Max Hardcore is No Steven Spielberg

“A Hollywood director and producer, along with an entertainment company, have been indicted on obscenity charges” is the lede in a May 31, 2007, Department of Justice (DOJ) press release. The release conjures up images of Ron Howard or Spielberg doing the “perp walk.” But there's no nightmare for DreamWorks—DOJ is having a close encounter with a different kind.

The director goes by the moniker Max Hardcore, and that's just what he produces.  Seriously, DOJ. Why make a self-proclaimed peddler of porn he boasts is “nastier and more vulgar than ever before seen” sound like a legitimate filmmaker? It's like describing Al Capone as an entrepreneur with a beverage company.

Max Hardcore's real name is Paul F. Little of Altadena, Calif.  Owner of MaxWorld Entertainment Inc., Little is charged with five counts of transporting obscene matter by use of an interactive computer service and five counts of mailing obscene matter into Florida.

DOJ neglects to mention until the second sentence in the second paragraph that Mr. Little produces and stars in films “featuring acts such as anal penetration, urination, insertion of an entire hand into a vagina or anus, vomiting, and severe violence towards the female performers participating in the acts.”

Lest you think DOJ is exaggerating, Little Max's official Web site proudly proclaims his pride in producing porn appealing to pedophiles and perverts:

As a photographer in Key West, Florida, Max enjoyed tricking tourist girls into posing for him on the beach, his goal was to get them naked for his camera, and making private f*** videos with him. … Breaking new ground, and old rules, portraying innocent young girls with pig-tails and hairless p****** submitting to disgustingly vile treatment! … In 1995 Max created Hardcore Schoolgirls, with even stronger and more unmerciful treatment of the young things Max would pick up and sexually degrade!

Most news coverage of Little's indictment nails who he is in the lede, including the Free Speech Coalition (FSC), a major mouthpiece and defender of pornographers:

“Max Hardcore Raided by Feds in Obscenity Probe,” FSC “Porn Director Faces Charges for Online Distribution,” Yahoo News, Networkworld, and Addict3d.org “Max Hardcore Raided by FBI While Max Is In Europe,” MK Magazine News “An Altadena man and an entertainment company face obscenity charges for allegedly distributing pornography,” The Los Angeles Times

The five DVDs named in Little's indictment are his trademark trash:

Pure Max 16 (Euro Version)

Max Hardcore Fists of Fury 3

Max Hardcore Extreme Schoolgirls 6 (Euro Version)

Max Hardcore Golden Guzzlers 5

Max Hardcore Golden Guzzlers 6

“Hardcore” is used by the Supreme Court to refer to porn that can be charged as obscene under state and federal law. If Little's videos aren't patently offensive, prurient and lacking serious value under the Court's three-part obscenity test in Miller v. California, heaven help us.

Lest decent folks misunderstand, Fists of Fury isn't a salute to Rocky and Golden Guzzlers isn't an Octoberfest for blondes. Little's Schoolgirls series is his excursion into pseudo-child pornography, in which he films sex acts using young-looking 18 and 19-year-olds made up to look like little girls.

Jeff Douglas, Little's attorney and board member of the FSC, released a statement from Little:

There is no indication of any crime to be alleged except obscenity. If indicted, I will fight to protect my liberty, as well as the liberty of consenting adults to watch other adults engage in lawful, consensual, pleasurable sexual action. Shame on the Bush Department of Justice. I am proud of the movies I make and proud of those who buy and sell those movies.

Little's “official” Web site, which puts hard-core video clips and photos within a mouse click of children, has an attractive nuisance “warning” common to porn sites: “It's forbidden to continue if XXX-Rated is illegal where you are viewing, or may violate community standards.”

“Other than Hell, there are no community standards this material wouldn't violate,” would be a good opening argument for Little's prosecutor.

A DOJ announcement of an obscenity indictment is always welcome news. But when they open by making this Little guy sound legitimate, it plays right into his duplicitous defense. Maybe it's just poor editing, or maybe they think they've finally busted a “mainstream” porn producer.

One thing's for sure. The videos charged in this case indicate that the DOJ and FBI are keeping the obscenity prosecution bar much higher than the Miller test requires.  That means less extreme hardcore pornography will continue to inundate the Internet and corrupt the culture.

Jan LaRue, Esq. is a member of the Board of Advisors for the [1]Culture and Media Institute, a division of the Media Research Center.