Playboy paves the road for Hustler

Larry Flint is a pioneer in the pornography business.  Though Hugh Hefner is the first real pioneer of the modern porn industry (Haynes pioneered the porn industry in the very beginning), Larry Flint took Hugh Hefner’s idea and elaborated on it.  Instead of publishing “soft core” porn as playboy did, Flint pushed the envelope and published “hardcore” porn in his Hustler magazine.  Flint definitely knew that his new publication would be challenged in the U.S. legal system.  He also felt that what he was doing was actually legal and he knew that ultimately he would win in court and create an empire for himself.  Larry Flint knew what he was doing, and in many ways he set precedents for many legal issues concerning the porn industry.  On the other hand, Hugh Hefner’s “soft core” publication was never challenged in the courts due to the fact that Hustler was more explicit.  Though Hefner was worried about publishing his name in the first playboy issue, his worries turned out to not be a problem.  

It is my belief that if Hustler had not gone above and beyond Playboy concerning explicitness, Playboy would have been challenged in the courts instead.  But, Flint saw an opening in the porn business and he flew with it.  And after many, many court appearances and after some time in jail, Larry Flint has prevailed, and he has created a new subsection of pornography.

There is a movie called The People Versus Larry Flint that accurately outlines Flint’s life and shows his fight to have Hustler stay on the market.  This movie is very interesting and I recommend it to anyone interested in the life of Larry Flint as it concerns to Hustler magazine and pornography.