''Johnny Lingo'' is a 1969 short film directed by
Wetzel O. Whitaker. The film and later remake are based on a short story by
Patricia McGerr
Patricia McGerr (December 26, 1917 – May 11, 1985) was an American crime writer, primarily known for her puzzle mystery novels. She won an Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine/MWA prize for her 1968 story ''Match Point in Berlin'' and was awarded th ...
, originally published in a 1965 issue of ''
Woman's Day
''Woman's Day'' is an American women's monthly magazine that covers such topics as homemaking, food, nutrition, physical fitness, physical attractiveness, and fashion. The print edition is one of the Seven Sisters magazines. The magazine was fir ...
''. The 24-minute film was produced by
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...
, but does not specifically mention
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
(LDS Church) outside of the credits.
Plot
In the story, Johnny Lingo (played by
MaKee K. Blaisdell) is a shrewd, honest, and well-liked
Polynesian trader. Johnny has come home to
bargain for a wife. Mahana (played by
Naomi Kahoilua), the young woman he desires, is considered by her neighbors and even her father, Moki (played by Joseph Ah Quin), to be of little value—sullen,
ugly, and
undesirable. Blaming himself for not paying enough cows for Mahana's mother, her father treats her unkindly, such as yelling, "Mahana, you ugly!" As the bargaining is about to begin, women of the island
brag about how many
cows
Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...
their husbands had paid for each of them (see
bride price
Bride price, bride-dowry (Mahr in Islam), bride-wealth, or bride token, is money, property, or other form of wealth paid by a groom or his family to the woman or the family of the woman he will be married to or is just about to marry. Bride dow ...
), and comment that Mahana's father will be lucky to be offered one cow for her.
The bargaining begins, and Moki asks Johnny Lingo for three cows, as Moki's counselor Me Hai advises. The islanders laugh derisively, then wait for Lingo to make his counter-offer, certain that he will make a devastating bargain. Johnny, pondering the offer, pronounces that "three cows are many... but not enough for Mahana!" He then offers the unheard-of price of ''eight'' cows for her hand in marriage.
After the bargaining, Johnny visits Mr. Harris, an American shopkeeper on the island, to offer him a valuable shell in exchange for a mirror. In their conversation, Mr. Harris is convinced that Johnny only paid so much to look good and be remembered. The next day, Moki and Me Hai, while waiting for Johnny to deliver the cows, convince themselves that Johnny reconsidered his deal and will not show up. In the end, Johnny brings the cows and marries Mahana that night, enduring some mocking for paying so much for a seemingly undesirable wife while Moki revels in his newfound prosperity. Johnny and Mahana then leave the island for many months on their honeymoon, visiting many islands.
When they return, Harris discovers, to his astonishment, that Mahana is a beautiful, happy woman. Johnny recounts that Mahana's father had just accused Lingo of cheating him by saying, "
ahanais worth ten cows, if she's worth a hoof!" Johnny then explains that he has loved Mahana since they were children, and that he paid eight cows for Mahana, not to show off, but to make her happy and for her "to be an eight-cow woman." Johnny concludes with "Many things can happen to make a woman beautiful, but the thing that matters most is what she thinks of herself." Johnny leaves Harris, and he and Mahana walk on the beach together.
Cast
*
Makee K. Blaisdell - Johnny Lingo
*Naomi Kahoilua - Mahana
*
Francis L. Urry - Trader Harris
*Joseph Ah Quin - Moki
*Joseph R. TeNgaio - Me Hai, Moki's Counselor
*Malofou Maumasi - Tulo
Production
The film was based on the 1965 short story, "Johnny Lingo and the Eight-Cow Wife", written by author Patricia McGerr and published in ''Woman's Day'' magazine. The story has been frequently reprinted, including in ''
The Australian Women's Weekly
''The Australian Women's Weekly'', sometimes known as simply ''The Weekly'', is an Australian monthly women's magazine published by Mercury Capital in Sydney. For many years it was the number one magazine in Australia before being outsold by ...
'',
''
The Instructor
''Paedagogus'' ( el, Παιδαγωγός, "Pedagogue") is the second in the great trilogy of Clement of Alexandria.
Having laid a foundation in the knowledge of divine truth in the first book, he goes on in the ''Paedagogus'' to develop a Chr ...
'', and ''
Reader's Digest
''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wi ...
'', as well as by assorted books and websites (sometimes condensed or attributed to other authors). In the short story, told from the perspective of a visitor to the fictional Pacific islands of "Kiniwata" and "Nurabandi" while on leave from assignment in Japan, the character of Mahana is instead named "Sarita", while her father is referred to as "Sam Karoo."
Filmed in Hawaii in November 1968 and featuring mostly local LDS Church members, the film was directed by Wetzel O. ("Judge") Whitaker, then head of the Brigham Young University's
Department of Motion Picture Production. Whitaker stated that "the setting is mythical to give it universal appeal" and the village set was constructed by two BYU (then Church College of Hawaii) students, Tuione Pulotu and Vuna Fa, to not be identifiable as belonging to any particular island group. LaMar Williams, head of the audio-visual section of the LDS Church Missionary Department, commented that "The Church is only mentioned in the production credits so it is a film that could be put on coast to coast televion."
Influence and remake
The film is licensed by
Covenant Communications
Deseret Book () is an American publishing company headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, that also operates a chain of bookstores throughout the western United States. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Deseret Management Corporation (DMC), the ...
, and is sold on DVD by Brigham Young University's Creative Works Office.
The 1993 book ''Hana, the No-Cow Wife'' continues the story and shows its effect on another, somewhat prideful young woman.
In the summer of 2001, the Salt Lake Acting Company staged a live parody performance of ''Johnny Lingo'' as that year's episode of their annual theatrical spoof series ''
Saturday's Voyeur''. The act was titled ''Mahana, You Ugly''.
A 2003 remake of this film called ''
The Legend of Johnny Lingo
''The Legend of Johnny Lingo'' is a 2003 film set in Polynesia and directed by Steven Ramirez. It is an extension of the 1969 short film '' Johnny Lingo'' that is based on a story by Patricia McGerr.
Plot
An orphan boy named Tama is adopted by ...
'' was directed by Steven Ramirez and financed by the Utah-based
Tahitian Noni International
Morinda is a multi-level marketing company based in American Fork, Utah that sells Tahitian Noni juice and other products made from the noni plant. The company was founded in 1996 and has manufacturing facilities in Tahiti, Japan, China, German ...
.
Criticism
Johnny Lingo has been criticized as having strong elements of sexism and colonialism. The film has been criticized for "
ingingon the idea that a woman’s self-esteem is based on the price she commands in a financial transaction between men, not on any internal sense of who she is." Rather than being recognized as “industrious”, or any other personal characteristic, Lingo notes, after he has paid eight cows for Mahana, "she now knows, she is worth more than any other woman on the island". Writer Holly Welker comments further, “
he movie
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
does not view the buying and selling of women as property as essentially or inherently wrong.”
References
Further reading
*
External links
"Johnny Lingo" ''
Mormon Literature & Creative Arts Database''.
*
*
Johnny Lingo' on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
channel of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
{{Authority control
1969 films
Films produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Mormonism and Pacific Islanders
Films directed by Wetzel Whitaker
Brigham Young University
Films based on short fiction
Films shot in Hawaii
Race-related controversies in film
1960s English-language films