Walking the Line Movie Analysis

The movie Walks the Line shows the hard struggles of life that we all face at some point or another. Whereas, Hard Day's Night, while still being an incredible film, does not give us any sort of semblance to the reality of life. The reality is that as people we enjoy things that we relate to and make us feel like we are not alone in what we are experiencing, and Walk the Line does just that. It covers topics such as divorce, mental health struggles, loss, abuse, family trauma, poor relationships with parents and family, and something that is especially significant to me, addiction. These things are heartbreaking as they are things, we are all at risk of experiencing, and Walking the Line shows us the light at the end of the tunnel for all of these. Especially when dealing with something like an addiction because it affects everyone around us.  

There are many types of addiction such as gambling, work, alcohol, drugs, and what we see in the movie, especially pills. Addiction is an extraordinarily complex illness that is not talked about enough in society because it is looked so down upon. However, in Walking the Line, Johnny cash does not shy away from even the ugliest parts of himself in the mitts of his addiction. And let me say that it is not pretty. The beetles also like johnny cash experimented with drugs and drinking however we do not see any of that in their movie, because again of how stigmatized it is. Whereas Johnny Cash is authentic and true. It is never easy to show people the worst side of you let alone the entire world.  

Personally, I enjoyed Walk the Line more than Hard Day's Night because I related to Walk the Line more. In the movie, June Carter does an astounding job of depicting how hard it is to love an addict. She shows the internal struggle of trying to decide to leave Johnny or stay and try to save him at her own risk. Having grown up with a parent that was an addict and being constantly torn between giving up on them and wanting to believe they love you enough to get better, I really empathized June. We see how burnt-out June is because of trying to save Johnny from himself. She continuously gives him chance after chance and yet still does not lose faith. There were moments in the movie to where I flashed back to hiding my parents' alcohol the way June did with Johnnys pills. There is some comfort in hearing others similar experiences. 

The thing about it is addicts do not even realize how much they are hurting the ones around them because their mind is fixed on their addiction. Johnny did not realize how badly he was hurting June, but he was. Just like how a parent with an addiction does not realize they are hurting their child, but they are. There are several scenes in which Johnny is heavily under the influence of drugs asking June to marry him, he does not even realize how much this hurts her. All June wants is for him to be sober so he can officially ask him to marry her. While this love story has its rough patches it shows the touching love between two people that will not give up on each other. That kind of love story we just do not get from Hard Day's Night.  

Overall, Walk the Line depicts the hardship of loving someone with an addiction, and the tole it takes to the ones around them. Something a lot of people empathize with. It shows the brutally raw experiences we face. And helps us to feel a little less alone. I know for me watching Walk the Line at times was hard but also reassuring to know that even through the difficulty of loving an addict is that through love and lots of forgiveness there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Hard Day's Night is not able to give that same reassurance. As humans we just want our human experience to be validated and Walk the Line does just that.