Have you seen Magic Mike, and if so, what did you think? I
was looking forward to this movie like nobody’s business, and finally got a
chance to rent it the other night. I have to say that it wasn’t what I
expected. The docu-style, handheld camera work came as a surprise, as did the
long single-camera takes. I wasn’t expecting the romance to be such a big part
of it. There was less Joe Mangianello than I expected. And I didn’t expect to
be so blown away by Channing Tatum’s dance moves. Overall, I liked it more – or
maybe just in a different way – than I anticipated.
Then I read a quote from Steven Soderbergh about why he
thought it was so popular. I quote:
“A few months earlier, these 'Fifty Shades of Grey' books
came out. Suddenly, the whole issue of female fantasy was part of the cultural
conversation [and] we were able to draft off of that. It really helped us
enormously."
And I got a little irritated. Is he saying that “female
fantasy” was never part of the “cultural conversation” before? Hasn’t he noticed
how we women appreciate a sexy movie star of the opposite sex just like the men
do? Have women not been attending Chippendale’s shows? Was The Full Monty not a
massive hit? Has he never been to a bachelorette party? Hasn’t he heard of the existence of erotica written or filmed for
women? Hasn’t he seen my Facebook feed?
Is it really news, in 2013, that women appreciate male
bodies and feel free to express that? What the heck? I’m glad he made millions
of dollars by somehow accidentally exploiting this fact, but I think it’s a
little weird it took him by surprise.
Steven, you’re a great director, but hello. Female fantasy was around long before Fifty Shades of
Grey. It was part of the “cultural conversation” long before that (Anais Nin?
Anne Rice? Any random beefcake fireman calendar? Romance novels, which celebrate
female fantasy, have accounted for about half of all books sold for quite some
time. We’ve been enjoying our fantasies all along, thank you very much. We
don’t need a “cultural conversation” to give us permission to watch a movie
filled with sexy male eye-candy. In my opinion, Magic Mike would have been just as successful
if Christian had never met Anastasia.
But what do you think? Did Fifty Shades help Magic Mike at the
box office?
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