Lovelace is a 2013 biopic about "Linda Lovelace" (real name Linda Boreman), the star of Deep Throat (1972). Deep Throat was the first "mainstream" pornographic film that featured characters, a plot, and passable production values. The movie became something of a sensation in the early 1970s, and is one of the highest grossing pornographic films of all time; it helped ushered in an era known as "Porno Chic," a brief time period in the 1970s and early '80s when porn films were taken seriously as legitimate cinema. The film stars Amanda Seyfried in the title role.
This movie provides examples of:
- The '70s: The setting of the film.
- Adaptational Heroism: While he only gets a few minutes of screen time, Larry Marchiano is portrayed as being much nicer than the man Linda Lovelace/Boreman later claimed he was – a physically abusive husband on occasion who was also verbally abusive to their kids. It also isn't mentioned in the aftermath that the Marchianos divorced in 1996.
- Advertised Extra: The trailer lists Chloë Sevigny as one of the stars. In the theatrical release, she has about two lines.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Anthony Romano may be a shady mob figure, but he won't stand for Chuck Traynor's abuse of Linda, though this could also have a lot to do with the fact that she's quitting porn and Chuck still owed him $25,000.
- Leno Device: With Johnny Carson, to the horror of Linda Lovelace's mom.
- Mood Whiplash: Starts off as something of a light-hearted, raunchy romp about the making of a porn star in the early 1970s. It turns much darker as we go back and see what actually happened, according to Lovelace's last autobiography.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Linda's mother weeps when Linda explains in a live interview what she endured by her abusive husband Chuck and how, because she was raised Catholic, was told to simply accept his mistreatment of her.
- Once Done, Never Forgotten: Before writing Ordeal, Linda was massively famous for exactly one thing: Deep Throat. To add salt on the wound, Linda was actively in the porn industry for just 17 days.
- One-Word Title: Both In-Universe and out:
- In: Ordeal
- Out: Lovelace, Last-name Protagonist Title.
- Protagonist Title: Last name of.
- "Rashomon"-Style: The movie shows how Lovelace's ascent to stardom appeared to outsiders (and the way she told the story in her first autobiography), then goes back and shows the same scenes (in addition to other scenes to provide context) as described in her last autobiography, Ordeal.
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue
