Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel

I had the chance to assist a projection in Boston where Director Brigitte Berman was present, coming from Europe and being in my late 20ies there was not much I knew about Hefner besides it's contribution to the sexual revolution of America and the rest of the world.

As a consequence, the movie was full of revelations for me, jumping from one fight for freedom from Hefner and his team to another. The director beautifully manages to catch the mindset of Playboy's manager soul behind the bunnies, at a much deeper level.

What especially stroke me was the ability of the director to constantly depict the paradoxes between Hefners' primal/liberal way of thinking about sexuality and it's philosophical fights for everyone's freedom and culture. You get to discover a man pursuing his dreams through is entire life and get to discover a revolutionary mindset where pleasure and great achievements are not necessarily unrelated.

Hefner is not yet in any of our (at least Europeans) history books but like him or not, he deserves to be and I would advise anybody, who like me, is missing that piece of history to run see this documentary.

This is a gushing unbalanced Canadian documentary praising the Playboy founder Hugh Hefner.

It hits on all the highlights from the beginning. It's mostly about Playboy and its influence.

There are a lot of famous talking heads, some of which are kind of surprising.

But the rebuttal talking heads are really limited and sticking to the well worn arguments.

It covers a lot of history. But it's one sided. Maybe the filmmaker should ask for a second opinion.

Love it or hate it, Playboy magazine changed the way people in America viewed sex and sexuality. Certainly, it objectified women, but they were not alone in doing so. Advertising has done an excellent job of that through the years.

But, Hugh Hefner was a lot more than a magazine. He was an entertainer that did more to promote jazz than anyone I know. He was also a man who did more to promote equality among the races that most anyone in America.

Entertainment was prime with Hefner, but his social activism against those, like Gene McCarthy and Charles Keating, who would impose their particular brand of morality on others.

He was at the forefront of women's issues, racial issues, free speech issues and more.

One of a kind and a fascinating man to listen to.

Playboy's PR department could not have produced a more fawning, laudatory "documentary". Hefner is portrayed as a champion of civil rights and a messianic defender of the 1st Amendment. More recent documentaries depict someone whose motivations were not so selfless.

I admit I only watched bits and pieces of this, well, whatever it is - documentary? Tribute? Position paper? The problem I have with these things - much like PBS' anti-creationist propaganda or Bill Maher - is that they pick some of the lamest opponents to make it look like they are presenting a complete picture, when really they're just straw dogs. And I don't want to be completely hypocritical, I looked at my share of Playboys in my time. I agree with some of Hef's beliefs and disagree with others. So the question is, is Hef a modern martyr for his beliefs or does he just pose as the coolest guy in town? Sorry, but I've always seen Hef as an opportunist who likes women a lot and has interesting views on behavior with women, sort of the ultimate urban alpha male who spends at least part of his time justifying his inappropriate lifestyle. This movie didn't change my mind. I really wasn't offended, I just hope people don't watch this and think Hef is the Pope. He's not, but he sure is one rich guy with a cool image and a lot of girls.