Musical Mondays Week 37 Blue Hawaii

[SaraK 1980]

Was anybody else upset by the way "Chad" picked up the dog? Also, where you upset that that dog never came back?

 

OMG YES. I was getting so nervous for the dog.

 

Also where did the dog come from? He wasn't there before swimming and then just appeared.

[Cam Bert 8145]

 

OMG YES. I was getting so nervous for the dog.

 

Also where did the dog come from? He wasn't there before swimming and then just appeared.

I believe he came with Ito and the rest of the dude brahs. Speaking of which, I know they didn't really move the story but I loved the stuff with Chad and his friends. They also had all the best songs in the movie because they were up tempo and fun. Cameron H wasn't kidding about Ito Eats.

[Cam Bert 8145]

I also wanted to add, that there is apparently two eras of Elvis movies - pre-Army and post-Army. Pre-Army Elvis movies are generally considered to be better. Those include King Creole, Heartbreak Hotel, and Love me Tender. In those he would play more rebellious characters. Post-Army they wanted to market Elvis as more "Family Friendly." This movie was the first he did after spending two years in the Army. It was during this time that he played his last live performance for nearly a decade - a benefit concert for a Pearl Harbor memorial.

I was just thinking about this and how in this movie he is very wholesome but he's also suppose to be rebellious but in the most family friendly way. His family is rich and of high status yet he wants to hang out with his low status friends and rejects his family's wealth because he wants to stand on his own. Also given what little I know about Elvis this seems to be also a thing with him because instead of hanging out with lots of celebs and such it seemed he was very good to his old friends and had a large entourage of old childhood friends.

[Cameron H. 23786]

I was just thinking about this and how in this movie he is very wholesome but he's also suppose to be rebellious but in the most family friendly way. His family is rich and of high status yet he wants to hang out with his low status friends and rejects his family's wealth because he wants to stand on his own. Also given what little I know about Elvis this seems to be also a thing with him because instead of hanging out with lots of celebs and such it seemed he was very good to his old friends and had a large entourage of old childhood friends.

 

He did have a lot of childhood friends that he hung with, but after watching The Searcher (which I do recommend - btw), I’m not sure if that was really something within his control. His manager, Col. Tom Parker, kept a tight reign on Elvis and only allow him to fraternize with specific people. I want to say he really didn’t like Elvis hanging out with Ann-Margret - his co-star in Viva Las Vegas. Parker was afraid if Elvis saw the freedom other celebrities enjoyed, it would convince Elvis to leave him. It’s all really sad.

 

I think the most mind-blowing thing I learned was - aside from his two years in Germany while he was in the Army - Elvis never once left America. It’s not that he didn’t want to do a World Tour, but Parker - who was Dutch born and not a legal American citizen - was afraid to leave the country in the off chance he might not be re-admitted. Since he couldn’t leave the country himself, and therefore unable to exert his influence over Presley, he always made excuses why they couldn’t do an international tour. The televised “Aloha from Hawaii” event was a compromise so Elvis could “perform” in other countries.

 

All the crap movies Elvis did during the Sixties - including Blue Hawaii - were all forced on him by Parker and the studio. They depressed Elvis who wanted to do projects with more depth. This depression would contribute to the drug addiction that ultimately led to his death.

 

Um...that was depressing...

 

Shaka Brah!

 

[tomspanks 9039]

It was fun to see Hawaii, the songs were fun and I loved all of Maile's outfits.

 

The biggest (only?) twist in the movie was when Maile took off the skirt portion of the dress with a snap of the wrist and voila, swimsuit. I really thought it was a regular dress.

[Cameron H. 23786]

I think what upset me the most (in the beginning) is when “Chad” and Mailie go for a swim and he gets in the boat with his boys and just straight up ditches her - lol Like, he doesn’t even offer to let her in. They just cruise right on by.

 

[PollyDarton 1807]

Was anybody else upset by the way "Chad" picked up the dog? Also, where you upset that that dog never came back?

Yes me! He was holding him by the arms! I guess that dog ain't never caught a rabbit...

 

 

The biggest (only?) twist in the movie was when Maile took off the skirt portion of the dress with a snap of the wrist and voila, swimsuit. I really thought it was a regular dress.

 

I find it interesting that there was no real differentiating between the fashion of the "youth" and the fashion of the adults in this film. You would think that a costume designer would want to make a divide since that's one of the ONLY things this movie is actually about. We see Elvis in white pants/shorts and a Hawaiian shirt... and so do we see every other man in the film. The young girls were wearing shirt waist dresses or skirts and blouses... just like all the adult women. It's hard to see the one girl as 17 since they all look 40 to me. That's the sad truth about fashion though... older styles make us think of older people.

If you didn't know - it might be very hard to pick out which is the "adult" in this lineup.

[tomspanks 9039]

I think what upset me the most (in the beginning) is when “Chad” and Mailie go for a swim and he gets in the boat with his boys and just straight up ditches her - lol Like, he doesn’t even offer to let her in. They just cruise right on by.

 

I noticed Chad was constantly ditching her. The instance you mentioned, at the “picnic” when he suddenly gets the idea he needs to go get a job at the travel agency, and then later at the beach again.

[Cameron H. 23786]

I noticed Chad was constantly ditching her. The instance you mentioned, at the “picnic” when he suddenly gets the idea he needs to go get a job at the travel agency, and then later at the beach again.

 

I love that the stake in this movie is "become a tour guide."

[tomspanks 9039]

So.....when should we talk about the spanking?

[FisterRoboto 7499]

So, I am totally fascinated with the opening scene of this movie. It's, like, ridiculously bad. I tried to find just that scene on YouTube, but apparently, no one is as interested in it as I am.

 

I have questions about EVERYTHING in it. For starters, she tries to run from the cop. The cop literally has to pull his bike in front of her to get her to stop. But then he comes to her car and is like, "I thought you were mad at me. I haven't had to chase you for a week." I know that it's a pretty lady and all and that this is has that weird, fucked-up 60s psuedo-innocence y'all have already talked about, but there's no way that cop isn't like, "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

 

Also, he says that he has let her off with a warning multiple times. Like, how many? THEN when he tells her "if you fly now, you'll pay later" (WHO EVEN TALKS LIKE THIS?!) she goes, "Please, no lectures" and then tells him Chad is coming home and she's on the airport. So homeboy gives her a fucking police escort!

 

This cop is as bad at being a cop as the actor playing him was at acting (bad acting is normally not something I harp on, but man...this was real bad).

 

I watched this scene, like, five times last night. It's totally bananas and makes no sense. And in the greater context of the movie, I don't get what its purpose is. Is it supposed to set up Maile as a woman who plays by her own rules? Is it supposed to show her dedication to Chad (who is making out with another woman two scenes later)? I really don't know what the point of the scene is.

 

Also, this movie takes place in Honolulu. But fucking EVERYONE knows who Chad is like it's a town of 200 people. Even the fucking lady handing out leis at the airport is like, "OH SHIT CHAD'S BACK?!"

 

It's so perplexing. And I honestly spent most of the rest of the movie trying to crack these mysteries.

 

To no avail.

[FisterRoboto 7499]

 

I love that the stake in this movie is "become a tour guide."

I believe you mean "tourist guide," my friend.

 

So.....when should we talk about the spanking?

Is never good with everyone else?

[Cameron H. 23786]

So.....when should we talk about the spanking?

 

Now is fine.

 

So, like, when he said "You need a spanking" I thought it was just an expression. Like, "You're being a brat you dumb little kid." What I wasn't expecting was for the movie to go full on Mclintock/True Grit. And that fucking does it! He "fixes" her! That plot line is done! Problem resolved.

 

I just loved this exchange too:

 

"I hope you didn't get a head cold..."

(laughs) "No, ma'am. Just the opposite."

 

I don't know. I was shocked. For an adult man to take a 17-year-old girl over his knee like that to "teach her a lesson"...It was no bueno.

[Cameron H. 23786]

I believe you mean "tourist guide," my friend.

 

Of course! I stand corrected.

[tomspanks 9039]

 

Now is fine.

 

So, like, when he said "You need a spanking" I thought it was just an expression. Like, "You're being a brat you dumb little kid." What I wasn't expecting was for the movie to go full on Mclintock/True Grit. And that fucking does it! He "fixes" her! That plot line is done! Problem resolved.

 

I just loved this exchange too:

 

"I hope you didn't get a head cold..."

(laughs) "No, ma'am. Just the opposite."

 

I don't know. I was shocked. For an adult man to take a 17-year-old girl over his knee like that to "teach her a lesson"...It was no bueno.

 

It was bananas! Ellie tries to kill herself and Chad tries to help by...spanking her? WTF! And next morning at brunch, she's sitting on extra cushions plus that line you mentioned. So Ellie had to explain what happened to her to the rest of the group? Can you imagine that conversation?

 

Anyway, the actress, Jenny Maxwell, was a distant cousin of Marilyn Monroe according to Wikipedia. Sadly, she was killed at age 39.

[SaraK 1980]

 

The biggest (only?) twist in the movie was when Maile took off the skirt portion of the dress with a snap of the wrist and voila, swimsuit. I really thought it was a regular dress.

 

I honest to god was shocked at that moment and really thought way too hard about the way the dress/swimsuit was constructed. All I've got is that it'd be a freaking nightmare if you had to use the bathroom during the day, but also I kinda want one anyway.

 

So, I am totally fascinated with the opening scene of this movie. It's, like, ridiculously bad. I tried to find just that scene on YouTube, but apparently, no one is as interested in it as I am.

 

That all confused me, plus the airport scene with her just running from the parking lot straight onto the airfield, and the real time shot of a plane landing. It was SO LONG. Then he lets her drive and almost gets them into a car accident - you had the chance to drive, you knew where she was likely taking you! Why was any of that in there? Nothing in the first like 15 minute tied into the rest of the movie aside from 'Chad just arrived home and is avoiding his parents'.

 

Also side note on his parents - grown women that call their husbands 'daddy' gross me out to no end. I think runner up was that guy constantly calling mai tai's 'Tummy Warmers'. What the hell was that about?

 

I don't know. I was shocked. For an adult man to take a 17-year-old girl over his knee like that to "teach her a lesson"...It was no bueno.

 

I'm still not sure what the takeaway was. She was a sexed up bratty teen because no one had taken the time to beat it out of her?

[tomspanks 9039]

That all confused me, plus the airport scene with her just running from the parking lot straight onto the airfield, and the real time shot of a plane landing. It was SO LONG. Then he lets her drive and almost gets them into a car accident - you had the chance to drive, you knew where she was likely taking you! Why was any of that in there? Nothing in the first like 15 minute tied into the rest of the movie aside from 'Chad just arrived home and is avoiding his parents'.

 

Also side note on his parents - grown women that call their husbands 'daddy' gross me out to no end. I think runner up was that guy constantly calling mai tai's 'Tummy Warmers'. What the hell was that about?

 

At the airport, Maile just leaves her car. When she and Elvis leave the airport, the car is parked in the parking lot! So the cop not only gave her a police escort, he parked her car for her?

 

I was confused for a while who "Daddy" was. I wasn't sure if he was Angela Lansbury's husband or father. It didn't help that Jack was hanging out with them and he seemed more age appropriate for Angela's character.

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

Can I just say that, between Blue Hawaii and Beautiful Creatures, I've had a crazy movie weekend?!

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

 

I honest to god was shocked at that moment and really thought way too hard about the way the dress/swimsuit was constructed. All I've got is that it'd be a freaking nightmare if you had to use the bathroom during the day, but also I kinda want one anyway.

 

 

 

That all confused me, plus the airport scene with her just running from the parking lot straight onto the airfield, and the real time shot of a plane landing. It was SO LONG. Then he lets her drive and almost gets them into a car accident - you had the chance to drive, you knew where she was likely taking you! Why was any of that in there? Nothing in the first like 15 minute tied into the rest of the movie aside from 'Chad just arrived home and is avoiding his parents'.

 

Also side note on his parents - grown women that call their husbands 'daddy' gross me out to no end. I think runner up was that guy constantly calling mai tai's 'Tummy Warmers'. What the hell was that about?

 

 

 

I'm still not sure what the takeaway was. She was a sexed up bratty teen because no one had taken the time to beat it out of her?

Showing my age here but I remember an episode of Silver Spoons that had the same idea. The son wasn't sure the dad loved him because the dad never "disciplined" his son. The son started acting up with the usual sitcom results. Poor little rich kid problems.

[Cameron H. 23786]

I'm still not sure what the takeaway was. She was a sexed up bratty teen because no one had taken the time to beat it out of her?

 

Honestly, when the teenage girls came into the picture, I was pretty concerned. So, imagine my (pleasant) surprise, when Elvis is not only adamant about them being too young, but actually gets in a fight with an older man for trying to take advantage. He even refers to it as "robbing the cradle."

 

That being said...

 

What's REALLY weird is that when Elvis met Priscilla Presley in 1959, he was 24...and she was 14! Which means, that in 1961 when this was filmed and released, she would have only been 16 - a year younger than Jenny Maxwell's character was supposed to be! Like, did the script writer add this in as a jab at Elvis? How did Elvis feel about having to deliver those lines?

[Quasar Sniffer 4174]

 

Honestly, when the teenage girls came into the picture, I was pretty concerned. So, imagine my (pleasant) surprise, when Elvis is not only adamant about them being too young, but actually gets in a fight with an older man for trying to take advantage. He even refers to it as "robbing the cradle."

 

That being said...

 

What's REALLY weird is that when Elvis met Priscilla Presley in 1959, he was 24...and she was 14! Which means, that in 1961 when this was filmed and released, she would have only been 16 - a year younger than Jenny Maxwell's character was supposed to be! Like, did the script writer add this in as a jab at Elvis? How did Elvis feel about having to deliver those lines?

Exact. Same. Thought. Process. What really disturbed me is that we saw the girl partake in a suicide attempt (or at the very least, some sort of panic or anxiety attack), and the film basically dismisses this as a cry for attention, the we witness Chad commit sexual assault on a teenage girl and her mental illness is CURED! The girl, at several points, expresses frustration with her own alienation, she lashes out because she is desperate to feel anything else. This is at the root of why she has to open herself up sexually to men (i.e. to get their attention). It's a very disturbed pathology, but it's dismissed here with rolled eyes and played for laughs. And this is all after a whole herd of teenage girls broke into Chad's room desperate to fuck him, a guy who thought a good idea for a joke would be to make out with a stewardess he just met in full view of his girlfriend of, presumably, several years. Blue Hawaii needs a god damn psychoanalyst.

 

Me at the end of every scene in this movie:

[Cam Bert 8145]

 

Honestly, when the teenage girls came into the picture, I was pretty concerned. So, imagine my (pleasant) surprise, when Elvis is not only adamant about them being too young, but actually gets in a fight with an older man for trying to take advantage. He even refers to it as "robbing the cradle."

 

That being said...

 

What's REALLY weird is that when Elvis met Priscilla Presley in 1959, he was 24...and she was 14! Which means, that in 1961 when this was filmed and released, she would have only been 16 - a year younger than Jenny Maxwell's character was supposed to be! Like, did the script writer add this in as a jab at Elvis? How did Elvis feel about having to deliver those lines?

Apparently this was a frequent thing for Elvis. Again not sure if this is true but it is something I heard, but Elvis use to sleep exclusively with underage groupies. Apparently the story goes is that he was very insecure about his abilities in the bedroom would not live up to the image he presented on stage and film in combination with the ones in women's minds. Thus he sought out inexperienced fans to sleep with because it was less pressure for him to be some kind of sex god.

[Cameron H. 23786]

And this is all after a whole herd of teenage girls broke into Chad's room desperate to fuck him...

 

This brings up a good (separate) point, too. For me, one of the major flaws of the movie was that "Chad" was constantly treated like he was Elvis. I guess I just didn't get it. For instance, before Elvis was "Elvis," he looked the same and possessed the same talent, but he wasn't, like, mobbed when he tried to walk down the street or anything. That didn't come until after he became a superstar. So why is everyone swooning all over him?

 

It's just weird to me that all these people respond to "Chad" like he's a rock star and not a shiftless, "tourist guide."

[Quasar Sniffer 4174]

 

This brings up a good (separate) point, too. For me, one of the major flaws of the movie was that "Chad" was constantly treated like he was Elvis. I guess I just didn't get it. For instance, before Elvis was "Elvis," he looked the same and possessed the same talent, but he wasn't, like, mobbed when he tried to walk down the street or anything. That didn't come until after he became a superstar. So why is everyone swooning all over him?

 

It's just weird to me that all these people respond to "Chad" like he's a rock star and not a shiftless, "tourist guide."

Yeah, the movie could never decide if Elvis was playing a character named Chad or basically just playing Elvis. I know Elvis' handlers were obviously trying to cash in on his persona and popularity, but if they were going to go that route, they might as well have cast him as a famous rock star returning to Hawaii from the army (maybe with parents wanting to cash in on his celebrity in order to benefit their company, which would lead to the resentment we see from him in the film), rather than trying to have it both ways. He could still be named Chad, but it could at least explain why the whole island is obsessed with him.

[Cameron H. 23786]

The only song I was really familiar with prior to watching this was “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” Did anyone else think it was fuuuuck-ing weird he sang it to Maile’s grandmother?

 

 

Even the actress looks at Maile like, “Get a load of this. What the fuck is going on here?”

 

ETA: Okay, I just watched that scene again and I didn’t notice that he and Maile are in fact taking each other’s hands. So, I guess, he’s singing it to her but directing it at her grandmother? It still feels weird.