Subject: Hugh Hefner has died
Posted by: brm50diboll
Date: Sep 28 17
All right. I didn't want to do this, but as one of the leading defenders of political incorrectness on FT, and after waiting for what seems to me to be a sufficient amount of time, I'm going to mention that Hugh Hefner, the "king" of rabbits (or at least rabbit heads) has died.
One movie that has always made a deep impression on me (but is definitely *not* for the faint of heart) is Star 80, where Mariel Hemingway played Dorothy Stratten, Playboy's Playmate of the Year for 1980. In that movie, the part of Hugh Hefner was played by Cliff Robertson. Very well cast, in my opinion. Robertson's Hefner is slick but knowledgeable. But the breakout star of that movie was Eric Roberts (Julia Roberts' older brother), who played a frightful sociopath, almost as scary as Ray Liotta in Something Wild.
Perhaps this whole topic is a bit too intense. But I felt this was the time to bring it up.
Posted by: brm50diboll
Date: Sep 28 17
All right. I didn't want to do this, but as one of the leading defenders of political incorrectness on FT, and after waiting for what seems to me to be a sufficient amount of time, I'm going to mention that Hugh Hefner, the "king" of rabbits (or at least rabbit heads) has died.
One movie that has always made a deep impression on me (but is definitely *not* for the faint of heart) is Star 80, where Mariel Hemingway played Dorothy Stratten, Playboy's Playmate of the Year for 1980. In that movie, the part of Hugh Hefner was played by Cliff Robertson. Very well cast, in my opinion. Robertson's Hefner is slick but knowledgeable. But the breakout star of that movie was Eric Roberts (Julia Roberts' older brother), who played a frightful sociopath, almost as scary as Ray Liotta in Something Wild.
Perhaps this whole topic is a bit too intense. But I felt this was the time to bring it up.
12 replies. On page 1 of 1 pages. 1
daver852 
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I am traumatized! Reply #1. Sep 28 17, 10:45 AM |
brm50diboll
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I knew you were overly sensitive. Such a snowflake! Uh, perhaps I should include this: ;) Reply #2. Sep 28 17, 10:59 AM |
wmd
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Goodbye, Hef. What a wonderful life you had. Reply #3. Sep 28 17, 12:30 PM |
Mixamatosis
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Surprisingly, he wasn't a Republican. Reply #4. Sep 29 17, 1:08 PM |
| daver852
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Surprisingly? Obviously, you've never read "Playboy" Very left-wing magazine. Reply #5. Sep 29 17, 1:48 PM |
| brm50diboll
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Hugh Hefner was very liberal. As someone who read Playboy for "the articles", they were extremely leftist. Oh, and don't laugh - Hefner fancied himself quite the feminist. Reply #6. Sep 29 17, 3:47 PM |
| wmd
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Feminist? Yes, that kind of makes sense in a weird way. Reply #7. Sep 29 17, 4:20 PM |
| Mixamatosis
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He may have imagined himself feminist. Imagination is all it was. Reply #8. Sep 29 17, 4:30 PM |
| brm50diboll
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I'm quite serious. This is one aspect of Hef's personality which to me is so interesting and why I enjoyed Cliff Robertson's portrayal of Hef in Star 80 so much. Hugh Hefner actually sued the studio over that movie because he felt the depiction of him in it was defamatory. Hefner always saw himself as an enlightened progressive in every respect. He never considered himself an exploiter of women in any way. But Robertson's version of Hefner knows how dangerous Paul Snider is and does very little to protect Dorothy Stratten from him, other than his "fatherly advice". In my opinion, Hef was utterly blind to the realities of the business that made him what he was. People with extremely strong political views are often blind to their own hypocrisies. Reply #9. Sep 29 17, 4:31 PM |
| Mixamatosis
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brm50diboll. I think that's a very perceptive comment from you. Reply #10. Sep 29 17, 5:07 PM |
| brm50diboll
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It's hard to know what is really going on inside someone's head. But the late Roger Ebert wrote a retrospective review of Star 80 a few years ago focusing on its director, Bob Fosse. Star 80 was the last movie Bob Fosse directed. In Ebert's review, he postulated that Fosse may have considered himself, Hugh Hefner, and even Paul Snider as sorts of kindred spirits in various degrees of denial. At the heart of it, Fosse realized his direction of the careers of young women to become "stars" was exploitative, but he justified it (as did Hef) as being OK, since he perceived whatever manipulation he engaged in to be in the young ladies' own best interests. Someone say patronizing? But Snider was low class, a hustler, not the right "type" for their business. Hef disliked Snider all right, but not so much for what he did (it was Snider, after all, who mailed in the photos of Dorothy Stratten that attracted Hef's attention to her in the first place, a fact Snider made sure neither Stratten nor Hefner ever forgot). Hef's objection to Snider was primarily about his class. Was Fosse somehow "making up" for his own exploitation of women in Star 80 near the end of his career? Ebert seemed to suggest so. Perhaps the same unconscious motivation explains why Hugh Hefner (and former Oregon senator Robert Packwood) were such ardent feminists. Or why John D. Rockefeller was such a philanthropist. But all that is speculation about what is going on inside someone's head. Maybe not. But I find it interesting. Reply #11. Sep 29 17, 5:49 PM |
| brm50diboll
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Correction: the review I mentioned appeared in rogerebert.com but was written by another. I would post the link, but it is very long and I have difficulties posting long links from my cell phone. But if you want to read it, google the following: Horror story for our times roger ebert Reply #12. Sep 29 17, 6:20 PM |
12 replies. On page 1 of 1 pages. 1
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