WAS Elvis king of cultural appropriation? Conversation after last night’s screening of the Presley biopic turned to his source of inspiration. Presenter Clara Amfo, chairing a Q&A with members of the cast, director Baz Luhrmann, and his wife, said: “Elvis would be nothing without blackness.”
She asked Yola, who plays seminal black musician Sister Rosetta Tharpe: “What did you think when you were approached for the role? You had your lovely Australian white director… what made you think ‘yes’?” “Putting the Elvis story into the context of blackness, and laying gratitude at the feet of Black America” she replied.
