Gutbrain Records

Wednesday, 2006 March 8

There was a typically annoying article in the New York Times Arts & Leisure section last Saturday. I suspect it came from a pile of stuff which they draw on to fill holes in the paper. The ads are sold in advance after all. The pages must be filled.

The headline was "Cash Film's Missing Ingredient: Religion". The headline is more of a problem than the article. The article doesn't demonstrate much knowledge of Cash — his 1997 autobigraphy was his third autobiography; his music doesn't have anything to do with "gangsta rap"; and "A Boy Named Sue" is one of the most violent songs in his repertoire, though it is also a comic novelty song — but it doesn't contain any real howlers.

But the headline troubles me, just as the front-page headline about Bush's budget proposal was troubling. That headline trumpeted his Medicare "savings" when the word they should have used was "cuts". That choice of words threw a bone to... to... I don't know to whom. Are there more than half a dozen people who want Bush's insane budget?

But the Cash article throws a bone to right-wing Christian freaks who wanted Walk the Line to be an infomercial for their church. The article is about how some reverend at the Princeton Theological Seminary was upset that religion didn't occupy center stage of the movie. He seems to have been particularly galled that we see Cash sing "Cocaine Blues" at Folsom Prison but not "Greystone Chapel". Obviously, he's no music critic.

A better headline for this article would have been the pull quote that you find when the piece continues on a second page: "Some Christian critics have a problem with 'Walk the Line'". That is perfectly accurate and nonjudgmental.

Imagine if an article about Ray had carried this headline: "Ray Charles Film's Missing Ingredient: Right-Wing Politics". Hey, I nervously anticipated an appearance by Ronald Reagan while I was watching Ray. Probably George Will or someone was upset that Ray Charles wasn't shown casting votes for Republicans in the movie.

A better article about Walk the Line would have had this headline: "Cash Film's Missing Ingredient: Trains". Johnny Cash was obsessed with trains. He often included a filmed vigenette about railroads as part of The Johnny Cash Show, and he produced and starred in a documentary about the history of the American railroad, Ridin' the Rails.

He made the album "Come Along and Ride This Train". "Folsom Prison Blues" is about a train, as is "Orange Blossom Special".

Johnny Cash was so nuts about Jimmie Rodgers, "The Singing Brakeman", that he bought Rodgers's cap and guitar.

But you won't read about that in the New York Times. It must be anti-train.