from www.nydailynews.com – Most men have their hands full with one woman. By his own admission, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner has bedded over 2,000. But the 84-year-old sex icon is more than a mere Lothario. The just-released documentary “Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel” portrays Hefner not as a soft-core pornographer, but as an outspoken proponent of the First Amendment. How did he find the time?
Q: Do you feel this documentary is an accurate portrayal of you?
A: I would say so. Obviously, it’s not the complete picture, but I think it tells the other half, the half people don’t know as much about. In some quarters, sex and my life remain controversial. I think the director felt obliged to give the other side a voice, and then I had a chance to respond to them. It adds to the interest of the film.
Q: What do you say to women who say you objectify the female form?
A: The notion that Playboy turns women into sex objects is ridiculous. Women are sex objects. If women weren’t sex objects, there wouldn’t be another generation. It’s the attraction between the sexes that makes the world go ’round. That’s why women wear lipstick and short skirts.
Q: Enough about the movie. Is there anything off-limits for Hugh Hefner in bed?
A: Absolutely. I’m actually a very moral guy. No horses, no reptiles.
Q: How do you handle so many women?
A: Sometimes one is more difficult. I was married and faithful for eight years in the 1980s, and following that, as an overreaction to that failed marriage, I wound up with seven live-in girlfriends. Dealing with those seven girlfriends was easier than dealing with one wife.
Q: Does sex change as you age?
A: Well, not particularly. Thank goodness for the arrival of Viagra. It breaks down that wall. But I think you gain some experience over the years and that helps. Woody Allen said, “If you don’t think that sex is dirty, you’re not doing it right.”
Q: Have you always been into blonds?
A: No, my first wife was a brunette and Barbi Benton, my major romantic relationship of the early 1970s, was a brunette. But since the end of my marriage, all of my girlfriends have been blonds. I have made the comment that Picasso went through his pink period and his blue period before he arrived at his abstract period. I am in my blond period.
Q: How does an average guy get a gorgeous woman?
A: That’s a tough one. My barber says when you reach middle age and go into a club, the girls look right through you. But that is not true for me. Someone once asked, “What’s your best pickup line?” I said, “My best pickup line is, ‘Hi, my name is Hugh Hefner.’ ”
Q: What are you most proud of in your life so far?
A: What I take the greatest pride in is the fact that I’ve played a significant part in the changing of our social and sexual values. Sex outside of wedlock used to not only be forbidden, it was illegal. Playboy helped change those attitudes and laws.