Larry Flint holding her own magazine’The Hustler’ in 2014. AFP=Yonhap News
“Murder is illegal, but if you shoot it and put it on Newsweek, you get a Pulitzer Prize. Sex is legal, but if you shoot it and put it in a magazine, you go to jail.
Larry Flint, publisher of the pornographic magazine Hustler, who sparked America’s most fierce freedom of expression debate, died at the age of 78.
US media such as the Washington Post (WP) reported that he died at his home in Los Angeles (LA), citing his brother Jimmy Flint on the 10th (local time). No specific signature was disclosed.
WP said, “Flint is one of the most notorious pornography producers in the United States, and self-proclaimed’the champion of the amendment’.”
Larry Flint meets reporters in front of the court in 1987. AP=Yonhap News
Born in a poor rural Kentucky village, Flint hadn’t finished high school. He started working in the porn industry in 1968 while working at GM factories. Together with his younger brother, he opened a strip bar called Hustler Club in Ohio. He created a newsletter called’The Hustler’ to promote the club, which led to the launch of the porn magazine’Husler’ in 1974.
The publication of’The Hustler’ quickly brought Flint to a controversial figure. A photo that expresses sexual activity and genitals was published in’Husler’. It was different from the existing adult magazines that contained women’s naked photos. ‘Husler’ was notorious for having the most vulgar and explicit photos among the three largest porn magazines in the United States (Playboy, Penthouse, and Hustler). Reuters reported that “there were no restrictions on the hustlers.”
The magazine became so popular that it had 3 million copies, and he diversified his business to build a porn empire.
However, they were constantly attacked by conservative groups, women’s groups, and Christian circles. They were accused of accumulating wealth by exploiting women’s bodies to create violent and sadistic pornography. Pornography has been accused of publishing pornography and obscenity by those who claim to ruin youth and society, and has been in court several times.
At this time, he declared himself the defender of the First Amendment to the United States, which regulated freedom of expression. Even people like him who publish pornographic magazines argued that if freedom of expression could be guaranteed, freedom of expression would be solidified.
Larry Flint, after being handicapped, traveled in a gold-plated wheelchair. This picture was taken in 2007. AP=Yonhap News
In the process of being reluctant to fight in court, in 1978, after leaving the court, he was shot by a white supremacist and suffered permanent disability, paralyzing both legs. Nevertheless, he was more active in a gold-plated wheelchair.
As a result, in 1988, he won a lawsuit that shook American society called’Husler vs. Paulwell’. He published an explicit and sexual parody targeting evangelical pastor Jerry Paulwell, who criticized him, and Paulwell sued him for defamation. Flint argued in this trial that the content of Hustler’s publication with the First Amendment as a weapon was both freedom of speech and freedom of expression to criticize public figures. The Supreme Court raised Flint’s hand.
He called himself’a conscious pornography peddler’ and said, “My competitors always disguised obscenity as art. We have no pretense.” He defined himself as a fighter to fight the hypocrisy of society.
Since then, he dreamed of advancing into politics by challenging the elections for the governor of California and the presidential election based on his reputation.
The title of his autobiography published in 1996 was An Unseemly Man: My Life As A Pornographer, Pundit And Social Outcast. His story was released in the movie “Larry Flint” (1996) and attracted attention.
Reporter Juhee Hong [email protected]