records and shine my shoes.” This claim was debunked and proven false when a black reporter, Louie Robinson, investigated. He interviewed Elvis, who declared, “I never said anything like that, and people who know me know that I wouldn't have said it.” Elvis had never even been to the place where the magazine claimed he said this quote. Robinson found no evidence that the remark had ever been made, and on the contrary elicited testimony from many individuals indicating that Presley was anything but racist, including black people who knew him since childhood and black artists who performed with him. After his investigation, Robinson concluded, "To Elvis people are people, regardless of race, color or creed." (link) (second link)

“Fight the Power” was a 1989 rap hit by Public Enemy, which had the lyrics, “Elvis was a hero to most / But he never meant shit to me / Straight-up racist that sucker was / Simple and plain / Motherfuck him and John Wayne” (John Wayne was actually racist). However, Chuck D, the singer and writer of the song, later clarified his lyric associating Elvis Presley with racism. In an interview with Newsday timed with the 25th anniversary of Presley's death, Chuck D acknowledged that Elvis was held in high esteem by black musicians, and that Elvis himself admired black musical performers. Chuck D stated that the target of his line about Elvis was the white culture which hailed Elvis as a "King" without acknowledging the black artists that came before him. (link)

One time, Quincy Jones claimed Elvis was racist, but he had never actually met Elvis. He said that a white performer named Tommy Dorsey told him Elvis was racist, after which Quincy Jones refused to work with Elvis. However, it is on record that Tommy Dorsey liked Elvis on a personal level. Quincy Jones also claimed that every time he saw Elvis, Elvis was being taught to sing by Otis Blackwell, a black composer. However, Otis Blackwell never met Elvis in his life (according to Otis himself). On top of this, Quincy Jones is known to have said some questionable things over the years. Also, Quincy Jones had state din 2002 that Elvis was one of the innovator’s of pop music.

Part of the reason Elvis is sometimes accused of racism is that much of his visual and musical performance came from African American sources. People say that he “stole” African American music, and then became known as the “King of Rock and Roll” despite the many African American performers that preceded him.

Elvis acknowledged his debt to African Americans throughout his career, such as when he stated, “A lot of people seem to think I started this business. But rock 'n' roll was here a long time before I came along. Nobody can sing that kind of music like colored people. Let's face it: I can't sing like Fats Domino can. I know that.” (That term is considered racist now but was widely used at the time)

Elvis never liked being called the “King of Rock and Roll”. It was a title forced on him by others. He believed the real “King of Rock and Roll” was Fats Domino.

The reason for his singing African American music was that he grew up in majority black community and he grew up listening to black music. He often broke segregation laws by attending black clubs (often with the help of musicians like Ike Turner) and watched black musicians perform. He loved attending all-night gospel singings at the Ellis Auditorium in Memphis. The performances he saw there are where he later took some of his dance moves and songs from.

Basically, the reason Elvis Presley sang songs by black people and performed in their style was because he liked and respected their music and style. It was his own music too, to him, because it was an integral part of his life.

Elvis always looked up to black musicians.

Once, he recalled how he would listen to Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup—the originator of "That's All Right"(which Elvis later did a cover of)—”bang his box the way I do now, and I said if I ever got to the place where I could feel all old Arthur felt, I'd be a music man like nobody ever saw.”

Once, surrounded by the Las Vegas press, Elvis was asked a question by a reporter who referred to him by his common moniker: “the king.” Rather than accept the title and all the praise that would come along with it, Elvis alerted the media of Fats Domino’s presence in the room. “No, that’s the real King of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” Elvis said.

Elvis also expressed much love for Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

One time, Elvis refused to perform a concert when the organizers refused to allow the Sweet Inspirations (Elvis’s black female backup group) to perform with him. Elvis only agreed to perform once the organizers said the Sweet Inspirations could perform with him.

Black musicians admired Elvis right back.

B.B. King ("The King of the Blues"), who maintained a friendship with Elvis throughout his life, said of him, “Let me tell you the definitive truth about Elvis Presley and racism. With Elvis, there was not a single drop of racism in that man. And when I say that, believe me I should know”. King wrote in Elvis’s defense, “Elvis didn’t steal any music from anyone. He just had his own interpretation of the music he’d grown up on, same is true for everyone. I think Elvis had integrity.” Presley also helped King land gigs, overcoming racism.

Little Richard was also friends with Elvis. Although eh pointed out that Presley’s whiteness helped his career, he did say, “I love him. That’s my buddy, my baby. Elvis is one of the greatest performers who ever lived in this world.”

"Elvis created a new style all his own, and gave an injection to black music like no other artist had ever done." - Rufus Thomas.

Sammy Davis Jr said of Elvis, “I have a respect for Elvis and my friendship. It ain't my business what he did in private. The only thing I want to know is, 'Was he my friend?', 'Did I enjoy him as a performer?', 'Did he give the world of entertainment something?' - and the answer is YES on all accounts. The other jazz just don't matter.” He also said, “Early on somebody told me that Elvis was black. And I said 'No, he's white but he's down-home'. And that is what it's all about. Not being black or white it's being 'down-home' and which part of down-home you come from.”

James Brown once wrote, “I wasn't just a fan, I was his brother. He said I was good and I said he was good; we never argued about that. Elvis was a hard worker, dedicated, and God loved him ... I love him and hope to see him in heaven. There'll never be another like that soul brother.”

Muhammad Ali admired Elvis. “When I was 15 years old and saw Elvis on TV, I wanted to be Elvis,” said Ali. “Other kids in the neighborhood were listening to Ray Charles and James Brown, but I listened to Elvis. I admired him so much and I decided that if I was going to be famous, I’d do it just like him. He’s one of the reasons I wanted to entertain people and be loved by the people and make the girls admire me so much.” He later developed a friendship with Elvis.

There is evidence Elvis donated money to civil rights organizations. (link) (and charitable organizations)

tl;dr Elvis wasn’t racist, and he had no intention fo stealing music. He thought he was just another singer of those genres of music which he admired. He didn’t even think he was that good. He believed there were many black singers much better than him. He credited black people as the sources of the music he performed, and never thought he was king of anything. He loved, respected, and was inspired by black performers, and many of them loved him back.

The fact that interpreting black people’s music made Elvis more rich and famous than black performers was mostly the fault of the racist white public. He appreciated black music and black performers, who were role models to him, while the white public refused to listen to black people’s music unless it was performed by a white person. He did try to use his success to help black performers break racial barriers though, and his success did maybe open the door for black performers to gain access to the mainstream public.

tl;dr again: Elvis had a sincere affection for gospel, soul, and R&B, and a willingness to acknowledge his debt to the African-American musicians who had influenced him.

Elvis had problems, but being racist in this way wasn’t one of them.

If you hate him for other reasons, that’s fine, because the man was problematic as hell, especially regarding women.

[robotpussy]

I'm the anon who sent the "Houng Dog" ask, just wanted to add: Elvis was not racist himself, the system that made him big was. He gave credit to black people, and covered some songs by black artists because he liked and respected them, not because he wanted to get famous on them. Elvis had problems; I get why you dislike him (I'm a POC too), but he wasn't racist. Also, sorry if I came across as rude at any point, I honestly never meant to.

i dont care i still dont like him 🤷🏾‍♀️ and "im a poc too".... poc is not a race babes

[transjohnnycash]

You okay?

I'M GOOD I'M COOL I'm so cool

[andimthedad]

Chuck Berry

[Scene: Luke, age 18, has been talking about the life and music of Elvis Presley lately after watching his biopic; then, later, we're looking through the new inventory of used records at a local music shop....] Me: "Oooh, this is a good deal on a Chuck Berry album." Luke: "Chuck who?" Me: "Are you serious?" Luke: "What?" Me: "You at least recognize 'Johnny B. Goode,' right?" Luke: "Uh... I guess...." Me: "How on earth do you know Elvis but not Chuck Berry?!?" Luke: ... Me: "I'm sorry. I have failed as a parent. Lord help us." Luke: "What kind of music does Chuck Berry play?" Me: "Look, I know we're white people, but you have to understand that Elvis was only the 'King of Rock and Roll' because he's white. Black musicians like Berry had already invented rock and roll. Even John Lennon said Chuck Berry was the founder of rock. But radio stations were pretty segregated, so Elvis got airtime and Berry didn't." Luke: "So, basically: racism." Me: "Basically." Luke: "Did Elvis steal rock and roll from Berry?" Me: "I don't think either one of them would put it that way, but it does look kinda like it from certain angles." Luke: "So you're getting the record, right?"

[goldmanguyperson]

yay gorvung

[kavehater]

JUST LISTENED TO HOLLYWOODS DEAD AND ITS TALKING ABOUT MARYLYN MONROE AND I SUDDENLY REMEMBERED HOW MESSY AMERICA WAS AT THAT TIME the only time America isn’t insufferable CAUSE I WOULD GIVE UP SM TO EXPERIENCE THE PLOT TWISTS IRL LMAO

[scary-ivy]

Like purity culture sucks, let people enjoy things, thinking critically Ect Ect BUT if you like a piece of media that is Problematic™ (I'm saying this as a known problematic media enjoyer), you should at least acknowledge the problems with it when other people bring them up, and understand that people have a right to criticize it. You shouldn't just completely ignore all the problems and then get mad at people that do.

I remember seeing RWBY fans compiling a list that was like "stuff about RWBY that doesn't criticize it in any way, so you can avoid the RWBY hate". Like they just wanted to create a space where they could avoid all criticisms of RWBY, without acknowledging that some that "hate" is people justifiably calling out the subtle racism in the show.

I saw someone recommending Homestuck to someone else like this "yeah they say the r-slur it and there are some racist stereotypes, BUT you should still read it despite those things, it's really good!". Like if I was in that situation I would probably say "BUT personally I still enjoy it". I wouldn't be telling people they absolutely should read it. You might enjoy it, but the person you're recommeding it to might have trauma surrounding ableism/racism, so your insistence that they should ignore these things and read it anyways comes off as really shitty.

It could be that you're privileged enough to enjoy something that has Problematic™ elements, but for some people those elements hit too close to home and they can't enjoy the work, they can't separate the good and bad elements of the work in the way that you can, and that's ok. They're entitled to criticize the work, and if you're making excuses on behalf of your favorite media for things that are legitimately harmful, then you're not consuming the work critically, you're literally supporting the bad parts of it.

[showtoonzfan]

I never understand how HH/HB fans get upset and defensive when people say that the shows target audience is for white people/white queers. What did these people expect. Last time I checked the most famous characters/characters upfront are all white coded, and any black character doesn’t even look black. The creator meanwhile talks like a white fake Starbucks mean girl and she is one, along with most of her friends/higher ups who work for her. Her work is geared towards kids and middle aged edge lords who are obsessed with swearing and sex and favor/fetishize yaoi, be so fr. Y’all are the same people who turn racist the minute a black person says they don’t like the show, or when someone says the POC characters are drawn with zero melanin because GOD forbid we ask for a few visible curls or puffs, or god forbid we ask that the color of a black/Hispanic woman not to be grey. Meanwhile this white ass fanbase will turn into Elvis fangirls at a con (with zero POC’s in sight mind you) when they see their favorite white coded rich twink rapist owl character on screen, yet have the nerve to preach to black people about what they THINK classism and slavery is, just to defend dogshit early 2000’s writing like get the fuck outta here.

[arrolyn1114]

Yeah the fat shaming angers me too. And it's usually by people who know nothing about the health problems he struggled with his entire life. I admit I had no idea the extent of it until I read "Destined To Die Young" by Sally Hoedel. It was a hard read but it was worth it since I now have a better understanding of what he was going through on a daily basis.

And omg the racist BS! That man didn't have a racist bone in his body. Like pick up a book and do some research and you'll see how much respect he had for the black community. The other day I reblogged a post about how he threatened to cancel at a venue in Texas because they didn't want him bringing the Sweets with him. He said NOPE, if they can't come, I don't come. Hell yes!

And yeah, I know a lot of people out there aren't going to bother reading reputable sources for info on him and it annoys me to no end.

The racist comments also especially irk me because in my WIP my OC is a biracial woman. In Jerry's book he talks about how Elvis had a crush on Myrna from the Sweets and persued her before she and Jerry got serious. And there's a video where she talks about them flirting. She saw him as more like a brother though so that's why it didn't get serious and she ended up dating Jerry.

The moral of the story is, misinformation and jokes at his expense both anger me and exhaust me. I feel you!

Do you also ever feel nervous reading about Elvis online? Especially if it’s discourse about his career or personal life from other people. I always get anxiety just because I usually know what the comments are gonna be..

YES ALL THE TIME. When some people do tiktok videos of food he ate even if it's just innocent and they're making it. I already know the comments are going to be fat shaming him or just making fun of him in general and it pisses me off. Don't even get me started on the comments about him being racist.

[hotvintagepoll]

Propaganda

Eartha Kitt (Anna Lucasta, St. Louis Blues)—My friend and I have a saying: NOBODY is Eartha Kitt. A thousand have tried, and they've all come up empty and will continue to do so. Everyone knows her for something: from "Santa Baby" to Yzma in Emperor's New Groove to Catwoman to making Lady Bird Johnson cry for the Vietnam War. She was a master of comedy and sex, an extremely vocal activist, and she aged like fine wine... I honestly don't know what I can say about her that hasn't already been said, so I'll stick to linking all my propaganda. Like what else do you want from me. She was iconic at everything she ever did. Literally name another. How can anyone even think of her and not want to absolutely drown?

Ann-Margret (Bye Bye Birdie, Viva Las Vegas)—While she started as a singer, the lovely and talented Ann-Margret also left her mark as an actress in Hollywood. She won a Golden Globe for her first role in Pocketful of Miracles and was nominated again for Bye Bye Birdie, and very nearly stole the show from Elvis Presley himself in Viva Las Vegas.

This is round 3 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.

[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]

Eartha Kitt:

"A hot vintage woman who was not just known for her voice, beauty, poise, and presence, but also her unapologetic ways of speaking about how she was mistreated in the show business as a girl who grew up on cotton fields in South Carolina in the 1930s through the 1940s coming to Broadway first and then Hollywood."

"Have you watched her sing?? Have you seen her face?? Have you heard her talk?? How could you not fall instantly in love. She makes me incoherent with how hot she is."

"She can ACT she can SING she can speak FOUR LANGUAGES she is a GODDESS!!! Although she is (rightfully) remembered for her singing, TV appearances (Catwoman my beloved), and later film roles, her early appearances in film are no less impressive or noteworthy!! She’s an amazing actress with so much charisma in every role. She was also blacklisted from Hollywood for 10 years for criticizing the Johnson administration/Vietnam War, so. Iconic. Also Orson Welles apparently called her “the most exciting woman in the world.”

"She had such a stunning, remarkable appearance, like she could tear you to shreds with just a glance- but the most undeniable part of her hotness was her voice, and it makes sense that it's what most people nowadays know her for. Nothing encapsulates the sheer magnetism of her singing better than this clip of her and Nat King Cole in St. Louis Blues, she pops in at 2:49. Also I know it's post-1970 but her song that was cut from Emperor's New Groove is likely to make you feel Feelings."

Even with as racist as Hollywood was in the 1950s and 60s, Eartha Kitt STILL managed to have a thriving career. She also once had a threesome with Paul Newman and James Dean, and called out LBJ over the Vietnam War so hard that it made First Lady Johnson cry. Eartha Kitt was talented, sexy, and a total badass activist.

Ann-Margret:

She can sing! She can dance! She had excellent chemistry with Elvis! She reportedly survived a 22 foot fall off of a stage! The movies and old and problematic but I love her 1000%

[ckret2]

Conspiracy theories are an important part of the series' identity, what's wrong with them? Some have nasty implications if you really overthink it, but they're generally fun

I didn't say I'm not gonna include conspiracy theories in the story altogether. I said I'm not validating any REAL WORLD conspiracy theories, and I'm not talking about antisemitic & racist conspiracy theories. I'm happy to crack jokes debunking or mocking real world conspiracy theories. I'm happy to create new conspiracy theories for the fic that are totally divorced from any existing conspiracy theories.

But when I'm talking about the ones I'm not playing with, I ain't talking about "Elvis is still alive" conspiracies here. With a lot of the most oft-referenced goofy-sounding high profile conspiracy theories, they're not nasty "if you really overthink it." These theories are, in their very origins, vehicles for hatred toward minority groups. Browse for a while. Notice how many of the conspiracies that have ridiculous traits that make them seem fun on the surface are past the antisemitic point of no return.

Secret reptilian overlords disguised as humans? A deliberate effort to disguise centuries-old antisemitic conspiracies. "Jews secretly control the world," "Jews help others of their bloodline gain & maintain power," "Jews drink the blood of Christian children"—blood libel is a thing that real people believe and have believed for centuries and has historically been used to justify killing whole Jewish communities—and the exact rhetoric used in these obviously antisemitic claims was reskinned for the "reptilian overlords" conspiracy. And which real people do you think believers in the conspiracy disproportionately accuse of secretly being cold-blooded inhuman monsters trying to disguise themselves amongst normal humans? Reptilian overlords is a popular one to make jokes about because "the president's a lizard in disguise" sounds funny when stripped of context—and typically the people making jokes either don't know where it came from or don't care.

Hell, the entire "a cabal of Jewish people sorry we meant 'global elites' secretly rules the world" is one of the oldest, most versatile, and most popular of antisemetic conspiracy theories.

And check out some of the more ridiculous-sounding ones that pop culture likes making jokes about.

Hollow Earth? That one's "inside the earth is a paradise populated by Vikings (the manliest white people!) and Nazis. Yay Nazis!" A whole bunch of secret continent/secret moon colony/hidden geography conspiracies are very "yay Nazis". The Illuminati secretly control everything? For approximately a century, "Jews + Freemasons + Illuminati control the world" has been an extremely prominent conspiracy theory that's branched off into countless other conspiracy theories still believed today (it fed into the reptilian overlord conspiracy, for instance). Adrenochrome? Hollywood (and other "global elites") are trafficking children to harvest a chemical from their blood that they can inject? This is literally just blood libel again. Satanic Panic, the idea that there are real Satanic cults sacrificing children left and right, and the goofy things resulting from the panic like Chick Tracts claiming D&D will damn you? Innocent people were sent to jail for murder because they were gothy enough to be accused of Satanism. People (including the right's favorite targets: immigrants and queer people!) spent decades in jail over accusations that they were ritualistically sexually abusing children—crimes that never even happened. Even less directly harmful shit like "aliens built the pyramids" is only possible if you begin from a position of assuming it's more likely ALIENS built the pyramids than that ancient African people were capable of doing it and then ignore the fact that we do know how the damn things were built.

I don't think it's entertaining for a fictional story to go "hey, you know this conspiracy that was created to promote prejudice against minorities and has been used to hurt and kill people? Wouldn't it be sooo silly if there were a world where it's actually TRUE?? Wouldn't it be so funny if the antisemites and racists and homophobes and fascists were right about everything?"

So no. I'm not gonna use a fictional setting to validate any real world conspiracies; and I'm not gonna bring a whiff of antisemitic & racist conspiracies into a goofy comedy setting.

[dukeofdelirium]

I know Priscilla’s ugly ass is not out here trying to trash Michael Jackson’s name publicly when she allowed her own boyfriend to sexually abuse her DAUGHTER for YEARS!

Priscilla, burn in fucking hell already. Michael never took advantage of your damn daughter. Michael was never a huge fan of Elvis Presley, either! And he did NOT marry Lisa Marie to get ahold of her last name or Elvis’s music 🤣

Michael already owned Elvis songs long before he ever got with Lisa. And he sure as shit didn’t need y’all’s surname. He was a JACKSON. And not just any Jackson, but THEE Michael Jackson. The self made King of Pop, Rock and Soul. A self made billionaire by the age of 19. The greatest selling solo artist of all time. The most awarded artist that’s ever lived! A man who successfully owned HALF of the music industry.

Get the fuck outta here and go flap your botched jaws somewhere else bitch. Wanna talk about taking advantage of your daughter? Let’s talk about your boyfriend! Who admitted in his own book that he wanted to have sex with your 10 year old daughter! A man you NEVER turned over to the cops!

Priscilla, you always hated Michael because you felt threatened by his success which greatly overshadowed your husbands. You hated Michael because he genuinely loved your daughter, and any shred of happiness she possessed you wanted to swallow and destroy!

You hated Michael because he actually treated Lisa Marie well. You got inside Lisa’s head and convinced her not to have kids with Michael because YOUR racist white ass didn’t want mixed grand babies! YOU got in Lisa’s head and convinced her that Michael didn’t love her, that he was going to divorce her, that he was out to get her. YOU made Lisa leave only for her to later find out that everything she’d been told by you was a lie.

But by that point it was too late, wasn’t it? Michael didn’t trust your daughter anymore, not like he once did. And you knew that was all you needed to do, to keep them apart. Make them distrust each other, when the only person that should have ever been distrusted was your snake ass!

Michael and Lisa deserved better than your ugly ass leeching off of their relationship. Lisa deserved a better mother than you. You ruined their marriage when they genuinely loved each other. Shameful.

Michael is NOT your scapegoat, Priscilla. Shut the fuck up!

[lustnhim]

🦇 “welcome to my blog!” 🦇

ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅ abt me! — my names vivian, but u can call me vi or viv! i’m 19 and i’m from ky! im a big daddy elvis enthusiast n’ my fav era is 1975-1977 <3

ᯓ ᡣ𐭩 my interests! — elvis (obvi) ,writing ,drawing, vintage + gothic fashion, old school rock, austin butler, collecting merch, and pretty lil’ pictures !

₊˚⊹ ʚɞ interact! — elvis + austin fans, anyone with my interests, minors may interact with anything on my blog unless marked ‘mdni’

��� ₊⋆𖦹 dni! — basic dni criteria (homophobic + transphobic, racist etc..), elvis haters, rude ppl, those who shit on newer fans, gatekeepers

𐙚․︎ʺ︎. ݁₊ ⊹ on this blog! — this is mainly a photos blog but i also plan on posting fanfics aswell! (i wanna mention it’s formatted for mobile so things look a lil goofy on computers )

⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ fanfics! — MY MASTERLIST! 🦢 my writing is kind of mediocre but i’ll always put 100% effort in it <3 i’ll write pretty much anything and my requests are open rn so don’t be shy !

₊˚⊹ ʚɞ extra! — if u wanna be friends PLZZZ just ask me! i barely have any friends who love elvis like i do so it would be rlly nice to have some !!

‧₊˚ ✧ “ i really love you baby, cross my heart “ ✧˚₊‧

[mydarlingangel333]

welcome ౨ৎ⋆｡⋆𐙚⋆.˚₊⊹♡

౨ৎ my name is reneè and I'm 16 years old

౨ৎ my hobbies include photography, content creation, making collages, writing stories, reading, listening to music, and sometimes cooking

౨ৎ my favorite books are little women, pretty little liars, alice in wonderland, peter pan, basically any fairy tales, and romance

౨ৎ my favorite movies are the og disney princess movies, elvis, priscilla, emma, little women, pride and prejudice, sabrina, a roman holiday, and the romeo & juliet with olivia hussey

౨ৎ my music taste is a mix of lana del rey, hozier, beabadoobee, laufey, ethel cain, mitski, arctic monkeys, the lumineers, movie soundtracks, and clairo

౨ৎ i don't have a set aesthetic tbh, it's a mix of old and new gen coquette, balletcore, and downtown girl

౨ৎ DNI if you are a pedo, hateful, racist, homophobic, transphobic, against people doing what makes them happy, or if you're here to spread misery, thank you ☺️

౨ৎ my favorite blogs include: @malusokay, @agirlwithglam, @nanasangelwings, @angel-dustblgs, @coco-oats, @irlcupcake, @cinnamonspicevanilla

[bbykissesdolls]

Welcome to . . .

୨୧　꒱　Doll 's　House　🍥 ✧

Call me Doll :3 ⠀ i'm 18 ! ✿⠀ 𓂃she/her

What this blog will be about : Just a silly girlblog with silly dreams and silly posts :3 , minors dni !!

Likes : sleeping, reading, yapping, praises, getting attention, coffee, tea ( yes both! ) girlblogging, writing, music, singing, pink, pretty things and moreee.

Dislikes : mean & rude people, haters, homophobic/transphobic/racist/mysognists/religiophobic etc people.

Fave artists : Taylor Swift, Ldr, Sabrina Carpenter, Olivia Rodrigo, Maisie Peters, Conan Grey, Lorde, Gracie Abrahms, Chappel Roan, Elvis Presley, Radiohead, The Strokes, Twenty One pilots, Girl in Red, Clairo, Beabadobee and many many more !

✿︎ : i'm also always looking for new friends so dm always open! i also love getting asks ! i don't share any other socials with anyone on here, so please don't ask me for them !! i'd like to keep my identity anon, thankyou !! please know that if i'm not responding, it probably means i'm not comfortable with your blog's content. otherwise, looking forward to making new friends !! 🤍

✿︎ : i do not send pictures or share any other social media platforms here. please do not expect any if you're talking to me. however, asks, tasks and dms on my tumblr can get as icky as you want them to be !!

[crowleysgirl56]

Book Omens! A meandering journey to reading Good Omens to my son. Part three.

Things of note:

- The Elvis gag. I absolutely didn’t get this joke the first or even second time I read the book. (Is it included in season 1? I don’t remember it). The set up of a diner chef implied to be an aging Elvis, and then the payoff of Death later on in the biker bar playing the trivia machine game which asks what year did Elvis die and his reply “I NEVER TOUCHED HIM”. Chef’s kiss. 10 out of 10. What a brilliant call back. That is 100% a Terry joke.

- below screen shot: this hit me a little hard. He was so upset he cursed Aziraphale as well. From the point of view in the book, Crowley was scared for himself because Hell was after him and that he went to Aziraphale for (what I’m assuming was) protection. The fact that Aziraphale wasn’t there makes it seem more like a betrayal. He doesn’t cry about losing his best friend.

- in addition to this, the more I read Crowley’s sections after this, he really is very scared of Hell, but there is no indication in the rest of those scenes that he is upset with Aziraphale not being there or missing him. It’s interesting to see just how much the fandom projected onto that relationship in the times since. Like, honestly their relationship is so subtle it’s almost barely there.

- something that hit me terribly (and I had to explain it to my son because he was VERY confused), were the incredibly racist sections of Aziraphale flying around the globe trying to possess a body. (As an aside it’s interesting how the book provides no context around why he’s doing this. We at least get the added scenes in season 1 of him in heaven and then speaking to Crowley before possessing Madame Tracy). First he speaks to an Australian First Nation person, then a native Haitian both of which are performing rituals to summon their ancestors. In basically a very stereotypical manner. The type of trope scene you used to get in 90’s Western media because they’ve misunderstood a specific cultural practise. Completely forgot about these sections. I KNOW this is written in the late 80’s and we shouldn’t judge it based on what we know now. Still isn’t great and disappointing I never noticed it before. So glad that wasn’t included in season 1.

- Speaking of we shouldn’t judge things from the 80’s but I’m going to do it anyway, the First Nation person calls Aziraphale a poofter. Ssiiiiggghhhhh! Ok, apologies for not censoring the word, but it’s very colloquially Australian so I thought if I censored it people might not know what it is. AWFUL gay slur (and one I’m happy to say I very rarely hear anymore. I think we’ve finally put that one in the bin). But honestly, I get they’re trying to really push the idea that Aziraphale appears very gay, but is this necessary? Also, in Australia in the 80’s, did we really decide that anyone with a posh accent was automatically gay? There are some times when I miss the 80’s and 90’s, but man, stuff like this! The 80’s and 90’s can get in the bin!

- I will admit Aziraphale possessing the American Evangelical was pretty funny though. The speech he gives is quite interesting because it implies he is FAR more questioning of Heaven and the ineffable plan than he is in the show. Like, he really is very resigned to not knowing how it will end and he doesn’t have that much faith in heaven.

We’re in the home stretch now. Tune in soon for the last part of the book.