It was recently announced that insufferable actor Jared Leto is attached to play the late Hugh Hefner in a currently-untitled biopic about the founder of Playboy. My guess is that Leto took one look at an early photo of Hefner with that pipe sticking out the side of his mouth and signed on immediately. The constant pajamas and the complete lack of inhibition? Icing on the cake! In many ways, between the affectations, the assumed air of sophistication, and the objectification of those around him, Hefner might just be the role that Leto was born to play!
Of course, it’s possible that the film will be a deep exploration of Hefner’s life, philosophies, and flaws rather than a shameless, unexamined celebration of everything that he stood for. That would certainly be a movie I’d be interested in; a clear-eyed look at the positives and negatives of Hefner’s cultural impact, perhaps in the spirit of films like Kinsey or Auto Focus. I’m sure to many such a thing might seem to be in poor taste, speaking ill of a recently-departed cultural icon, but I think that it’s important to be honest about these figures and –
“Brett Ratner is attached to direct the film.”
Okay. Never mind. A Brett Ratner film about Hugh Hefner starring Jared Leto. Can you imagine anything worse? I cannot.
