15 years ago this month, I got into a (written) confrontation with Sly ("Rocky") Stallone....over semi-PORN he was publishing in his then-new magazine.
You see, in early 2005, the first issue of "SLY" magazine hit the stands. It was mostly a vehicle to tell older men how to keep in shape and to promote the "ROCKY VI" movie Stallone was making (eventually retitled "Rocky Balboa" and released the following year.) And, as I am a HUGE "Rocky" fan and had just turned 50 myself, I bought the mag and LOVED it...except for ONE PART. A feature on a female PORN STAR.
I immediately wrote to "Sly" mag to state this, hoping I would not be a lone voice in the wilderness and that we could SALVAGE this (otherwise interesting) new men's magazine.
So when May came, I bought issue #2 (shown above) to see if my letter was in it. It was...(below)
I give Stallone LOTS OF CREDIT for printing my letter as it was the ONLY one critical of him and his magazine. He could have just not printed it at all, or EDITED it (he did not.) But sadly, he did not back down on the SOFT-PORN stuff, either as there was more in that very issue. And that was the LAST issue I bought, because subsequent ones had covers with models that resembled PLAYBOY covers more than anything, making it clear that "Sly" would continue on the course he started out on. In that case I absolutely DID "judge the book by its cover" and did not purchase it anymore.
Sadly, the mag folded a few issues later. "Rocky Balboa" came out in late 2006, I went to see it and it was GREAT. The Rocky character lives on in the "Creed" movies and Stallone, now over 70, made a profession of faith in Christ a few years ago. (Come to think of it, around the time "Rocky Balboa" came out, Stallone started talking like he was a Christian, but IDK if he was / is WALKING like a Christian. God knows.)
As for me, there's a great true story my kids can tell to my six grand kids one day....the time Grandpa tangled with SLY....and WHY.
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