Hugh Hefner has died. There will be multiple jokes, of course, and more than a few will quietly admit that they envied him and his playboy lifestyle. I will let others make the jokes and discuss the controversy of Playboy.
The only joke that I can't ignore is: "I only buy Playboy for the articles". Because once you looked at the pictures of the girls, read the jokes, and perused the ads, the articles and interviews were all you were left with. These were articles by some of the best writers of the mid to late twentieth century. It may take a while to read through them all (and we wanted to) and then take time to think about them. As beautiful as the girls were, they only caused you to buy the magazine and open the covers.
Playboy was a forum for many competing ideas. A magazine and accompanying lifestyle that objectified women was also an early venue for feminism. A man who was the poster child for hedonism also gave space to moral and social conservatives. These folks were never mocked or criticized, as I recall. They were given respect. The inference was obvious. We can, and must, disagree respectfully, and live together peacefully.
If the photos of the parties at the Playboy mansion are true, then racial integration became hip during the civil rights movement. There didn't seem to be any distinction. And even if the image was manufactured, the message was not. It was okay for blacks and whites to like each other, contrary to what we were seeing on television or in other magazines.
I also have to give a nod to the Playboy Jazz Festival. Jazz was bolstered by the efforts of Hefner. He featured jazz musicians in the magazine and supported the art form generally. Jazz is sitting on pretty firm ground today and, while I can't credit Hefner for that, he did help.
The playboy lifestyle was unapologetic about enjoying the finer things in life. Food, drink, places, and people. America has always, on some level, been crass. Playboy used photos of naked women to elevate us out of that. A major contradiction, to be sure. Today the same pictures, and worse, are used to drag us down. Competing ideas are rarely tolerated. Intellectualism is an insult. We celebrate the crass and corrupt.
Hefner was a self-induced joke that influenced America far more than most people will admit. He was definitely a man of his time. Perhaps it's time for an updated version for the 21st century.