"[R107] Most Americans did not approve of that in the 1950s."
People married much younger back in the day across the board. Girls were being prepared for marriage, boys to support families. A girl meeting her husband young, or marrying young, was considerably less shocking then than now. That's just a fact.
"It was only in rural Southern communities where religion is so intense that teenagers were getting married young to avoid sexual sin."
As I mentioned. Culturally across the board, women married younger then. People married even younger in the rural South, but that is not due to religion nor a stronger taboo against premarital sex. Premarital sex was taboo across the board in the US in the 1950s. It's a cultural difference between rural-urban areas. People married younger in rural Indiania than they did in New York City. It's simply an urban-rural divide, common to cultures worldwide.
" Jerry Lee Lewis got tons of national backlash by the press for his marriage."
His case was considerably different. She was very young. And his cousin. And he lied about her age. And he was already married to someone else, so he was a bigamist. And it was discovered that his marriage to his cousin wasn't even legally binding. It blew up because each piece of that story was discovered bit by bit by the tabloid press in Britain over a couple weeks in a way that was truly explosive.
"Southerners were seen as backwards and primitive even back then."
This seems beyond facile. It's a complicated region with many perceptions and depictions in popular culture. You should start by being aware that among the most popular images of the South at the time were Gone with the Wind and Streetcar Named Desire, ie a place of old-fashioned manners, faded refinement, etc. It's just too facile, taking your own perceptions and assuming they're shared by all people at all times in history.
"Priscilla did not come from the hill folk culture that Elvis came from."
Elvis did not come from hill country either, nor did he come from "folk culture," whatever that means. His parents came from the rural South, where people often married younger, as demonstrated by their own marriage. To apply terms like "grooming" and "victimization" to Elvis' parents marriage doesn't really fit imho.
"Priscilla was allowed to be with Elvis because he was rich and her parents felt she'd be set for life."
Like I said, girls married younger then. Most parents' highest ambitions for their daughters was that they would marry well. That's it. No career, no college. Most parents considered college for girls a waste of money since they would just marry and raise children afterwards.
Priscilla was certainly very young, too young, but she was also mature for her age and determined to be with Elvis. Parents matching daughters with husbands who would set them up for life was de rigeur, not some sinister thing unique to this situation. It was what her parents would have wanted/expected for her in a few years, to marry someone who would take care of her. We might not approve of such relationships or machinations now, but imagining this relationship was extremely sinister or evil or criminal or abusive is a bit much imho. But opinions differ, so carry on believing as you like, I guess.
