Secrets of Playboy - Im Bann von Hugh Hefner

Time that Hefner and his malignant narcissistic lifestyle was exposed. The guy always disgusted me with his insincerity and his slimy persona. When I saw Bill Cosby's face I knew the mansion was a place darkness and evil, and that Hefner had no interest in the girls. I had a friend who was a bunny and she could attest to the conditions they were forced to endure- weight checks, horrific inhumane uniforms, swollen feet, and a demerit system And the whole bit about Don Cornelius was just disgusting. He should have rotted in jail. I have only seen 4 episodes- looking for the next 3 in season 1. I wonder why Barbi Benton has not spoken up.

If you're in the mood for sleaze, this series delivers bucketloads. But as with any documentary series, especially one in which most of the witnesses are peddling books or have other agendas, it's important to read between the lines and separate the chaff from the wheat.

The series is built on behind-the-scenes peeks into Heffner's hedonistic kingdom and vengeful blowback delivered by former associates. If all of the personal allegations made against "Heff" are true, he was a highly amoral deviant. But the most damning allegations come from single sources, notably former lovers like Sondra Theodore and Holly Madison who by their own admission remained at his side for years after discovering his dark side. With the late Heffner unable to defend himself, it's up to the viewer to accept or reject their claims.

What is supported by many witnesses is that Heffner was a jaded libertine with a taste for drugs and a stable of $1000-a-week concubines, including the two above-mentioned sugarbabies now eager to let the world know what a monster he was.

So we're left to choose between the glowing praise of Heff's male and female friends and the admirable fact that he was an early proponent of equal opportunity for minorities - or the claims (to be blunt) of a self-admitted bisexual coke whore who was happy to enlist other women to do the perverted things she loathed and an apparent gold-digging barracuda, both of whom came to the Playboy mansion with their eyes set on snagging a very lucrative prize for themself, and ultimately failing.

But the sleazy allegations don't end with Heff. The Playboy empire included clubs and promotions and a magazine. Here the testimony is more convincing, coming from well-spoken former execs like Miki Garcia and PJ Matten whose only goals were to move up the corporate ladder, albeit at a company built on the exploitation of the female body. It's no surprise that the male execs were sexist pigs, but anyone who lived through the "sexy 70s" probably worked in a similar sexually charged environment, something these women might not even realize.

None of this excuses Heffner or the piggish execs or rapist celebrities. There's plenty of genuine outrage to be had here. Some of the most satisfying moments are when Garcia and Matten name names and show pictures of the executive offenders. One only wishes they had gone to the police or the press to blow their whistles when it would have mattered, instead of doing business as usual and crying about it later. That is the lesson to be learned.

I can just see the pitch for this show:

"Hey, since we're in a Woke/MeToo environment now, let's take one of the best known male publishing celebrities of the last 50 years, and get all his ex-girlfriends and ex-employees that have tell-all books about him to push, and line them all up as an endless series of babbling interviews so they can slam his reputation now that he can't defend himself!"

As a woman I find these ridiculous interviews really offensive. Most of Hefner's harshest critics come off as either bitter or psychotic (yes, I mean YOU, Holly,) and prattle on and on about the horrible experiences they had as Playboy darlings while they happily pocketed their $1000 per week "allowance" and lived and ate at the mansion rent free. . .along with having their plastic surgery bills paid for in full. Gee, I can't imagine why any of these acerbic gold diggers fell out of Hef's favor . .

To be fair, the filmmakers do attempt to balance the catty sniping with complimentary remarks from associates who were not physically involved with Hefner, but it's all skewed toward the notion that Hugh Hefner's legacy should place him somewhere between Satan and Adolf Hitler because of his "sinister" treatment of women. Funny thing, not one of his detractors goes into any detail about exactly what heinous conduct he's guilty of, other than having more than one girlfriend at a time when each of them thought they alone were "the special one."

The fact that most of the interviewees are constantly talking about the tell-all books they either published or plan on publishing make this droning series of whiny talking heads nothing but a big. Long, tedious commercial that makes the Sham-Wow guy feel like a breath of fresh air by comparison. (Although there is one hysterical bit in episode 2 wherein one of Hefner's former paramours bristles at being thought of as a hooker as there was no "direct" exchange of money for services . . yes, she had sex with him and yes she was paid every week to live in the lap of luxury, but there was no "direct" exchange . . this whole interview is made even funnier by that fact that she's perched cross-legged in a short skirt facing the camera at such an angle that barely conceals her gender. Class act all the way.)

I couldn't help but notice from the credits that roughly 85% of the crew was comprised of young women. I guess in these low-tolerance times, it comes as no surprise that a group of millennial females would choose to get a paycheck by vilifying the guy who published a magazine with classy nudes, although I would've been more impressed if they went after less literate periodicals like Penthouse or Hustler. Maybe we'll see that in succeeding seasons . .

Avoid, unless you're addicted to gossip from bitter ex's.

This could have been condensed into two hours. After a time nothing new is said. I expected the interviewer to ask the hard questions of those who witnessed assaults, brutal beatings and rapes and did nothing about it, but those questions never came. So much is missed in this documentary. Give us the names of all the men involved. Tell us who in the police department was in Playboy's pocket. Take to task the parents who signed their daughters and their bodies over to Playboy when they were still minors. We see women of all ages give their accounts and notice the ravages of time, drugs and trauma on their faces. Aside from rape, there's another commonality between these women. There's no light behind the eyes, they are detached, uncoupled, gone!

Slow at times but impactful to really listen to these women and men talking about the dark side of this business. Too bad so many people were hurt for the sake of selling magazines and making money.