More thoughts on the Interview

[Peggy Wilkins]

We were earlier talking about the format of the Interview feature.
Its appearance today is essentially the same as it has been since its
debut in 1962.  On the one hand, this appearance reinforces the iconic
role of this feature; on the other hand, it looks outdated.  Which way
to go?

I have a new suggestion.  I think it is fairly obvious that the
content of the PLAYBOY Interview has been diluted quite a bit in
recent years.  Nowadays it tends to be used much like the talk show
circuit, with most Interview subjects being whatever actor or sports
figure or musician is in the news or (more notably) has something to
promote.  For instance, Tobey Maguire is interviewed in the August
issue.  He is in the news because he starred in Spiderman recently and
now has a new notable movie just coming out, Seabiscuit.  I see this
as a primarily promotional feature, and so it is disappointing when
viewed in the PLAYBOY Interview tradition (it just doesn't have the
weight one would really want).

I think this type of Interview dilutes the feature, so why not break
it off into a separate feature?  In other words, some issues could
feature two Interviews (the second would probably have to be called
something else, though), but one of them would be a substantial piece
of the traditional Interview type, with a real Mover/Shaker, thinker,
person of some controversy, etc., and the other could be of this
promotional, "buzz", person-in-the-news type and could be shorter and
could have an updated format.

I know full well this is unlikely to be particularly well received,
but I think it is a very interesting start of an idea that could be
developed.  It would preserve the integrity of the Interview while
allowing more flexibility in both content and layout.

Peggy Wilkins
mozart@lib.uchicago.edu