Hugh Hefner, Marylin Monroe and the Pearly Gates

In the last chapter of his book Never Look An American in the Eye, the author, Okey Ndibe, narrates how when he was much younger, his image of a macho man was the quintessential playboy whose life revolved around drinking, smoking, partying and womanizing. Incidentally, Okey grew up with a father who was quite the opposite. C. C. Ndibe was a devoted husband and responsible father. Though they were a family of modest means, the exemplary relationship between his parents resulted in a stable and happy home for Okey and his four siblings. Growing up, Okey did not appreciate the example that was being lived out before him. It was not surprising therefore that as a young man, he lived life on the fast lane. But some four decades later, with the benefit of hindsight, Okey has come to realise that real men are those who, like his father, honour their marriage vows and care for their family.

Ndibe’s engaging memoir ends with a lesson that, if we heed, will save us and those we love from the pain that accompanies the lifestyle promoted by popular culture.

Hugh Hefner was a different kind of man. M.O. Carnegie describes him as ‘…a business success but a moral failure whose legacy is pornography’. In an interview with Esquire Magazine in 2013, Hefner, founder of Playboy Enterprise, said he may have slept with over 1000 women. Even sadder is the fact that his partners were a third his age. Despite having the benefit of a godly upbringing, Hefner’s merchandise was sex and the result of his pursuit is broken lives and broken homes. The maiden edition of his Playboy magazine (December 1953) had a nude photo of Marilyn Monroe. Though Hefner had never met her, Monroe, a sex icon of her time, was his choice poster girl. Monroe had had an unstable family life as a child and a troubling life thereafter. Though her film “Niagara Fall” grossed an impressive $6m in the early 50s, she reportedly suffered depression. Monroe died of a drug overdose on August 5th 1962 at the age of 36. Hefner died of natural causes on September 27th 2017 at the age of 91. At his request, Hugh Hefner was buried beside Marilyn Monroe. Hefner and Monroe had 3 failed marriages, a string of partners and they both reduced themselves to sex objects. They are no strange bed fellows.

Someday, we all shall get to the ‘pearly gates’. All flesh shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Have Hugh and Marilyn made it through the ‘pearly gates’? Would you and I make it through the ‘pearly gates’? It depends on how we respond to Jesus while we are alive. At Calvary, Christ was crucified between two thieves. At the point of death, both men responded to the Saviour differently. One challenged Jesus to save Himself and them. The other humbly acknowledged His Lordship and Jesus saved his soul. While where we spend eternity should be out uttermost concern, what we do with our time on earth also matters, for ‘It is appointed unto man once to die, then the judgment’ (Hebrews 9:27).