Larry Flynt as a Controversial Advocate for Freedom of Speech in The People vs. Larry Flynt

• Authors: Natalia Dziewięcka
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The focus of this article is to examine the notion of freedom, and more precisely freedom of speech, in the light of The People vs. Larry Flynt. The analysis will pay close attention to what has always been a central concern of American society constituting one of the basic principles on which the new nation was founded. What is more, the article will try to indicate that freedom of speech has been as essential as controversial in many respects, which is proven by numerous examples from American history. As a baseline of this study I have chosen Larry Flynt, whose life and legal battles form the central theme of the selected biopic. The article will scrutinize the plot of the movie, as it provides interesting insights into the life of this controversial advocate of freedom of speech. Flynt made himself well-known, if not notorious, by being the focal point of countless debates that concerned moral issues, public taste, and two basic rights guaranteed by the Declaration of Independence and the First Amendment. Ultimately, the article will try to challenge the concept of a society based on the notion of freedom of speech by asking and trying to answer three questions: What precisely is freedom of speech? Is freedom of speech absolute? Are there any limits of expression and if so, then where to draw the line?

Keywords

EN

freedom of speech, Larry Flynt, Declaration of Independence, The Bill of Rights, freedom of expression, boundaries of freedom

• Publisher: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej
• Journal: New Horizons in English Studies
• Year: 2016
• Issue: 1

Dates

published

2016

online

2017-03-07

Contributors

author

Natalia Dziewięcka

• Maria Curie-Skłodowska University (UMCS) in Lublin

editor

Aneta Okuń-Jaśkowiak

editor

Adam Głaz

editor

Lidia Kniaź-Hunek

editor

Anna Bendrat

editor

Ewelina Prażmo

editor

Przemysław Terejko

editor

Piotr Szczypa

editor

Grzegorz Czemiel

editor

Ewa Antoszek

editor

Justyna Galant

editor

Marta Komsta

editor

Edyta Frelik

editor

Agata Waszkiewicz

editor

Anna Oleszczuk

editor

Agata Waszkiewicz

other

Aneta Okuń-Jaśkowiak

References

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Identifiers

DOI

10.17951/nh.2016.1.68