PRIDE MONTH SPECIAL! Mod Strings has Opinions: Santa Fe and Jack’s Sexuality
Newsies is a film, later adapted into a stage musical, about the newsboy strike of 1899. Although in both versions of the show, the main character, Jack Kelly, had a female love interest, almost all fans of the show agree that he isn’t straight. The reason for this unanimous decision could be found in Jack’s solo songs about his real true love- the city of Santa Fe- which show through metaphor, word choice, and personification that he is attracted to men as well as women.
In the stage version, Newsies’ opening song is called Santa Fe (Prologue). In this song, Jack sings to his best friend Crutchie about how wonderful it is in Santa Fe. During the song, he emphasizes one thing over and over- a feeling of community and acceptance. He says that in Santa Fe, “Your friends are more like family/ and they’s begging you to stay’”. Sadly, LGBTQ people are often disowned or lose connection with their families, so it’s natural for them to want a new one. For people who lost contact with their relations, a strong friend group often becomes their new “family”. He also tells his friend that “no one cares about no bum leg in Santa Fe”. This imagined acceptance of disabled people could carry over to other minorities, such as LGBTQ people. Finally, both boys sing that they “won’t beg no one to treat (them) fair and square”- something that LGBTQ people still have to do to this day. Jack’s portrayal of Santa Fe as a place that accepts someone for who they are could contrast the way he is treated by straight society.
Just because Santa Fe is an accepting place doesn’t mean that Jack will find a traditional family. In fact, he seems to want the opposite. The movie version of Santa Fe opens with the lines “So that’s what they call a family/ Mother, daughter, father, son/ Guess that everythin’ you heard about is true/ So you ain’t got any family/ Well who said you needed one?/ Ain’t you glad nobody’s waiting up for you?”. A “Mother, daughter, father, son” is considered the “normal” family in America. It is also a heterosexual family, with two straight parents who each spend more time with their child of the same gender. Jack sings “So you ain’t got any family/ Well who said you needed one?”, even though the rest of the musical makes it clear he wants a family. In reality, what he doesn’t want is a traditional, straight life.
Santa Fe is associated with freedom, in contrast to Jack’s fugitive lifestyle in New York. In the movie version of the song Santa Fe, Jack sings “Santa Fe/ My old friend/ I can’t spend my whole life hidin’”. In the musical version, he sings that when he goes to Santa Fe, there will be “No more running, no more lying”. A closeted LGBT person might feel like they’re hiding their true self, or be guilty about “lying” to family. Although literally Jack is talking about not having to worry about going to jail, that could also be related to his sexuality- as gay sex was a crime in the USA in 1899. Going to Santa Fe then becomes a metaphor for finally coming out - and being accepted.
The most concrete piece of evidence for Jack not being straight might be found in the personification of Santa Fe. In the movie, Jack asks “Santa Fe, my old friend/ Do you swear you won’t forget me?/ If I found you, would you let me come and stay?”. By calling Santa Fe “you” and “my old friend” the song creates an idealized person that Jack is talking to. The songs no longer are about the whole city, but one person who lives there. He also sings that “When the city’s finally sleeping/ all my thoughts begin to stray/ and I’m on a train that’s bound/ for Santa Fe”. Someone’s thoughts straying is often used to indicate that they’re thinking of a crush or lover, and “when the city’s finally sleeping” implies that Jack has to keep this love secret- as he would if he was in love with a boy. The song Santa Fe may not be about the city, but about the male lover Jack wishes he had.
Although Santa Fe could be taken literally, there is an undeniable double meaning in the songs. Whether they intended it or not, the songwriters used metaphors, word choice, and personification to show that Jack Kelly is a member of the LGBTQ community.
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