Will Magic Mike XXL flop? Or will it successfully promote equal objectification?

Community's Donald Glover joins the cast of Magic Mike XXL

OH!-pinions

@ DAN-isms.com

Matthew McConaughey in Magic Mike

I like Magic Mike (MM), but I'm pretty sure it's about to suck. The 'soul' of this movie is what made the original so special, and I think that thing, it's essence, is about to be missing from the sequel.

A while ago the news came in that Matthew McConaughey isn't returning to MM because, y'know, he won an Oscar in the meantime and is now too cool to take off his clothes.  I personally think this is a scam markingeting ploy and that when there is a lull in MM news, it'll suddenly be announced that YES Matthew McConaaughey is in fact in the MM sequel.

Which is when people will lose their freaking minds, and that's the entire point of saying he's not in this.

The rest of the cast is back with the additions of Donald Glover, Elizabeth Banks, Michael  Strahan, Amber Heard, Andie MacDowell and Jada Pinket Smith.  It's the additions that make me wonder if this is about to take what was a unique and original movie and turn it into politically correct crud because that cast essentially reads like a script for equal representation and nothing else.

You can picture the execs sitting around, 'Hey do you think the last movie had enough black people or women in it... were there any?'

The original movie was as politically incorrect as you can really get in this day and age and nudged towards a norm that makes me quite pleased - equal objectification.  Anything that reduces the societal norm of sexual stigmatisaton, I'm in favor of.  The addition of these women however makes me nervous becuase I'm praying that they are not being added just to take their clothes off.  That may sound contradictory after I just said I'm in favor of anything that reduces stigma but please understand where I'm coming from.

Andie McDowell joins the cast of Magic Mike XXL

These are clearly beautiful human beings and I'd love to see them all get their kit off... in something other than this movie. Magic Mike is about appreciating the male form and kicking to the curb traditional sexual stereotypes.  I want men to be able to be societally seen as just as sexy as women and until we promote this idea with the same level of fervour that we do for women - until we objectify equally - I'm not sure how can undo a million years of having women as the predominantly sexually pursued gender, instead of an "equally" pursued gender.

Why would we want to objectify equally? Ending objectification actually increases sexual stigma, and sexual stigma is contributory to most issues like slut shaming, rape victim-blaming and countless other emotional traumas attached to people feeling bad because someone is saying it's wrong to be an openly sexual human being.

I read a stat sometime ago that argued that 86% of all reported violence is attached to either relationships or sexual pursuit.  One half of that equation is men kicking the shit out of each other over a girl.  (Australian stats) Women represent 2/3 of violence in a home, Men represent 3/4 of all violence outside of the home; violence occurs more frequently outside of the home than inside.  If men spent a little bit more time being the pursued gender instead of competing with each other to pursue, I'm telling you those 'violence outside of the home' numbers would alter drastically.  And when women are part of the 'violence outside of the home' number, it's frequently as collateral damage as part of a confrontation between the two competing men.

I'd also argue that if we eradicated male gender role, we'd watch all stats on violence drop through the floor... but I digress.

There is one exception I have in my wish for the female cast members to keep their clothes on, though that exception is also in the name of killing societal sexual stigma.  That exception is Andie McDowell.

Michael Strahan joins the MMXXL lineup

Andie is 56 and gorgeous.  Now I suspect that my opinion of Andie's physical appearance may be based on a liberal use of photoshop, but if we could kick ageist societal norms to the curb by (successfully) promoting the sexiness of a 56 year old woman in an industry that puts 29 year old women to the pasture in favor of the next hottest thing...

Yeah, I'd watch that... and I'd fucking clap (again, if done well).

As for Donald Glover and Michael Strahan... neither of these guys are sexy so if they are here to take their clothes off in the name of equal representation... I'm not sure anyone wants to see it?  Have you seen the other guys in the Magic Mike movies?  If you want to add hot black men to the cast, the world is literally littered with them. Surely we could have found people more suited to the role? Why not introduce someone new and fresh?

Don't get me wrong, I love Donald Glover.  He's great in Community and his ability to drop rhymes as Childish Gambino is pretty damn sweet, see here:



...But that doesn't mean he's sexy.  On his own merits he's a good looking guy, but we're grading on a curve here people and when the guy standing next to you is Joe Manganiello... Look at the man?!?  If you're a bloke you'd pay real money to look like that, if you're a woman you'd pay real money to-

Joe Manganielle, being... all Joe-like

*awkward cough*

You get my point.

And if you're adding African American's to the cast and they aren't going to take their clothes off... why aren't we adding African American's that are going to take their clothes off?  If Matthew McConaughey really is bowing out of the next movie that allows a pretty good opening to write into the storyline the fact that they are a man down, and why not introduce a black Texan to replace him?

I mean if you're worried about putting someone in the film that doesn't have acting experience there are plenty of black males that will look good without a shirt on that have acting chops behind them such as TV's Taye Diggs, Jesse Williams, or Michael Ealy.

But Donald Glover and Michael Strahan... not sexy at all.

Will Magic Mike XXL flop or fly?  What do you think?