SOURCE: Fuller, Kathryn H. Review of The People vs. Larry Flynt, by Milos Forman. Journal of American History 84, no. 3 (December 1997): 1185-86.

In the following review, Fuller analyzes the public reaction to The People vs. Larry Flynt and expresses surprise that the majority of debate came from liberal and feminist groups.

The People vs. Larry Flynt is a recent addition to the surprisingly small store of Hollywood films dealing with censorship, freedom of speech, and First Amendment controversies. Previous films featured likable, unassuming, Everyman protagonists such as Edward G. Robinson's journalist in Dispatch from Reuter's (1940), Henry Fonda's college professor in The Male Animal (1942), Bette Davis's librarian in Storm Center (1956), Spencer Tracy's lawyer in Inherit the Wind (1960), and Woody Allen's screenwriter in The Front (1976). In dramatic courtroom and lecture hall confrontations, the heroes rise above community approbation to uphold free speech and democracy. The flag-waving finales reassured moviegoers of the...