From Centerfolds & Malèna to Code
Playboy built a brand around curated eroticism. It wasn’t just nudity—it was an identity, a lifestyle, and an editorial voice.
Models were ICONIC yet still real people—centerfolds came with names, interviews, fears, and ambitions.
There was a clear editorial lens—Playboy decided what (and who) was sexy. Beyond nudity—Playboy was an aspirational brand tied to lifestyle, art, and rebellion.
In 2023, Playboy launched a digital avatar of a past model (a Marilyn Monroe–style AI influencer) on its own AI-driven platform. Even the legacy brand had to adapt, yet the inspiration, the core, the source, the heart remained a human icon.
Centerfolds were an art of mystery.
The way a body was framed told a story—sensuality mixed with attitude, vulnerability, playfulness.
A centerfold wasn’t a file; it was a ritual.
You didn’t just look. You beheld.
Now it’s a matter of megapixels: the more, the better.
Swipe, scroll, zoom—there is no story, no name, no moment.
The erotic, though, isn’t what we see—it’s about what we almost see.
“The Playboy centerfold made icons. AI makes noise.”
And, unfortunately, what we desire says everything about who we are becoming.
Once we unfolded centerfolds and watched movies featuring women like Malèna walking through the square, impossibly distant. Today, we just zoom in. But zooming in isn’t seeing—it’s forgetting.
No one can forget that moment of Malèna in the town square—one of cinema’s most iconic sequences, a masterclass in visual storytelling, erotic tension, and social commentary.
There’s no dialogue, only the sound of heels and Ennio Morricone’s unforgettable score heightening the tension. Young boys and old men alike are hypnotized—it’s not just sex appeal, it’s aesthetic fixation.
Malèna’s beauty is not neutral—it disturbs the social order.
To them, she is dangerous even in silence. She is a Myth.
Any AI myths nowadays? Cute. FCK no.
Does infinite choice make us freer—or more detached from reality and others?
- GF
