Review of The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996) by John C — 15 Aug 2012

As a strong anti-censorship advocate myself, I think this was a very important movie. I would show this movie to anybody who doesn't understand that even if you don't want to hear something, I have the right to say it. It's hard to believe that even just 20 years ago people were having a debate about nudie magazines because some people found it "indecent". In another 20 years, this movie will serve as a reminder to the american people of just how afraid of sex we used to be and in many ways still are today.

A major flaw and the great irony of this movie is that it's so anti-censorship and pro-sex, but in order to obtain an R rating, they could no show the things that made Hustler magazine so ground-breaking. There's a scene were they're debating whether or not they should publish a picture of a woman's genitalia and they ultimately decide to publish it which is what got them into trouble. They had to be very careful what they showed in the movie otherwise they would have been slapped with an NC-17 rating which is bad for many reasons (mainly box office reception) which is the EXACT same issue that Larry Flynt had to face when shop owners refused to sell his magazine. I recently watch the documentary This Film is Not Yet Rated, which really opened my eyes to just how puritanical and up-tight american culture and media is, especially when it comes to sex. When I watch European movies, it's very obvious just how much more liberated and comfortable they are when it comes to sexuality. If I were the director, I would have released 2 versions of this film, an R-rated version and an unrated version so that future generations wouldn't laugh at how prude we were.