But how much did Magic Mike really appeal to the female erotic gaze? Was it simply an allowance to let women ogle Hollywood’s hottest just the way men do? Or was it a movie about empowerment and the importance of embracing all our sexualities? How has it aged? (Hopefully better than Banderas) and what do the women of our generation have to say about Tatum and his rippling pectorals?
If you’re looking at the facts: Magic Mike was a smash hit. Grossing in the millions at box office and making Channing Tatum over $60 million between the film's release and the 2015 sequel. While some say the script was lacklustre, there was praise globe round for the open, fresh, display of male nudity glorified in a Hollywood film aimed blatantly at female, and Gay male, audiences. And to great success, if you’re talking to Women like my Nana: you’re not going to be hearing any complaints; but turn your questions towards a younger demographic and you might begin to find yourself getting more of a mixed feedback.
In fact most of the female students I talked to hadn’t even seen the film, when asked if they found the idea of a film about male strippers appealing they said they would prefer more shirts, and more feelings. “There’s no intimacy in paying for it,”. Those I spoke to who had seen it, hardly remembered the plot, and certainly didn’t feel empowered. The truth is women want empowerment from women’s stories of their own sexuality; not the struggles of a Florida Carpenter by day, ’King’ of Tampa by night.
However, Magic Mike is actually (like in most cases); about more than just the bodies and watching Matthew McConaughey out act just about anybody he shares a screen with. It’s a movie about the pressures of unbalanced power dynamics in the workplace, economic challenges facing sex-workers, and not letting your career define you: in fact I think a lot of the ladies I spoke to might find that once they gave Channing a chance, they might find some magic in him.