Movie Crush Monday: Little C and Magic Mike XXL

Ok readers, this is the post I've always wanted to write. Because it's my Monday, and CT handed me Elizabeth Banks, so we are going to talk about Magic Mike XXL and how terrifically feminist it was.


No really. I know that those who didn't see the movie just rolled their eyes at me a little bit, but I mean it. This movie goes out of its way to not only include a wealth of fantastic actresses playing interesting and complex characters, but the dialogue and story reinforce feminist views at almost every turn. Through the magic of male strippers.



The movie centers around a group of male dancers who take a road trip to the stripper world conference. Side note, that is now a vacation goal. Along the way they meet up with some fantastic ladies, including Jada Pinket Smith. Her characyer had my jaw on the floor just as much as the boys did. The girls in this movie are not the central characters, but they are by far the more interesting parts.



The central theme of this movie, and the point that they drive home over and over, is that women are not encouraged to seek out pleasure, but they do deserve it. Andie MacDowell's character married very young to a man she never really felt connected to and ends up hooking up with one of the strippers, Donald Glover performs a whole song around a girl who doesn't realize how beautiful and valuable she is, the title character spends the whole movie trying to get a girl to smile after she loses a job opportunity. The female characters are treated with so much respect both in the narrative and by the other characters.



So when I say (as I often do) that more movies out there need to take their cues from Magic Mike 2, know that I don't just mean they need to feature more adorable shirtless guys. I mean that if a movie about male strippers can show a meaningful understanding of female emotions, I expect everyone else to step up a little better on that. 

Happy watching
Little C

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