Great Character: Linda Ash (“Mighty Aphrodite”)
In November, guest columnist Jason Cuthbert looks at five significant female characters in Woody Allen movies. Today: Linda Ash from the 1995 movie Mighty Aphrodite, written and directed by Woody Allen.
In Woody Allen’s New York City universe of upscale female artisans, it is not far-fetched to find one of his central characters employed as an actress. But in the 1995 romantic comedy Mighty Aphrodite, director and screenwriter Woody Allen features an entirely different type of performance artist — a not-in-front-of-the-kids porn star. With a stage name like “Judy Cum,” Linda Ash, played by the witty and sexy Mira Sorvino, has much more prostitution on her resume than Broadway performances.
Mighty Aphrodite from IMDB:
When he discovers his adopted son is a genius, a New York sportswriter seeks out the boy’s birth mother: a prostitute.
Mira Sorvino gives Linda Ash’s harshly “whore-monal” X-rated dialogue a distinctive voice that never quite finished going through puberty, rendering her every conversational thread to be extra hilarious.
LINDA ASH: “Yeah. What’s the matter? Are you a stroke victim or something? I told you three times I’m Linda Ash.”
With Linda’s straight face deadpan delivery, sexual organs are spoken about as casually as a weather forecast.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGq9PqBqi_w
Ash’s lack of chiseled comedic timing adds a wonderful awkwardness to her social interactions in that we aren’t clear if she is joking or making a pointed observation.
LENNY WEINRIB: “Losers. You think I’m a loser?”
LINDA ASH: “Yeah, you’ve got no confidence, it’s sweet, and I like that in a man. I can’t stand those johns who come in and throw down a couple of hundred and whip out a big dick and wave it all over the joint.”
There is a bittersweet innocence to the undereducated Linda Ash, quite the opposite of Mira Sorvino’s real life Harvard schooling. Ash’s balance of brash sex slang and humble desire to remove the price tag from her private parts helped win Mira Sorvino the third out of four Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actress for a Woody Allen film, Dianne Wiest claimed the first two (Hannah and Her Sisters, Bullets Over Broadway) and Penélope Cruz won the most recent for Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5QsDSeGv_k
The fact that Linda is unaware that Lenny adopted her son makes her growing fondness for him that much more endearing and sincere. Her apprenticeship in social etiquette with Lenny extends beyond her perceived seductress/client relationship. Lenny is Linda’s gateway into the life of decency that has eluded her, and she appreciates this opportunity more than anything.
LINDA ASH: “You didn’t want a blowjob so the least I could do is get you a tie.”
Whether or not Linda has a single ounce of professional acting ability that can be exploited for critical acclaim is not completely clear. But by viewing her “higher self” in this future career path, Linda is able to attach her hopes and dreams to a safer, more respected version of her profession. Smut peddling is not who she is, but it is what she does. It has undoubtedly molded her behavioral instincts and her sense of humor. But underneath her freewheeling references to fellatio, Linda is a woman who feels guilty for rejecting motherhood, and who craves the opportunity to redeem herself and make a mom and a wife out of her loving nature.
For her provocative comedy and sweet center surrounded by a regret-ridden hard outer shell — Linda Ash is a uniquely GREAT CHARACTER.
Sorvino was great in this role and in all honesty, Linda Ash is about the only thing I remember from this movie. One sign of a great character, I guess. What did you think about the movie? Sorvino’s character? See you in comments to carry on the conversation.
Thanks once again to Jason! You may follow him on Twitter: @A2Jason.