Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist, and Rebel
Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist, and Rebel on the surface might almost be mistaken for a somewhat self serving legacy piece somehow funded by the iconic octogenarian but when you follow the money it leads nowhere near Hef. This documentary is funded by Canadian dollars some of which originates from Astral Media. This helps to objectify this well made film with the objectifier of women at its centrefold. There’s a myriad of talking heads some not unexpected like hedonistic henchmen Gene Simmons and James Caan but accolades from Jesse Jackson and Mike Wallace perk up your eyebrows. And it’s not a total love fest for this purveyor of free love. Pat Boone gets a lot of face time to spout religious morality and likewise bitter feminist Susan Brownmiller who has been on the warpath with Hefner since the sixties and remains unrelenting (although now sounds jaded and shrill). Hefner is a well known jazz fan so it’s no surprise to hear kind words from Tony Bennett but accolades from Pete Seeger and Joan Baez seem strange. Academy Award winning director Brigitte Berman has laid bare a paradoxical legend who to no one’s surprise is an advocate of free speech and first amendment rights but what is a surprise is his historic contribution to human rights.