Magazine Review: Playboy: May 1982

 

The May 1982 edition of Playboy is a fascinating look into the past when read today. That month's interview, which, aside from the pictorials, was always the highlight of any particular month's release, featured Billy Joel, who was probably not quite at the height of his fame, but getting there. It was a wide-ranging interview that discussed his life growing up in the NY suburbs and how he broke into the music business, and the criticism he received from many sides. He was in his early 30s at the time, and still had the brash, tough-guy persona that he would mostly shed by the 1990s when he was in his 40s. The other interesting articles included one on Bobby Inman, who was the deputy director of the CIA at the time, one on the process of getting the movie The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas made, specifically what it took to get Burt Reynolds, Dolly Parton, and Willie Nelson on board with the film, an article about a study of the differences between men and women, and one about personal computers (which were in their infancy at the time). The article about men versus women is not quite what you might expect from Playboy; it discusses the differences between genders in how they handle stress, mathematical aptitude, how male and female bodies are formed in the womb, predisposition to different diseases, and how our brains process information. The article about computers is very interesting, given how they are used today versus how they were used back then. The 20 Questions interview featured the cast of SCTV, including John Candy, Rick Moranis, Eugene Levy, and Catherine O'Hara.

There are three pictorials this month. A celebrity pictorial featuring actress Rae Dawn Chong, the Playmate of the Month pictorial featuring Kym Malin, and one featuring an Ohio policewoman named Barb Schantz. Malin was definitely not one of the more notable playmates, but she did parlay her appearance into an '80s B-movie career, and Schantz's appearance in the magazine would get her temporarily suspended from her job and loosely inspire a TV movie the following year. 

Probably the most interesting thing about reading the magazine almost 44 years after its printing is the differences and similarities of things being discussed/argued about back then (for example, in the reader comments) versus things that are argued about today. Readers were submitting comments on topics such as drug use, gun control, and the political climate (which was not nearly as divided back then as it is now). The advertisements are quite something as well. There are a ton of car ads, and the cars that were supposed to be the top-of-the-line/futuristic vehicles were hilariously awful-looking (but inexpensive compared to today's mid-tier vehicles), and there were a ton of cigarette ads. Some of the jokes in the cartoons throughout were funny, and some made no sense (and probably required a knowledge of early 80s pop culture or news). Playboy was always controversial and never really shied away from controversy. There are definitely things throughout the issue that do not hold up well today, including a comment by Billy Joel in the interview that would cause major backlash if he said it today. Of course, opinions on Playboy have been divided for as long as it has been in existence, with some saying it exploited women (as certainly some of that criticism has validity, especially in light of recent documentary series about some of the behind-the-scenes stuff) and others saying it was a cultural phenomenon. Ultimately, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. If you do bother to do more than just look at the pictures in this issue, you will find it has content that makes for interesting reading, even years later.