It could not have been otherwise: the ‘funeral’ of Larry Flint it was like his life: open to the public, surrounded by strippers, with rivers of liquor and flying colored balloons.
The Hustler Club of Las Vegas – which was his property – became the scene of a majestic party in his honor: las Sexxy After Dark – a group of scantily clad female dancers – put on their show, pouring themselves many shots of a special edition vodka nicknamed ‘Flynt Goldfinger’.
And it is that in life, Larry Flynt could lose many things: the possibility of walking – after an attack at the exit of a court – money, romantic relationships, property, legal battles, friends … but it never stopped being that brash and impulsive youngster from Kentucky who, together with his brother Jimmy, opened eight strip clubs in Ohio in 1970. A business that later expanded the editorial with the creation of Hustler – an advertising brochure, in principle, which later became the popular magazine for adults.
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Flynt passed away last week at his home in Los Angeles, at the age of 78, and his name has always been tied to controversy. This is how Milos Forman presented it in the film that documented sections of his existence and premiered in 1996 as The People vs. Larry Flynt – in Spanish he became known as Larry Flynt: the name of the scandal.
Every newspaper headline about Larry Claxton Flynt Jr. he distilled controversy: that he practiced zoophilia in his adolescence, that he came to court wearing an American flag as a diaper, that he took prostitutes before a judge with bags full of dollar bills to pay a bail of ten thousand, that he insulted with words of great caliber to the jurors of one of the many legal battles he fought, who refused to remove a helmet with which he arrived on the stand … that was the style of Larry Flynt, a man diagnosed with bipolarity and staunch defender of the first amendment to the US Constitution – which protects freedom of speech and religion.
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Unlike other publications of the same line as Playboy and Penthouse, Flynt bet on Hustler to show sexuality in a more crude way.
“I realized that if we were more explicit, we could get a big part of this market. I felt that raw sex was what men wanted. And he was right, “he explained in an interview collected by The Washington Post.
Hustler’s editorial line raised a blister with its violent and disturbing images, and Flynt was the subject of hundreds of complaints and at least three obscenity trials. He was even sentenced to prison for contempt.
In the cinema, Milos Forman achieved a portrait quite close to the reality of the porn mogul. The talented Woody Harrelson stepped into the shoes of Flynt, and both he and the director earned Oscar nominations in 1997.
The People vs. Larry Flynt celebrates 25 years of being released in this 2021 and it is a production that stands out for that irreverent and anti-system air that reigned in the 1970s, which also reflected other films inspired by the porn industry of the same time, such as Boogie Nights and Wonderland.
One of the most intense moments of the film is when Flynt is the victim of an assassination attempt: in 1978 he received several bullets, one of them lodged in the column, confining him to a wheelchair for the rest of his days; Due to the severe pain, Flynt became addicted to painkillers, which he overcame over the years, but left him with difficulties speaking. Unstable and emotional, he married five times and had five children.
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In the 1980s, Larry Flynt Publications was the umbrella for a score of adult publications and at the end of the 90’s it became a producer of porn films. After consolidating his emporium, the tycoon opened several casinos and flirted with politics. He dreamed of becoming governor of California – the state where he had lived for three decades – and even of being president.
Flynt’s ‘funeral’ party last weekend was a success, according to comments from the entertainment portal TMZ. The only requirements were to pay $ 50 and be over 21 years old. There is no doubt: his memory was honored in his own way.
Culture
* With information from Efe
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