As A&E releases a documentary about the things that took place behind closed doors at Hugh Hefner’s mansion, I have a question for the ladies: Do you really need to see a documentary to tell you what happened inside Hefner’s house?
That’s not a rhetorical question. If you are completely ignorant about the ‘Playboy’ empire, you can stop reading and thank God for your protecting your innocence. (Seriously.)
The docu-series is entitled, ‘Secrets of Playboy.’ Unless Hefner was bringing young girls and celebrities together into his home for the purpose of running a soup kitchen, there are no ‘secrets’ in this documentary.
Sondra Theodore was Hugh Hefner’s girlfriend for several years. She is one of the women revealing the ‘secrets’ about life in the mansion. According to Theodore, it is critical that her ‘story’ be told, “so that [it] doesn’t keep happening over and over again with another Hugh Hefner. Because there’s always going to be a Hugh Hefner out there.”
Theodore maintains that she was ‘groomed’ by Hefner. Sometimes. Other times she says, “I felt like my world was becoming wonderful and I was meeting my prince…I was in love before the night was over.”
The question that nobody (but me) will ask because it’s awkward, and insensitive is this: Is Sondra Theodore wicked or stupid?
If she sincerely didn’t realize that being Hugh Hefner’s girlfriend would require her to do things that violated her conscience, she’s an idiot. She deserves our pity. I have no contempt for imbeciles. If she genuinely thought that Hefner just liked her personality and he wouldn’t ever ask her to do the things that ALL THE OTHER WOMEN were made to do, then she’s the dumbest person on Earth. May God have mercy on her soul.
If Theodore isn’t a complete moron, then blaming her depraved behavior on Hugh Hefner is an act of evil. She was a mature, empowered, woman with the capacity to make her own decisions. Now, years later, she is still refusing to take responsibility for those decisions. That is much worse than being stupid.
Theodore (if she’s not stupid) is making it easier for those ‘other Hugh Hefners’ to exploit women. Telling ‘her story’ is an attempt to shift the blame for her sin onto the shoulders of a more notorious sinner. The documentary is literally teaching young girls how to scapegoat the men they claim to love. The message is not, “Stay away from immoral behavior.” The message is, “That shame you feel is someone else’s fault.”
I’m not apologizing for Hefner. He was a despicable, selfish, manipulative monster. But he didn’t act alone. The women who made him famous are not victims. They are monsters themselves.
Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call understanding your kinsman; they will keep you from the adulteress, from the wayward wife with her seductive words.
(Proverbs 7:4)
