Sewing Scenes: Magic Mike XXL

Well, there's a title I didn't expect to be writing! Life has been a little heavy lately, and I decided that going to see Magic Mike XXL was the perfect remedy. I went with a group of six rowdy ladies, which is really the only way to see this show. It was spectacular.

I have a lot to say about this movie, starting with: sewing! There's a fabulous montage (God, I love a montage) where the ragtag bunch of "male entertainers" is getting ready for their big show, and it involves lots of DIY. There's a great little shot of a handheld sewing machine stitching along on a costume. These guys really do it all!

Of course, handheld sewing machines are notoriously terrible and there's no way an entire costume could be sewn on one in a pinch, but I'll suspend my disbelief.

(Side note: the first Magic Mike also included sewing, with the perfect Joe Maganiello as "Big Dick" Ritchie sewing a gold thong.)

If you have any desire at all to see this movie: run, don't walk! to your nearest theater. Not only is it a big, campy male stripper road trip odyssey filled with lots of eye candy, it's an unexpectedly feminist film. There's tons that could be said about the politics of female sexual desire, but what's more striking is the politics of female happiness.

These guys make it their mission to get their customers hot and bothered, for sure. But their primary goal in two instances is to get them to smile. There's a Joe Manganiello convenience store strip scene that will go down in history, the point of which is to get the dour cashier to grin. And he does! The crowd goes wild!



Which leads me to: male strippers are hilarious. They just are. They don't even have to try. I laughed my head off for two hours, as did my friends. Personally, I think that's the real secret to why women love this movie.

(Hey, I didn't say it was the only reason women love this movie.)

So, have you seen it? Will you? Please share your thoughts! The crafty feminist blogosphere needs to weigh in on this one.