We’re fussy about how our idol is depicted
THE STAR’S cartoonist Wilson Mgobhozi got Elvis’s nose all wrong in his caricature of February 15, in which he depicts four superstars who have shared a common fate – death through substance abuse.
I refer, of course, to the cartoon in which St Peter comments “Our heavenly chorus is getting stronger and stronger”, alluding to Whitney Houston, Amy Winehouse, Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley.
In 2009, Mgobhozi drew a credible likeness of Elvis welcoming Jackson to the Pearly Gates.
This time he seems to have confused Elvis’s distinctive nose with, perhaps, Neil Diamond’s.
Or has Mgobhozi been watching too many Elvis impersonators lately, all of whom seem to capitalise on the Las Vegas Elvis in his famous jumpsuit and sun glasses?
We Elvis fans are fussy about how our idol is depicted, even if, like me, we are unashamedly in our sixties. But don’t worry too much, Mgobhozi, if you don’t know your Elvis too well. There are more caricatures of him floating around than authentic pictures, which is sadly ironic considering that Elvis was one of the most photogenic and photographed individuals in the world.
Besides, I’ve had the advantage of visiting Graceland several times and publishing two academic papers on him, in SA and the US.
Just showing off ! North-west University Mafikeng