Secrets of Playboy

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.

I don't doubt the playboy lifestyle was damaging to some of the women. But when one of the women (Zoe) in season 2 episode 2 "The era of the Seven"complained doing her own makeup was hard made me roll my eyes so far back I saw my own brain. The other cringworthy scene was when Izabelle stated she never took the bar after going through law school and earning her J. D. made me want to reach through the screen and shake her. What a waste of an education. They traded on their beauty, and received $1,000 per week salary, a roof over their head, clothing and plastic surgery bought and paid for. SMDH.

This docu series brings light several delusional narratives pitting positive views vs negative. Ultimately it's interesting to watch but I would argue it's wrapped around a core principle. People are obsessed with celebrity and fame.

For some of these women they have experienced terrible trauma due to bad policies and bad experiences with individuals and it's heartbreaking to hear about. However:

Listening to an American who lives in a country where you aren't given even basic healthcare without a cost expect a company to provide protection and perks outside of working hours for essentially a waitress is ridiculous. No the company isn't going to overly protect you because NO COMPANY DOES.

As someone who worked in the luxury industry the complaints about how their personal looks were handled isn't anything new. I wasn't allowed to grow a beard without approval and literally had it in my contract I had to shave every day.

When you have a group that was being paid higher than average wages for the time in an environment which had more rules and structure for them to complain showcases they never really worked anywhere else or are picking their gripes.

This doc is a lot of excused naive people trying to lash out at an organization that certainly was disturbed but they also complicit in a lot of dealings.

Hefner was a odd character. A clear narcissist and sex addict who manipulated to get what he wanted. That being said if you see a man who has 7 girlfriends and think that's normal and you can live a normal life with that. You clearly have a warped sense of relationships and human connection and I don't think you should be used as the litmus test.

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.

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.