Fandom As Religion

The use of the word sacred, which appears intermittently, but not centrally, in Fandom-as-Religion literature is more controversial. For example, Rodman’s comment about “two different ways to place Elvis on a sacred pedestal,” in functional terms, more likely relates to the Durkheimian (1995 [1912]) use of the word, as set-apart, and Graceland achieves sacredness by association (Rodman 1996, 116). Note that Rodman came to this conclusion through the literature of scholars, such as BBC religious affairs correspondent, Ted Harrison, whom he favours heavily, and not through actual contact of fans of Elvis. The reality, as we shall discover later, is many fans do not see it this way. Harrison once referred to the “cult of Elvis” as “a religion in embryo” (1992, 9) and subsequent authors and scholars took it upon themselves to mine that suggestion. Rodman draws parallels between Presley and the life of Jesus, as does Harrison, in Elvis People, but focuses on place as central to “help[ing] to mythologize the man as an almost flawless saint figure, rather than a real and imperfect human being” (1996, 121). In this case, the conditions of Graceland, in combination with his birthplace, …show more content…
Hinerman does not argue Elvis as a sacred figure, rather he focuses on fans’ fantasies of him after his death. Hinerman argues these fantasies act to “bridge the gap that is created when desire is prohibited but the longing for full satisfaction is still there” (1992, 115). Hinerman is a moderate voice on Elvis when faced with, at times, seemingly bizarre accounts of passion for dead Elvis, in the form of fan testimony. Frow, similarly dealing with extreme account of Elvis fandom, opens his 1998 article, “Is Elvis a God?” by one such fan account. Below is the fan letter that begins Frow; it originally appeared in Marcus