Review of Hugh Hefner, Playboy, Activist, Rebel

A Look at Brigitte Berman's Documentary About Hef and Playboy

Oct 1, 2009

A new movie by filmmaker Brigitte Berman goes beyond the bunnies and the mansion parties, and takes a tender look at Playboy Magazine Founder and Editor Hugh Hefner.

Playboy Founder and Editor Hugh Hefner – Hef, to those who love him – was in Toronto recently for the premiere of a new documentary that takes a look at his accomplishments, beyond Playboy Magazine. Flanked by his three blond, buxom girlfriends – Crystal Harris and identical twin sisters Karissa and Kristina Shannon – the octogenarian still represents the epitome of every young man's fantasy. Sexually satisfied. Serene. Rich. And very pleased with himself.

With reason: Hef dared dream the impossible dream, and made it all come true. His brainchild, Playboy, has become the world's best-selling men's monthly magazine, with nearly five million copies sold world-wide each month, and countless resulting libidinous dreams.

The Keys to The Playboy Mansion

While many dream of visiting the Playboy Mansion and being granted access to Hef's inner sanctum, it was Academy Award-winner Brigitte Berman's early work that turned out to be the key. Hef has had a lifelong love affair with jazz, even founding his very own annual event: the Playboy Jazz Festival. When the Playboy founder saw Berman's documentary, Bix: Ain't None of Them Play Like Him Yet, about legendary jazz musician Bix Beiderbecke, he was charmed by the film and by the filmmaker who shared his passion. A friendship was born, and when Berman later asked Hef for access to his personal scrapbooks and archives, he agreed.

Berman's plan was to make a documentary that showed a seldom seen side of the Playboy Founder. Unbeknownst to many, Hefner had always been a strong supporter of the civil rights movement, hiring and promoting black musicians and comedians at his clubs and for his early TV shows – Playboy Penthouse and Playboy After Dark – when racism still ran rampant in North America. This became the focus of the film.

Hef's Causes, Activism and Charity Work

Hugh Hefner, Playboy, Activist, Rebel shows us, through interviews, film clips, and peeks at Hef's substantial collection of illustrations, cartoons, and scrapbooks, a man today's public rarely get to see. Caring, empathetic, devoted not only to the pursuit of pleasure but also to a vision of a world where discrimination on the basis of colour and gender – yes, gender! – does not exist.

Throughout his life, Hef was a champion of many causes, from the African American civil rights movement to abortion rights, to animal rescue. In 1965, the Playboy Foundation was created. Since then, the Foundation has donated over $20 million to non profit groups aiming to protect civil liberties, fight censorship, and promote education and research on sexuality.

As it turns out, Hef managed to create as much controversy with his pursuit of equal rights as he did by promoting a hedonistic lifestyle. Not only was he an easy target for hardcore feminists for whom sexuality itself seems to be an abomination, he was also labelled a drug user and an enemy of the state, and persecuted by the government and the media.

Hefner at The Film Festival

Now in his eighties, Hef is still the focus of both scorn and admiration, and the legendary playboy has quite the cult following. During the Toronto International Film Festival, the city's historic Elgin Theatre was filled with men and women of all ages who had gathered not only to see the premiere of Berman's documentary, but also to get a look at the legendary man and his blond entourage.

The crowd went wild as Hef arrived in a stretch limo adorned with the infamous Rabbit Head symbol, and cameras flashed non-stop as he took his seat with the Girls Next Door – a vision of pure hedonism. When the film ended, the audience got up for a standing ovation. However, while Ms. Berman's documentary is certainly deserving of such cheers, it was clear that it was Hugh Hefner himself, who was being honoured.

Sources

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