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Short answer: No.
Long answer: A Christian viewer would take offense since it would be an unfavorable depiction of a religious figure.
However, there'd be conflict within that subset due it's artistic presentation. There is religious art that was at one point seen as pornography and later embraced as emotional and spiritually-influenced depictions of religious figures.
This is all moot, though, since Playboy Mexico came out and said, "The image is not and never was intended to portray the Virgin of Guadalupe or any other religious figure. The intent was to reflect a Renaissance-like mood on the cover."
So, nope.
Source(s):
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE4BE54F20081215
College Humanities Course
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toomanymon...
stepwisecl...
Source(s):
http://www.theyoungturks.com/
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Think about it: It's Playboy Mexico. The majority of the Mexican population is Catholic. Catholicism is the one Christian sect that actually worships the Virgin Mary. And the Virgin of Guadalupe is possibly the BIGGEST cultural and religious figure in Mexico.
This obviously reeks of publicity stunt.
In terms of offensiveness. Yes. It is extremely offensive to Catholics. One of the most important Catholic dogmas is that the Virgin Mary is pure and had an Immaculate Conception.
I don't think it's as offensive to other groups. But considering the demographics of Mexico, it was offensive to most of the country and, again, obviously a publicity stunt.
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Reuters reports:
""While Playboy Mexico never meant for the cover or images to offend anyone, we recognize that it has created offense, and we as well as Playboy Mexico offer our sincerest apologies," the statement said.
Raul Sayrols, publisher of Playboy Mexico, said in a statement, "The image is not and never was intended to portray the Virgin of Guadalupe or any other religious figure. The intent was to reflect a Renaissance-like mood on the cover."
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE4BE54F20081215
Frankly, I think there might have been a bit of an allusion here, but you know what they say about people reading into things.... If you see the Virgin Mary on that cover, maybe it reflects more upon you than on Playboy... Maybe not.
I think it will blow over. If they intended for the comparison, they did a good job of planning for potential blowback. It's a porn magazine... one would expect them to court controversy now and then. These days it is amazing that Playboy still has a market at all.
P.S. As a former Catholic, I can tell you that in Mexico, the most popular depiction of Mary is Our Lady Of Guadalupe. She is shown with a blue "veil", rather than a white sheet on her head. A subtle difference, perhaps....
Source(s):
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE4BE54F20081215
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That might actually not be the best answer as I don't answer if it's offensive. I believe to be truly offensive you have to intend to be. I don't think playboy meant to offend anyway. Some people might find it arousing. Whatever floats your boat!
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Source(s):
http://www.remnantofgod.org/idols.htm
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It's not as though people who would be offended by the cover would ever buy the magazine as it is.
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Answered Question
M$1
December 16, 2008 09:42 PM
Is Playboy's Virgin Mary Cover offensive?
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Best Answer Chosen by Asker
| December 16, 2008 09:57 PM |
Long answer: A Christian viewer would take offense since it would be an unfavorable depiction of a religious figure.
However, there'd be conflict within that subset due it's artistic presentation. There is religious art that was at one point seen as pornography and later embraced as emotional and spiritually-influenced depictions of religious figures.
This is all moot, though, since Playboy Mexico came out and said, "The image is not and never was intended to portray the Virgin of Guadalupe or any other religious figure. The intent was to reflect a Renaissance-like mood on the cover."
So, nope.
Source(s):
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE4BE54F20081215
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toomanymon...
December 16, 2008 11:23 PM
Your 'moot' point really isn't moot since right on the cover it says "te adoramos maria" honestly do they think we're that naive
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stepwisecl...
December 16, 2008 11:40 PM
"Te adoramos, Maria" just means "We love you, Maria." Totally appropriate since the model's name is Maria Florencia Onori.
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Other Answers (44)
December 16, 2008 10:47 PM
If you were to represent a normal woman it is beautiful. But by trying to denote that a woman who poses for this type of magazine is the mother of God, then you are making a mockery of Mary, God and everyone who has faith and that's quite a lot of people out there.
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December 16, 2008 09:48 PM
My buddy's over at TYT discussed this and I think brought up a good point.. It's only really offensive because its around Christmas time.
Source(s):
http://www.theyoungturks.com/
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December 16, 2008 09:51 PM
Yes, to many people it will definitely be offensive, and I'm pretty sure that was the plan. It is obviously mimicing an icon (the Virgin Mary) for many denominations. Did they really need to do that? Will this help sell more mags, or less? I guess we'll see...
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December 16, 2008 09:53 PM
Just wait till the Muslims notice what they've done to Mary in Islam (مريم "Maryam" in Arabic), the mother of Jesus, is venerated as a righteous woman. She is mentioned more times in the Qur'an than in the entire New Testament. Then you'll see what proper offense is.
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December 16, 2008 10:01 PM
I think it's a beautiful cover, but what I think and what a vast number of Christians think will more than likely differ. Unfortunately, the evolution of Christianity created a male-dominant society in which the act of female sexuality and motherhood/birthing are all frowned upon or looked on as dirty. Motherhood and pregnancy can both be very sexy. It's a shame, but some will confuse attractive and sexy for dirty and disgraceful.
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December 16, 2008 10:04 PM
Well, this IS Playboy magazine we're talking about here. I don't think this is something their target audience would find offensive. If they do, I think the larger issue here is if their looking at boobies habit is compatible with their concern for upholding the holy image of the Virgin Mary... doesn't jive for me.
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December 16, 2008 10:17 PM
The cover was obviously meant to elicit a reaction. I think it's a publicity stunt. Think about it: It's Playboy Mexico. The majority of the Mexican population is Catholic. Catholicism is the one Christian sect that actually worships the Virgin Mary. And the Virgin of Guadalupe is possibly the BIGGEST cultural and religious figure in Mexico.
This obviously reeks of publicity stunt.
In terms of offensiveness. Yes. It is extremely offensive to Catholics. One of the most important Catholic dogmas is that the Virgin Mary is pure and had an Immaculate Conception.
I don't think it's as offensive to other groups. But considering the demographics of Mexico, it was offensive to most of the country and, again, obviously a publicity stunt.
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December 16, 2008 10:19 PM
Think about it this way. Remember the Ugly Betty "Tornado Girl" episode? The tornado issue became the best selling in Mode history. Why is that? Controversy sells.
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December 16, 2008 11:20 PM
- Fact Refuted
Yeah, but Mary went on to have other kids the old fashioned way.
"Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us?" (Matthew 13.54-56).
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"Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us?" (Matthew 13.54-56).
December 19, 2008 04:00 PM
- Fact Refuted
Catholicism does not worship the Virgin Mary. Catholics worship God. http://www.catholic.com/library/Do_Catholics_Worship_Statues.asp
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December 16, 2008 10:18 PM
Yes some will view this as offensive, personally this is in no way offensive. I think this country as a whole has to lighten up on the is this offensive or politically correctness of everything. Do we not have things better to spend our time on then worrying if others will be offended? With a mass consensus you are bound to find someone who will feel anything is offensive in some form or another.
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December 16, 2008 10:41 PM
Well, the first thing that needs to be considered is intent, and Playboy claims it had nothing to do with the virgin Mary. In Spanish, the title is "We love you, Maria". That is the model's name. Rather a common name in Mexico, and this is the Mexican edition. Reuters reports:
""While Playboy Mexico never meant for the cover or images to offend anyone, we recognize that it has created offense, and we as well as Playboy Mexico offer our sincerest apologies," the statement said.
Raul Sayrols, publisher of Playboy Mexico, said in a statement, "The image is not and never was intended to portray the Virgin of Guadalupe or any other religious figure. The intent was to reflect a Renaissance-like mood on the cover."
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE4BE54F20081215
Frankly, I think there might have been a bit of an allusion here, but you know what they say about people reading into things.... If you see the Virgin Mary on that cover, maybe it reflects more upon you than on Playboy... Maybe not.
I think it will blow over. If they intended for the comparison, they did a good job of planning for potential blowback. It's a porn magazine... one would expect them to court controversy now and then. These days it is amazing that Playboy still has a market at all.
P.S. As a former Catholic, I can tell you that in Mexico, the most popular depiction of Mary is Our Lady Of Guadalupe. She is shown with a blue "veil", rather than a white sheet on her head. A subtle difference, perhaps....
Source(s):
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE4BE54F20081215
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December 16, 2008 11:26 PM
"Well, the first thing that needs to be considered is intent, and Playboy claims it had nothing to do with the virgin Mary. In Spanish, the title is "We love you, Maria". That is the model's name. Rather a common name in Mexico, and this is the Mexican edition"
Actually I think Playboy is lying through their teeth. In Spanish "Te adoramos, Maria" means much more than "We love you, Maria". It's a regular line in prayer. Adorar in Spanish does not only mean love or adore, it means to worship.
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Actually I think Playboy is lying through their teeth. In Spanish "Te adoramos, Maria" means much more than "We love you, Maria". It's a regular line in prayer. Adorar in Spanish does not only mean love or adore, it means to worship.
December 19, 2008 04:03 PM
There is nothing offensive about the human body, but there is something offensive about exploiting the human body.
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December 16, 2008 11:38 PM
Nope. As an atheist it means nothing to me. That might actually not be the best answer as I don't answer if it's offensive. I believe to be truly offensive you have to intend to be. I don't think playboy meant to offend anyway. Some people might find it arousing. Whatever floats your boat!
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December 17, 2008 12:46 AM
I sure don't see anything wrong with it. I'm not sure that Playboy didn't mean for her to appear as a likeness of the Virgin Mary, but I'm not so uptight that I don't think it's a beautiful picture. Take it for what it is, or leave it on the shelf.
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December 17, 2008 01:21 AM
Since I'm not Catholic, I don't worship the idol that has become the virgin mary. Is the cover controversial? Sure. Am I offended? Not in the least bit. If you're the sort of person who's offended at things like that, you probably shouldn't be looking at porn anyway. Go read the bible or something!
Source(s):
http://www.remnantofgod.org/idols.htm
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December 17, 2008 02:18 AM
No, it is very tasteful. Also, it is humorous in that it uses puns or wordplay as the model is actually named Maria and the Te Adoramos plays on the double meaning of adore. In English, adore is used in secular love, while adoration is used in religious worship, and in Spanish there are apparently the same two meanings. Also, unlike some religions, the Catholics do not object to depiction of their religious figures in the graphic arts. Additionally, it is clear that she is not the ancient Mary because she is not wearing blue.
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December 17, 2008 06:53 PM
It is definitionally offensive, because it will offend some people. It doesn't offend me, but I'm not of the group that it seems to target. Lots of things are offensive to someone, somewhere, what makes this odd is that it seems deliberately calculated to offend those who are apparently the target audience. And it doesn't have much parody value for those who are outside the target audience. So the real question is, why?
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December 17, 2008 07:31 PM
Sure, but what's the problem with that? This is a magazine that publishes content which would be deemed offensive by anyone who would be seriously offended by the cover anyway. It's not as though people who would be offended by the cover would ever buy the magazine as it is.
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