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Jun 28, 2023Liked by Alaïa Aulachong

such a lovely and well explained presentation of Marie Antoinette!! i don’t know much about film and its ways and compositions, but i am quite fond of this very specific one. so many critics seem to be missing the point when it comes to Marie Antoinette and the character she was both in the movie and in her actual life, and i find it wonderful that you were able to touch upon that issue while also going in depth on the more technical parts of film making, which i found to be interesting as well!!

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aaaa thank you so much!! sofia coppola is one of my favorite directors and i think she blended a take more focused on her girlhood + how people perceive her as an actual historic figure so well. i'm glad you enjoyed my piece :+)

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Jul 2, 2023Liked by Alaïa Aulachong

hi lovely!! unrelated to this post, but sofia coppola is working on a movie based on Priscilla Presley’s memoir “Elvis and Me” that has as its theme the relationship between the two from Priscilla’s POV. i don’t think the movie is out yet, just the trailer so far, but it has already received quite some criticism for approaching this story in a very romanticized way, which it shouldn’t be as Priscilla was fourteen when she met Elvis and started their relationship. it made me think of you and this post, as i remembered you saying coppola is one of your favorite directors, and i really enjoyed some of her work as well. i was wondering maybe what your view is on this situation?? <3

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oooh, i've definitely heard about the priscilla movie! just watched the trailer and i could see why people would immediately label it as romanticization but considering how coppola almost always focuses on specifically the young, female gaze, i'm doubtful that she's going to blindly portray the relationship as entirely positive and glamorous. the trailer lingers on elvis' army jacket, her mother mentions boys in priscilla's high school, and there's some paparazzi scenes so i'm sure age and the publicized nature of the relationship is going to be a fairly focal point. also, her casting of jacob elordi seems especially purposeful... what about your thoughts?

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Jul 3, 2023Liked by Alaïa Aulachong

i’m thinking the same!! honestly, i believe the issue people are worried about when it comes to the movie is that it’s based on Priscilla’s memoir, which doesn’t paint Elvis in a predatory light at all as far as i know. an interesting quote from her writings i found is “He taught me everything: how to dress, how to walk, how to apply makeup and wear my hair, how to behave, how to return love -- his way. Over the years he became my father, husband, and very nearly God.” I found it in the very first chapter i think, and while i haven’t read the rest of the book this proves that Priscilla herself didn’t see her relationship as so many other people perceived it -- which is grooming and predatory. even the admission that Elvis taught her all those things, to me it just seems like he pushed her into a mature appearance and way of acting that didn’t necessarily justify his attraction towards a fourteen year old, but at least it made it plausible to the general public, especially in that time period. however, if we look at coppola’s other works i think we can assume she’s going to provide an insightful view of the relationship between the two through a more feminist lens, while keeping her trademark of focusing on the young girl and her experience, so i’m pretty excited to watch a movie that finally (and hopefully) portrays Elvis as what he has always been: the bad guy.

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