Hugh Hefner Is Definitely More Than Just a Playboy

When you think of Hugh Hefner, three things come to mind — bunnies, boobs and blondes.

But behind the creator of the Playboy empire is a much more complicated figure who fought courageously for civil rights, gay rights, women’s rights and more.

In Brigitte Berman’s documentary, ‘Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel,’ the director shows us a different side of the man that many of us know only as the publisher of the nudie magazine who likes to date much younger women.

Hefner tells PopEater that he was very pleased with how the documentary came out. “I was very emotionally moved by it,” he says. Read Our Full Interview With Hef After the Jump!

After watching ‘Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel,’ I realized, there is no mold for Hugh Hefner.
I appreciate that.

How do you think people will react to the documentary?
It depends on the people. I found out a long time ago, the very nature of my life and of the magazine itself is an ink-blot test, a Rorschach test. I think people see reflections of their own particular dreams, fantasies; it depends on who they are.

What was your reaction when you saw it?
I was very moved by it. I didn’t have anything to do with the actual creation of the film, so I didn’t see it until it was completed. I knew the focus of the film was going to be on the other-half of my life. In other words, less about the girls and more about the social issues and the role that we played in changing things. I was very emotionally moved by it, [director Brigitte Berman] did a remarkable job.

I imagine a lot of people will be surprised with what they learn after watching.
The reaction we’ve gotten so far to the film is overwhelming and very positive and that makes me very happy.

Do you have a favorite moment in the movie?
The one that touches me the most and is difficult for me to watch without getting a little emotional — there is a spot in the film about ‘Playboy After Dark’ in which Country Joe and the Fish sing an anti-war song. She edits it along with — it’s a song that was never permitted on network television — images from battle from young boys overseas fighting the war, in that case, Vietnam. It hits me very deeply because it was one of our great, hurtful things. We never seem to learn.

source: http://www.popeater.com/2010/07/30/hugh-hefner-documentary/