The Complicated Magic of "Magic Mike"

Hi there,

Yes, I watched "Magic Mike" (2012) and I feel a bit self-conscious about that but I also want to talk about it.  So let's go!

I'm going to keep this brief, both to prove to myself that I can and because otherwise it might not get done (since the baby nap currently happening on my person is likely about to conclude).

Some observations:

• Why is this movie so orange?  So much of it is orange!  That is such a bizarre choice that doesn't so much date the movie (because tinting movies orange is not a thing we did in 2012, I don't think??) but cheapens it.  I know "Magic Mike" isn't the height of fine cinema, but it's a decent movie and didn't benefit from this odd call.  It left me feeling sun-bleached and hungover, which I guess is probably the point, but it was also so distracting that it made it difficult to settle into the movie because why is it orange again?

• For a movie that is supposed to be about male exotic dancers, there is not as much dancing as there could be.  In fact, there are a few montages of dudes dancing that feel like the movie is yadda yadda yadda-ing through the dancing.  It's a concise way to show us the variety of themed dances these performers offer (They're cowboys! They're doctors! They're living Ken dolls!), but it shortchanges the actual dancing.  More dancing please!
• And I know this sounds like saying you're going to Hooters for the wings, but sincerely, I wanted to see more dancing--and not to totally miss the purported point of this movie, but I didn't need the booty (and other body parts) shaking variety of dance per se.  Because one of the places where "Magic Mike" really shines is when Channing Tatum's Mike does solo dances.  Channing Tatum is a great dancer, and it's really fun to watch!
• Another way in which this movie really excels is when Mike banters with other characters, especially with Alex Pettyfer's Adam earlier in the movie and Adam's sister Brooke, played by Cody Horn.  Mike is just so freaking charming in a way that is both effortless and authentic.  He is so likable and self-effacing in these scenes that I could watch Channing Tatum shoot the shit with people all day.

Ultimately, for a movie that I would have expected to center women's pleasure and enjoyment, "Magic Mike" significantly diverts from that path.  Instead, it focuses on society's seedy underbelly, of which exotic dancing is only a part, and the human cost of working in this corner of the adult entertainment industry.  As such, because  because "Magic Mike" humanizes the men who are exotic dancers by revealing more fully the world they inhabit, it is at times quite heavy, dark, and sad.  

It's extremely important to humanize the people who do all types of sex work, because sex work is work and the people who do it are people.  There is significant value in telling the stories of people who perform for the pleasure of others, and there are not enough richer and more complex stories about sex workers.  There's especially poignant value in "Magic Mike" being somewhat autobiographical for Tatum.  It's truly remarkable that he was able to leave exotic dancing behind and have such a successful career that he could make this movie.

Some considerable asterisks to that point: 

• I can't help but acknowledge that there is still comparatively so little media that centers women's pleasure and women's gaze.  It would have been nice for a movie like "Magic Mike" to be more light-hearted and fun so women could relax into enjoying it, while also presenting Mike and his compatriots as fully realized characters with dreams that extend beyond banana hammocks, smoke machines, and tear-away pants.  
• It would also be nice if movies like "Magic Mike", portraying the lives of adult performers and the unintended, hefty costs they often pay because of their work, were made with women, trans, and more performers of color, since there's something a bit off in casting a cisgendered white man as your star sex worker when that is not remotely representative of the realities of who does sex work in America.  Again, I recognize that this doesn't change the fact that there are cis white guys who do this work--obviously, Channing Tatum among them--but there are a lot of other stories to be told here, too, that are ever more likely to get overlooked.

It's okay if the fun version of "Magic Mike" needs to be a different movie, because the deeper story in this film deserves to be told.  If that lighter version does get made, I just hope Channing Tatum's in it.

In conclusion: I gave "Magic Mike" a 2.5.

{Heart}