<![CDATA[The unequal power dynamics that structure intimate relationships are often naturalized rather than critically examined, particularly in biographical representations of public figures. Sofia Coppola’s film Priscilla (2023) renders such dynamics unusually visible through its depiction of the marriage between Elvis Presley and Priscilla Beaulieu. This study aims to identify the forms of gender regulation enacted by Elvis Presley over Priscilla Beaulieu and to examine how Judith Butler’s (1990) theory of gender performativity explains these mechanisms as a form of interpersonal control. Using a qualitative textual analysis method, primary data were collected through repeated viewing of the film and classified into five analytical categories derived from Butler’s framework: performativity and citationality, regulatory practices, the heterosexual matrix, compulsory performance, and subversion. The findings show that Elvis exercises control through five interconnected mechanisms: dictating Priscilla’s physical appearance, sanctioning her deviation from expected conduct, naturalizing his authority, compelling her to conceal her true feelings, and inadvertently producing the conditions for her eventual resistance. These mechanisms do not operate in isolation but interlock into a single system of gendered control, one that, within the same performative structure, also contains the conditions for disruption and transformation.]]>
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