Complex Numbers

Larry Flynt is a Better Man than I Am.

At least, according to this story:

http://www.accesshollywood.com/news/ah5356.shtml?dst=rss|general_rss

My mother always told me that no matter how much you dislike a person, when you meet them face to face you will find characteristics about them that you like. Jerry Falwell was a perfect example of that.

Okay, so I never actually met Foul-smell, so I don't know for sure, but as it stands I can't think of one "characteristic" about him that I "like." My mother told me never to speak ill of the dead, something ingrained in me from an early age, so yesterday's blog entry was rather difficult for me to write.

However, Flynt's next words pretty much say it all:

I hated everything he stood for, but after meeting him in person, years after the trial, Jerry Falwell and I became good friends. He would visit me in
California and we would debate together on college campuses. I always appreciated his sincerity even though I knew what he was selling and he knew what I was selling. [Emphasis mine]

And that's what it comes down to for me, folks. Whatever you may think of the porn industry, it doesn't try to hide behind some nebulous concept of greater good or try to justify its actions on shaky moral grounds. Lots of people want porn, and people like Flynt sell it. Period. Everyone involved, from the producers to the talent to the consumers, are completely aware, every step of the way, that it's all about selling the illusion of sex (or intimacy, as I would argue) in return for money. There's no "it's good for you;" there's no "buy our porn and all your sins will be forgiven." At best, the likes of Flynt can invoke the First Amendment, as he did in that landmark case, arguing that pornography (which is NOT what that case was about) is protected free speech. Still, that doesn't pretend to justify porn; all it does is prove they can sell it legally.

Falwell, by contrast, sold a scrawny pig in an intolerant poke to naive consumers, all the while also invoking the First Amendment (in his case, the part about separation of church and state).

And if you want to know who was the better American, well... consider that Falwell's business never had to pay taxes.