Playboy

. . .Playboy provided, I’m just going to say it, some friggin’ great articles. Back when dinosaurs ruled the Earth, plenty of us really did read Playboy for the articles. Playboy was legendary for the audacity of its interviews. It was for Playboy that Roots author Alex Haley interviewed Martin Luther King and Malcolm X. In Playboy, Jimmy Carter admitted he had committed adultery in his heart. John and Yoko appeared in a Playboy article on the stands at the time of Lennon’s murder in 1981. These things, clearly, were relevant.

Playboy occupied a sacred place in the world where classy cultural understanding met old-world charm and style. Lest you think I offer this appreciation with my eyes closed, however, please consider that it was not an entirely functional niche — it was created by the standards of British colonialism, where the wealthy white man ruled the world and got all the spoils of Empire. Anyone admitted to his exclusive little club had only to become “the Playboy man,” with his expensive suits and his almost constant consumption of highballs and female flesh.

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Tagged as: culture, Playboy

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