Guest Post: Magic Mike Review

Katie’s post about Magic Mike caused me to recollect when I too saw the movie back in senior year of high school with a few friends. Up until this point, a majority of the movies my friends and I saw together were horror films, which are not always my favorite. Needless to say, I was happy to get a break from demons and enjoy abs instead. However, Magic Mike (as Katie pointed out) is not only spiritually compromising, but is just plain bad as a piece of cinema. I apologize in advance if my arguments are not the most convincing as I have not seen the movie since this one viewing, but here we go.

I don’t doubt that director Steven Soderbergh had a vision for the film. That goal might have been to highlight the struggles all humans face, regardless of occupation and encourage the audience not to judge a book by its cover. I would have respected this vision as it makes an attempt to rise above the film it was expected to be: a campy, so-bad-it’s-good stripper extravaganza. However, when one looks at the advertising campaign leading up to the movie, it seems like the studio chose the camp vision in order to lure women into buying tickets (it worked). A majority of the scenes used in TV spots were those of the dance routines, with taglines that stated, “Grab your girls, grab some cash, and grab a six pack.” My favorite one is, “Tell your boyfriend you’re going to book club.” This advertising spread the idea that this film is just pure half-naked entertainment. However, the film tried to combat these expectations by trying to slyly pepper in some dramatic subplots. The titular Mike only strips out of necessity; his real passion is to open a custom furniture building business. The wayward youngster of the group, Adam, gets swept up in the stripper lifestyle and, consequently, dealing/using drugs. These dramatic backstories are so forced, they’re eye roll-inducing.

Dramatic comedies are not something new; they are not impossible to make. Where Magic Mike suffers is in the disconnect between the comical and the dramatic. It’s as if 2 different movies were filmed and were then glued together. The problem is, the glue never dried. The comedy of Matt Bomer’s character’s “Ken-doll-comes-to-life” stripper routine juxtaposed with Adam selling ecstasy to clients feels incredibly disorienting. This movie wanted the best of both worlds, but much like Hannah Montana discovered, it proved to be a challenge.

Listen, if the movie wanted to be a challenging portrait of the stripper lifestyle and its politics, fine. Just PLEASE be up front about your movies Hollywood! Don’t advertise one thing and then deliver another. Second, if your source material comes with certain connotations, decide how you want to approach it. You cannot always please everyone. Even Hannah Montana had to eventually retire the wig.

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Rosalyn is a soon-to-be 21 year old senior at Mount St. Mary's University. She enjoys comparing herself to Jo March and Elizabeth Bennett because like them, Rosalyn is the 2nd oldest in a daughter-only brood. Her biggest goals are to do something she loves after graduation and to one day return to Prague.