Elli and I watched a very interesting documentary this evening entitled Larry Flynt: The Right to Be Left Alone. I was familiar of course with Flynts controversial Hustler magazine and had watched the movie, The People vs. Larry Flint many years ago so some of the topics covered in the documentary were familiar. However watching the documentary with its rare television footage and in-depth interviews with Flynt him-self
in a political climate when our civil liberties are continuously being eroded and challenged by the fear mongers and zealots gave me a better appreciation of our civil liberties. I also found myself giving great deal more respect for a man who has devoted most his adult life to defending those civil liberties. Sure Flynt is a sensational smut peddler whose satire is offend deemed as offensive stating, “If the First Amendment will protect a shitbag like me, it will protect all of you” but that is really one of the basis of his beliefs. As Flynt points out in the documentary if the speech isn’t offensive it really doesn’t require protection. Flynt has often took this position to an extreme but few can argue that his epic First Amendment court battles and self-sacrifice over the past 30 years have not contributed to expanding the parameters of freedom of speech and exposed the hypocrisy in government. Flynt maybe an odd choice for a champion of First Amendment rights but the documentary gives an insightful, entertaining if not exhaustive look as to why this is so and love him or hate him his importance in defending and expanding First Amendment rights cannot be denied.
As a writer of sometimes-controversial material myself the documentary Larry Flynt: The Right to Be Left Alone comes highly recommended.
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