The Bechdel Cast - Magic Mike XXL with Becca Ramos

Episode Date: February 9, 2023

On the way to a huge Bechdel Cast Convention, Caitlin, Jamie, and special guest Becca Ramos discuss Magic Mike XXL. (This episode contains spoilers) For Bechdel bonuses, sign up for our Patreon at patreon.com/bechdelcast Follow @BeccsRamos on Twitter. While you're there, you should also follow @BechdelCast, @caitlindurante, and @jamieloftusHELPSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Don't miss Katherine Hahn on Las Culturistas. Listen to Las Culturistas on Will Ferrell's Big Money Players Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Gianna Pradenti. And I'm Jermaine Jackson-Gadsden. We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. There's a lot to figure out when you're just starting your career. That's where we come in. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice.

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if movies have women in them. Are all their discussions just boyfriends and husbands or do they have individualism? The patriarchy's effing vast. Hey, Jamie. Hey, Caitlin. It's me, Magical Caitlin. And I decided to give up podcasting and go back to my roots, which is dancing. And I want to join you on the little road trip you're taking to the stripper convention. And we're going to do a

show together. Okay, well, hey, well, I don't know. It's not that simple. I think that you have to let me punch you in the stomach before we can really, we got to resolve this. We have we're in masculine crisis and i would just feel better if i could physically attack you okay is that cool yeah that's cool that's just florida rules baby is what it is yeah that's a florida that's a masculine florida greeting um welcome to the bexel cast uh my name is Magical Jamie. And I'm Magical Caitlin. And this is our magical show in which we examine movies through an intersectional feminist lens using the Bechtel test as a jumping off point to initiate a larger conversation. That's true. What's the Bechtel test? Do you want me to tell you what it is? Okay.

Yeah. Well, a Bechtel test, a Be a Bechdel test and the is I guess that that's true because there's a bunch of different kinds it's a uh media metric created by queer cartoonist Alison Bechdel sometimes called the Bechdel Wallace test a lot of versions of the test it was originally created as a one-off bit in Alison Bechdel's amazing comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For, highly recommend. And now it's sort of used as a way of telling if there's more than one woman in the movie. So here's the version of the test we use. Our test requires that there be two characters with names of a marginalized gender talking to each other about something other than a man for two lines of dialogue or more should be a, you know, meaningful dialogue. Make of that what you will. A lot of movies pass. A lot of movies don't. True. But today, you know, today's a

magical episode. I feel I feel good about today. Oh, my God. I say, I kind of always forget because we've covered the original. We've covered Magical Michael. As a live show. As a live show. In which I danced on top of you. I was wondering if you would bring that up. Because I've been thinking about it all day. It's been on my mind. And now we're covering Magical Michael extra, extra large.

And I just forgot what a good mood I'm in when i'm watching these doofuses gyrate and learn a little lesson about life tell me about it i just love it and we have an amazing guest to discuss magical michael extra extra large 2015 with us today we certainly do she's a super producer at iheart works on the daily zeitgeist and Lost Culturistas. It's Becca Ramos. Hello. Hello. Oh, my God, you guys. I am so stoked to be here, first of all, because this is a little, little dream.

If I can indulge you in a little story of my history with a Bechdel cast, the show. Oh, my gosh. This is probably one of the podcasts I've listened to the longest. Like, I've been a Bechdel head probably since you guys started. And I actually went to you. You're the only podcast I've paid to see live. I've paid to see y'all in Portland. And I went to the New York show, the last one y'all did before COVID.

I had just moved to New York and I was like like oh man i don't know anybody here and i don't have any plans tonight and i'm feeling really lonely and really sad and i just like was looking at things to do in new york and i was like oh my god the bechtel cast is doing a live show so i just bought a ticket and i like went after work and did not prep and yeah so i've been a listener i'm wearing a bechdel shirt because my sweet sweet partner was like i want to take you to go see the bechdel cast live in la for christmas but then you know we unfortunately couldn't make the trip but yeah so i just wanted to give y'all a little fangirl moment of mine to be here i am gushing that's so nice oh my gosh we're so happy to have

you this is so exciting. Yes. I'm so excited. I don't even remember what the show was in Portland, but I do remember going by myself because I was like, no one listens to my podcast. So I'm going to go by myself. And I took myself on a little date, took myself to dinner, went to go see the Ectocast. And then I was like, this is too stressful. There's too many people here after the end of the show, you know? So I just left. And I was was like oh my gosh enjoyed my little two hours i'm excited to come back to new york so we can actually like see you at some point yes i think that that portland show caitlin would it have been fight club was that what we did yes it was fight club and i had never seen fight club i didn't even

see it for the show i was just like i just want to go see the back podcast i think that we were still like learning that was such a fun episode and back podcast. I think that we were still like learning. That was such a fun episode. And also I think after that one, we were like, oh, we shouldn't choose like really complicated movies for live shows. But it was so much fun. And that theater is so cool. Anyways.

That theater is really fun. Yeah. I love that theater in Portland. And at the time of this episode's release, we will have just done a few shows there. With Sarah Marshall and now we can say Robert Evans, which will be a fun little treat. I can't wait to get that man in a Hannah Montana wig. It's just going to feel good. Oh my gosh.

Well, we're so happy to have you here. We didn't know that. That's so cool. We're so happy to have you. Yeah, this is so exciting. And we're talking about to have you here. We didn't know that. That's so cool. We're so happy to have you. Yeah, this is so exciting. And we're talking about Magical Michael XXL. What's your relationship, your history with the movie? So the first movie came out, like OG Magic Mike, when I was a senior in high school.

So I was probably freshly 17. And I feel like I saw it with some girlfriends, like some high school friends. But as I was telling Caitlin off pod, I revisited this movie after I had watched XXL for this. I was like, OK, well, let me just like watch Magic Mike to see if there's any like true connection. I know it's technically a sequel, but I don't remember there being a lot of like through. And so I watched Magic Mike after I watched Magic Mike XXL and I was like I don't know if I've ever seen this movie I was like I know a lot about it I remember certain bits and pieces but there was a lot of moments I was like I don't remember this at all

but then to say my history of Magic Mike XXL it came out summer 2015 so I was a sophomore going to my junior year of college and I distinctly remember seeing it with some sorority sisters like that summer was like a raunchy you know like my first real summer like as a young adult on my own like I was living in Waco which is where I went to school yuck uh for the summer you know I was like interning I was working like three jobs so I could pay my rent I was like I'm having a fun working girl summer. And then I've probably watched it a few times since because it's a romp. It's fun.

It really is. 10 out of 10 on the romp-o-meter. Oh, that's so, it really is like, because we're going to release this episode like to line up with the third movie's release. And it does seem like kind of like almost an anthology series movie exactly they're all kind of a different genre like this next one I kind of love it where it's like this next one takes place in London and it seems like Magic Mike is the only continuous character and I have no problem with it I don't know I was like okay there's the Magical Michael movie it's like Glass Onion and

like what was the one before? Yeah, Knives Out, you know, like very like you have one character and then you're just kind of forming new adventures with, you know, a new cast each time, which I have no problem with that. I like it. Yeah, I was like, it's cool. And this is the buddy road trip version of that movie. And I loved it wait so Jamie what's

your history with the movie I hadn't seen it no I I was um I was not tapped into the magical Michael cinematic universe before we covered it last year and then I knew we would cover the second one so I sort of I was very tempted to watch it but I mean fortunately slash unfortunately I would have had to rent it and when I was introduced with a three dollar stumbling block I was like all right I'll just wait so I did just wait and I wasn't disappointed I had oh I mean it's like I enjoyed this movie a lot in a lot of the same ways that i enjoyed the first one and then also in a lot of different ways i thought it was like a cool kind of building out and like sort of course correcting some of the stuff about the first movie that we weren't so yeah wild about

you know not a perfect but it is just like it's such a good romp movie it made me feel so good it's like two hours of like fun foreplay like it's just like it's all foreplay um the donald glover character oh my god i was just like oh my he was like foreplay the man no y'all when i watched this i was like i forgot how many people were in this movie i forgot that i mean i vaguely remember jaydenett Smith in this movie Elizabeth Banks in this movie Donald Glover's in this movie I forgot Eric Delco of CSI Miami fame Michael Strahan like Michael Strahan twitch rest in peace but so many people are in this movie wild yeah I was really it seems like um Steven Soderbergh called in every favor that he had for this for this one and it was like I mean it worked I don't know I thought it was so fun yeah they were like we must trade up for Matthew McConaughey you know and thank goodness like they were like get rid of one gain eight and it's like

you can't really do much better than Jada Pinkett Smith like I kind of I I think that this movie did like an amazing thing which is because it is like dallas is like a very iconic character but i totally forgot about him by like you didn't need him at all yeah in this movie and the kid who is like i mean god bless him but like that kid alex petty fur they were just trying to make him happen over and over and over and it just wasn't happening and they're like we got to get him out of here and so what's his face uh who did Elvis I feel like they were like coming up at the same time and like he became Austin Butler you know surpass Alex Pettifer they are kind of the same man in a way I for the longest time I only knew Austin Butler as um Vanessa Hudgens's boyfriend yes right and that's as you should know him i hope that if he

he will not win an oscar i mean and i hope you know i hope i guess maybe i'm saying i hope he doesn't it doesn't feel earned you know he he can do other stuff and maybe win for that but um but not this but uh it would be fun if they brought him to the stage as vanessa hudgens boyfriend because that is still his most iconic role well cait Caitlin, what's your history with Magic Mike XXL? I gotta know. Well, I will tell you, I saw it shortly after it came out, I think just once or twice. I very distinctly remember a few different scenes in it, such as the scene where Channing Tatum parkours all over his workshop and then has sex with his workbench really good I distinctly remember the scene where he goes to Jada Pinkett Smith's character's mansion place and Magical Michael dances all over the place there

I distinctly remember the scene where he goes to andy mcdowell's house yeah and everyone just like talks about their sex lives so there were a few scenes that i that were kind of just like seared into my memory but i hadn't seen it in several years and it was a joy to revisit it's really so i mean matt bomer, is it Bomer or Bomber? I don't know. I could not say. He stole that scene for me where he remembered the lesson that Donald Glover taught him. And then he sang his beautiful song.

And there's so many parts of this movie that were, I mean, I don't know. It's complicated, but also, like, every time I had a complicated thought, I was like... I kind of, like, was banishing it from my mind because I was just like, I just want to enjoy this. Yeah.

It's kind of a challenging Bechtelcast watch because I didn't want to think too hard about anything. Oh, yeah. It's like, after watching the first one, after I watched this one, you can see where they try to correct some of the issues they may like after watching the first one after i watched this one you can see where they try to correct some of the issues they may have made in the first one but they were still like of the time it being 2015 not quite correct so right and i guess we'll talk about them oh that's our job yes we gotta get into it every yeah time we make a criticism, we're also allowed to be like, but that said, I was very horny.

It's complicated. Yeah, exactly. Okay, shall I do the recap of the movie? Yes, let's do it. Let's do this. Let's get horny. Yes, feel free to sound in. Oh my gosh.

Wait, this is another problematic favorite of ours, James Cameron. Caitlin, I sent this story to you. I know I did. Where James Cameron said that he is so locked in when he's filming Avatar movies that someone needs to sound an awooga sound. Oh, yes. If they want his attention on set. And I would just like to bring that energy to this episode for any part that made you specifically like horny if you're willing to disclose feel free to sound the awooga

and everyone will know James Cameron might show up at your house but that could be interesting you know he really responds to the awooga he really does um okay wait let's take a break real quick and then we will come back for the recap. Hey, everybody. This is Matt Rogers. And Bowen Yang. We've got some exciting news for you. You know we're always bringing you the best guests, right?

Well, this week we're taking it to the next level. The one, the only, Katherine Hahn is joining us on Lost Culture East. That's right, the queen of comedy herself. Get ready for a conversation that's as hilarious as it is insightful. Tune in for all the laughs, the stories, and of course, the culture.

I feel some Sandra Bernhardt in you. Oh my God, I would love it. I have to watch Lost. Oh, you have to. No, I know, I'm so behind. I have to watch Lost. Oh, you have to. No, I know. I'm so behind. Katherine Hanken's thing. Oh, I'm really good at karaoke.

What's your song? Yeah, what's your song? Oh, I love a ballad. I felt Bjork's music. I just was like, who is this person? I got to hawk this slalom, Rudy. I'm not hawk the slalom. I absolutely love it.

It was somehow Shakespearean when you said it. It was somehow gorgeous. Yee, my slok, you hollum. Listen to Las Culturistas on Will Ferrell's Big Money Players Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Gianna Prudente. And I'm Jemay Jackson-Gadsden. Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. speak up when I'm feeling overwhelmed. Or can I negotiate a higher salary if this is my first real job? Girl, yes. Each week we answer your unfiltered work questions. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in experts who do like resume specialist Morgan Saner. The only difference between the person who doesn't get

the job and the person who gets the job is usually who applies. Yeah, I think a lot about that quote. What is it like you miss 100 percent of the shots you never take? Yeah, rejection is scary, but it's better than you rejecting yourself. Together, we'll share what it really takes to thrive in the early years of your career without sacrificing your sanity or sleep. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Daphne Caruana Galizia was a Maltese investigative journalist who on October 16th, 2017, was murdered. There are crooks everywhere you look now. The situation is desperate. My name is Manuel Delia.

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Listen to Crooks Everywhere on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Okay, so here we go. Awugas and all. We see Mike, a.k.a. Magic see Mike, aka Magic Mike, aka Magical Michael. That's Channing Tatum, famously. It has been three years, I believe, since he left stripping. He is now running his own furniture company where he designs and builds furniture and delivers it to his clients he then gets a call from Tarzan which wait did we notice that the apartment is the same apartment from the first movie like

Brooke's apartment from the first movie doesn't it look very similar oh no I didn't rewatch the first one wait okay see I did rewatch the first one. Wait. Okay. See, I did rewatch the first one. Okay. So I do think they are using her apartment from the first movie. Hmm. Okay. Do you think that he got her apartment in the breakup? Well, maybe she moved on to bigger and better things. What was sad, though, because I felt like his apartment was really nice, except for obviously in the first movie getting destroyed by those, you know,

drug lords. But he had a very nice apartment yeah i didn't even put that together he had a great apartment to hold that ugly ass furniture he made it i will say between this the first and second movie he appears to have gotten better at furniture making furniture he makes more wood based pieces now yes less trash that washed up on the beach yeah not beach trash oh man bless his heart he got better he got better at it with three years of practice it's true it's that malcolm gladwell 10 000 hours thing really at play yeah feminist Yeah, feminist icon Malcolm Gladwell. Okay, so Tarzan calls because him and the other guys from the first movie are coming up through Tampa. And he also has some bad news, which is that Dallas, the Matthew McConaughey character, died.

So Mike goes to the wake. But it turns out to be a pool party because dallas did not actually die but he did bail on them he took the kid aka adam aka magical michael jr from the first movie and they started a show overseas not austin butler right it goes on so um tarzan uh played by kevin nash ken matt bomer big dick richie uh played by joe manginello tito played by adam rodriguez and their mc tobias gabriel iglesias they are all on their way to myrtle Beach for a stripping convention and Mike is like that's cool have fun and then Mike goes home he works on his furniture in his workshop this is when we get the scene where Pony by Genuine comes on Spotify. Immediately horny. Yeah, awooga, awooga, awooga.

Channing Tatum, like, he's a star. He's just simply a star. Yes, that is exactly how I felt, Jamie, when that moment happened. I was like, this is why we come to the movies, you know? Like, I was like, he is a star. The movie was feeling like a movie. It was a lot.

We come to this place for magic. We come to this place for magic. We come to this place for magic, Mike. We come to this place for magical, Michael. The movie felt like a movie hardcore. I like couldn't. I watched that scene probably three times. It took me a long time to watch this movie because I kept rewatching. Same.

Because you just see like he's resisting it.'s making choices and then he's laughing he's like oh i remember he's like i'm dancing like no one's watching i love it we are watching and we're loving it he channing tatum seems like i mean by all accounts hopefully when you listen to this this is still true he seems like a terrific person he's not canceled by then but you know so he loves him so much come on okay great so great dancing around his workshop and fucking his workbench inspires him to join his friends and go to the convention so they all load into Tito's Froyo food truck and start their road trip. They make a stop in Jacksonville at a nightclub called Mad Mary's where there is this drag show slash competition happening. And Mike and the other guys get on stage and compete in it. Although no one is in drag for some reason except for like the host of the

show right i was like there is one person in drag yeah confusing right then there's a nighttime beach hang scene where the guys are talking about their current work situations and their dream jobs a few of them air some grievances with each other and they're just like having a heart to heart then mike meets a woman whose name we will eventually learn to be zoe pretty far into the movie to be honest yeah i think it's like literally the last 20 minutes. I do wonder how like deep into the writing process Zoe's character was added. Yeah. Because I mean, it's like I didn't hate that she was there, but it just felt like she felt kind of shoehorned into every scenario she appeared in. Yeah.

She definitely didn't need to be there i guess yeah it's again it's like i'm not mad about it but it's like i felt like she like there there were more interesting women in the narrative that you could have like zoned in on but yeah whatever is fine whatever um zoe played by amber heard is a photographer she and mike flirt a little bit it seems like she wants to smooch on him but he's like i shouldn't and he wishes her a good night the next morning the guys are back on the road again mike suggests they shake up their routine at the convention but the guys are like oh no we only have two days we got to do what we rehearsed and they're also like mike you've been gone for three years like slow your roll yeah but which is fair even

so mike is like no let's do my idea and he's like all the songs and the dances are things that dallas decided for you we have to do stuff that comes from us, that comes from the heart. And so he helps Big Dick Richie come up with a new route, a new routine. And part of that process is Richie going into a convenience store, doing a horny dance for the like grumpy cashier lady to a Backstreet Boys song. And he successfully gets her to smile.

And the guys are like, woo-hoo. Well, that was the bet. Yeah. He had to make the cashier smile to agree to change their routines. Yes. There's a lot of scenes in this movie that you're like, yeah, this scene could have gone a lot of different ways. Good thing it went the way it went. Right.

But I know that the writer of this movie, Reed Carolyn, he's a white guy who went to Harvard. Like he's not much outside of like what you would kind of expect from someone who is successful in Hollywood. But he and Channing Tatum collaborate a lot and I was I'm curious I couldn't figure out where he's from originally because there's so much like solid Florida man lore in this franchise where they were like debating about the Backstreet Boys and like which member left and which and they were like yeah that's the greatest thing to come out of orlando and as a backstreet boy's head even though they are thoroughly canceled them with good reason but these are facts that i have locked into my mind forever i was like yeah kevin richardson did leave and then come back and that was historically significant and why don't we talk about that kevin richardson not canceled

brian and nick canceled and rightfully so the other three mutuals now we can keep them as far as we know as far as yeah so far at the time of recording we can keep them so okay so yeah we see the scene where big dick richie gets the woman to smile and you know who else was smiling during that scene me he brought couldn't help it all of us how big dick richie got his groove back like it was really beautiful and he he brought a bag of cheetos into the mix and yes it's hard it's hard to not love it even when you're like is this okay it's okay to do the guy slamming on the window why was the woman not frightened who knows but it was very adorable fluffy is like fucking about to break the pane of glass yeah with enthusiasm and love for his friend it's it's complicated

and then i was like jamie stop thinking and i was like wait no that's your job stop thinking and start feeling okay so back on the truck they take molly and they're like oh man i love you so much i've missed you magical michael we're in harmony right now and they love each other so much that they crash the truck and tobias gets a concussion so now they don't have transportation costumes because they threw them out the window, or their MC because he is concussed. And the convention is in two days. What are they going to do? Big Dick Richie is like, oh, the trip is over. Let's just give up. But then Mike reveals that he and Brooke had broken up because she said no when he proposed. And he's like,

look, my life is in shambles. And that's the real reason I'm on this trip. I'm trying to move on. So we can't give up now. And they're like, OK, let's do it. And it never comes up again, which I kind of was like. He's like, remember that girl from the first movie? And I was like, oh, yeah, I didn't really like her very much. And he's like, well, she broke my heart.

Anyways. Then we have to do this. Yeah. And then they bail on fluffy a hundred percent they're like goodbye fluffy just leave looks like you gotta do they leave him at the hospital like how did he get home do you take the greyhound with a concussion like i think they circle back around because at this point they're in outside of jacksonville outside yeah because they're going to charleston so or no they're going to is myrtle beach near charleston

are they in the same place i don't know enough geography they they have to go to savannah first yes so they do got to go to georgia first so that's what happens next florida georgia line yeah hello it's true wow so they go to savannah where mike knows another mc because they need an mc and he knows someone named rome who turns out to be jada pickensmith and she has this house where women come and watch various male strip shows or just kind of like male entertainer acts in different rooms we see a few of these different acts including those of augustus aka michael strahan as well as andre played by donald glover and twitch and twitch and twitch wait um so you think you can dance right yes yes he is jayden pickett smith's rome's like assistant guy but

then like when they bring when when Rome and Magic Michael come downstairs uh they have like a dance battle almost right like the main guy dancing against Magic Michael is Twitch right he plays a character named Malik yes okay yes so that's Malik got it Twitch was so iconic and lovely and he he passed last year i man i i like grew up watching so you think you dance one time same really really oh my gosh my senior year i was a dancer for many years wait me too oh my gosh should we start a dance troupe together i can't dance but i'll learn my sophomore year of high school, I like went to see, so you think you can dance live and Twitch was there. And my friends and I were like,

like, it was just so thrilling. And what a loss. What an icon. I didn't know he was in this movie and I was so, I didn't either. Was frantically Googling. I was like,

is that Twitch? What a legend. Wow. Beautiful. Okay. So we see these different acts throughout the night and then mike mentions the convention to rome and she's like oh you want a favor from me even though you walked out on me eight years ago because apparently he used to dance for her

so she's kind of like upset with him that he just like comes like waltzing back in wanting this favor and she's like you have to redeem yourself and he does so by doing a very horny dance holy moly that is was so good i had so many questions about like i mean we can get to this in the discussion i had so many questions about like and I was like I'm probably deeply naive and I was looking for like answers to this question wasn't able to find them I'm like what are like the rules of consent that happen when you enter this place because probably sign a waiver I would assume and you're like and I'm assuming because magical Michael worked there he would know the rules yeah so like I'm assuming he's not doing anything that is like out of pocket or bad but but I was just like what do you agree to it really seems like you're getting flipped and

dipped around what if there's an injury is there like a medic I was just like worried about everybody. Your personal space is at risk of being invaded, which it seems as though if you go to an event or show like this, you just basically agree to consent to whatever. I don't know how ethical that actually is. I don't know if it happened. I mean, it's like I'm sure that like I mean, I'm not sure the places like that exist. Right. I don't know why it happened I mean it's like I'm sure that like I mean I'm not sure the places like that exist right I don't know why I said I'm sure no it feels like if you sit in the splash zone at SeaWorld you understand there's risk you you know what was going to happen probably and I feel like you just have to go in with the same mindset if you're going to a show like this yes and everyone is i mean canonically everyone is uh fucking thrilled about everything that happens all night long

there's no i i saw not a twitch of an eye of uh someone who was like i don't know if i'm okay with this everyone was very okay with it but i was just like i mean honestly i just had questions because i'm like do places like this exist and could I go? Where can I go? Can we go? Could I go? I would love Michael Strahan and Jenny Tatum to ruin my life so. My favorite part was when he put his hand on both of their backs and he was doing the like side like swivels around and like yes like humps them both from behind it again a wuga but i was worried about the like the two the two women who like yeah when he did that but then he put another woman on top of one of the women i'm like we don't know about her back what if she had scoliosis like yeah we don't know how secure as a scoliosis head i was like that would have that i would have collapsed

would have broke me it would have broken me i would have you know i would have died doing what i loved but um but i but i would have died yeah i simply don't know it's a fantasy movie whatever whatever right okay so at the end of the night mike and the other guys say goodbye to rome and then andre donald glover takes them to charleston where they go to the house of this woman megan who tito had hooked up with maybe like the night before at that like beach hang. Yeah, but they first run into Megan's mom, Nancy, aka Andy McDowell and her friends. And I didn't realize this until my second watch of the movie to fully register what happened here. Because I was like, wait, whose house are they going to? And how do they know her? And who is Andy McDowell in relation to any of these people? And then I realized that. So Megan is this woman who they met maybe one or two days before.

They barely know her. She was like, come through to my house in Charleston. They just show up and go inside of the house. That was crazy. They didn't knock. They just walked in. They just marched right in. Honestly, the fact that the door was unlocked was very Southern of them.

Like that does not shock me. That is very, as someone from the South, I was like, yeah, I guess that's accurate. Yeah. And then is this a Southern thing where the owner of the house sees like five strange men in her foyer and is like oh hey come on in have a drink honestly it is that is some southern hospitality i was like honestly that whole scene was not that crazy to me because i'm like rich lonely old women from the south they want they see hot men first they didn't see like you know most of them are white you know what i'm saying so it's like they were not threatened they were like oh look at these charming young men.

They look like strippers. And if they're still in Georgia, I'm sure they're like understand that there is a lot of because from my understanding, there are a lot of strip clubs in Georgia. So, yeah, I think that it's like it's like Atlanta and Portland, I think, have the highest strip clubs. Portland has so many strip clubs. Yeah. Quite a few strip clubs. Yeah. I've been to quite a few of them. Oh, yeah. There's a lot of them.

Kitlyn and I went to one once. We went to an eggs and legs situation in Portland a couple of years ago. We should go back. We should go back. A fan of the show hooked us up. So thank you for that. It was a blast. We had eggs, we had legs.

I was curious about that because it was like the way that Andy McDowell's character that because it was like the way that andy mcdowell's character reacted made it seem like her daughter brought home like men all the time really hot troops of men constantly she's like who is this oh my daughter okay that makes sense i was like wow chill mom right she's a cool mom she's a cool mom so they start chatting with nancy and then megan and her friends come into the room and one of them is zoe so all of the guys are talking to all the women they're asking about their like fantasies and their sex lives and all this stuff in another room mike and zoe are chatting some more uh later that night big Dick Richie ends up having sex with Nancy

offscreen. Which is a shame. It's a shame. Yes. That is a shame. Would have liked to see. Then the next morning, they head out from Charleston and arrive in Myrtle Beach at the convention. Surprise!

Rome and Andre meet them there because Rome has decided to emcee the show after all then they go to check in with Elizabeth Banks the director of Cocaine Bear herself I hope that is I hope that's how history remembers her ultimately what a treat that would be amazing yes um so she's checking them in but then we find out that these guys did not even register for the convention or book a show there they just showed up thinking they were gonna do a spot to be fair that is what they just did at andy mcdowell's house and it worked out pretty spectacularly for them. I'll just say as men,

I feel like that's made sense to me. Cause I'm sure Dallas did all that booking and stuff. I'm sure they had no idea. Like that was something they had to do. They were just like, well, we go to this thing every year. So like, why don't we just show up?

We're going there. They truly are like baby men in a lot of ways where they're like, what do you mean? We're so beautiful. Why can't we? What? No one's ever said no to me before. I don't understand.

Jada Pinkett Smith to the rescue. She, and I also liked that those characters were named Paris and Rome and that they were friends. You're like, yeah, it's all making sense. It's all connected.

Wow. E got, E got writing. And then it's because of Rome's clout that Elizabeth Banks is like, okay, you get this like prime spot. Then there's a montage of them prepping for the show. We see them shopping. They're making costumes. They're building sets. And then they put on a show that Rome emcees. We see solo acts from all the guys, each one relating to their passion.

So Tarzan does like a painting thing. Tito does a candy thing since he's the fro-yo guy. Ken sings because he is also like a musical performer and singer big dick richie does this whole like wedding slash kinky wedding night act and then finally it's magical michael and malik do this like mirror act they said step up here we go and we are like a wuga we were like zoe is there with megan and she gets brought up on stage and mike dances all horny all over her then like we see a little montage of them like getting ice cream after the show and that's basically the. If you're wondering if there is a conflict in this movie, there kind of is not.

There is not often, there's some like interpersonal tension between the characters, but it's usually pretty quickly resolved. And then there's not much in the way of conflict aside from that, which is usually not how you write a screenplay, but this movie is great and I have no complaints. Yeah. So that is the story.

Let's take a quick break and we will come right back to discuss. Hey, everybody. This is Matt Rogers. And Bowen Yang. We've got some exciting news for you. You know we're always bringing you the best guests, right? Well, this week we're taking it to the next level.

The one, the only, Catherine Han is joining us on Lost Culture East. That's right. The queen of comedy herself. Get ready for a conversation that's as hilarious as it is insightful. Tune in for all the laughs, the stories, and of course, the culture. I feel some Sandra Bernhardt in you. Oh my God, I would love it. I have to watch Lost.

Oh, you have to. No, I know, I'm so behind. Katherine Hahn can sing. Oh, I'm really good at karaoke. What's your song? Yeah, what's your song? Oh, I love a ballad. I felt Bj good at karaoke. What's your song? Yeah, what's your song? Oh, I love a ballad. I felt Bjork's music.

I just was like, who is this person? I got to hawk this slalom, Luge. Not hawk the slalom. I absolutely love it. It was somehow Shakespearean when you said it. It was somehow gorgeous. Yee, my slok, you hollum. Listen to Las Culturistas on Will Ferrell's Big Money Players Network Shakespearean when you said it. It was somehow gorgeous. Yee, my flock, you hollum.

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When you're just starting out in your career, you have a lot of questions. of Let's Talk Offline, a new podcast from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. When you're just starting out in your career, you have a lot of questions, like how do I speak up when I'm feeling overwhelmed? Or can I negotiate a higher salary if this is my first real job? Girl, yes. Each week, we answer your unfiltered work questions. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in experts who do, like resume specialist Morgan Santer. The only difference between the person who doesn't get the job and the person who gets the job is usually who applies.

Yeah, I think a lot about that quote. What is it like you miss 100% of the shots you never take? Yeah, rejection is scary, but it's better than you rejecting yourself. Together, we'll share what it really takes to thrive in the early years of your career without sacrificing your sanity or sleep. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Daphne Caruana Galizia was a Maltese investigative journalist who, on October 16, 2017, was murdered. There are crooks everywhere you look now. The situation is desperate. My name is Manuel Delia. I am one of the hosts of Crooks Everywhere, a podcast that unhearts the plot to murder a one-woman Wikileaks.

Daphne exposed the culture of crime and corruption that were turning her beloved country into a mafia state. And she paid the ultimate price. Listen to Crooks everywhere on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and we're back oh my goodness okay yeah i i agree i mean i guess that there isn't really much there i didn't i honestly didn't notice until i was like i really thought about it because i did feel like the main tension of this movie kind of like came from both like this group of men who we knew resolving their differences with each

other and then like growing as people yeah whilst on a road trip yeah and I love I loved that I don't know that's all I really have to say about it. I feel like the biggest conflict was with Rome, right? Because it was, like, obviously this new plot point being brought up of, like, we have to make Channing Tatum this central character. Not that we didn't already make him the central character by coming back, but

it felt like, in the first movie, you don't get anything of the other guys, right? Like, it's all about, you know, Magic Michael and Little Michael and Brooke and so I feel like this was the moment to kind of bring it back to like what is Michael's history he is a titular dancer like who is this strife with his older host or manager I don't know what to call her uh madam I don't know like to call her. Madam? I don't know. Unclear. Don't know her job title.

No. But yeah, I feel like that's where the biggest conflict was. But obviously it gets resolved by the end of the movie. And yeah, back to your point, Jamie, as far as the movie being about men connecting and growing together and figuring themselves out, there aren't a lot of movies like that. And there aren't a lot of movies like that and there aren't a lot of movies that center male friendship and male friendship in which the characters are like vulnerable with each other and they like open up to each other so there's

like all these like wonderful things that you don't normally see on screen happening in this movie especially that these men are like such like expressions of like heteronormative, you know, like, like these big buff, hot, like himbo men, like men that you wouldn't consider vulnerable or people that would,

you know, express themselves that way, that kind of thing. So traditionally. Yeah. Yeah. I felt like that was like some of the most strong stuff in the movie was like focused on their relationships with each

other because it also like didn't make it so easy for them of like oh well these are just like this is a band of emotionally intelligent like i think mostly heterosexual men as far as we know as far as we know yeah which would be you know i, that it would truly be a fantasy movie because you're like, that's just like not how heterosexual men are socialized. And so you do see towards the beginning of the movie, like them trying to resolve interpersonal issues with like traditional masculinity, such as Magical Michael starting by being like, all right, we're going to do some therapy. And then he's like, punch me and make me throw up. And you're just like, all right, these guys, like, you know, you're drunk on a beach in Florida. Of course, that's how you're going to try to resolve the problem. But they continue to grow.

And I like that, like, every character, although, like, I mean, I do feel like some characters more than others which we should talk about but they all enjoy being male entertainers they get a lot of personal satisfaction out of that it just seems like it's so funny because I feel like that's part of what's so appealing about this franchise to me of like you're watching men have imposter syndrome all the time which you don't really see very much of like they feel judged by the world by being strippers but also they have other dreams and they want to have both of those things at the same they want to have it all which is every movie about every woman ever and you never really see that about men because you don't really see men in professions where they are treated like meat, which these men are. So it was interesting seeing like all these different characters have different, you know, and it like it relates to their age in some ways where Tarzan is like, yeah, you know, I, I don't know, maybe like I don't regret my life choices, but it would have been really cool to have like a domestic life and you know you have people that I mean Matt Bomer's character is like I wish I had

you know been a singer and like you have everyone had the thing like they they both love what they do and also wonder what life would have been like if they had done something else and that's really I don't know I see you just don't see it a lot with with male characters specifically because men usually get what they want well and them all showing envy too of uh yeah of magic michael because he did quit and he did pursue what he wanted to do and that was part of why they were upset with him because they were like you know as much as like we're mad at you for abandoning us we're also jealous that you like found your thing and you like stuck to your guns and you made it happen but i also so and i was worried that there was going to be because this is an issue that we had

with the first movie where because so often the way sex work is presented in media it's something that no one chooses to do and that people are trying to escape. And that might be true for some sex workers, but there are a large number of sex workers who this is their chosen profession and they're very proud to do it and they're very excited to do it. And there was discussion around the first movie where Mike quitting stripping partially, it seems seems because that's what his girlfriend wanted him to do there was criticism around that and so I was worried that like there might be some degree of that in this movie but it seems as though all of the men who are doing this work in this movie at least a few of them say if I had my dream like Donald Glover is like oh if my LP dropped tomorrow and I like made it big I would still do this on the side yeah if I was for example Childish Gambino no I would still do this you're like all right Donald

Glover as himself he is not Donald Glover in this movie he's Childish Like specifically, I'm like, you are in your Childish Gambino era. Like everything about you, like the fedora, like everything about you is era of Childish Gambino. It is not Donald Glover as he is today. Because like today, I'm like, he's not Childish Gambino. He is Donald Glover now. But then that is Childish Gambino in that movie. That's not Donald Glover. And it's like because the internet Childish Gambino too. It's like early Childish Gambino. Absolutely. I did not know he was in that movie that's not Donald Glover he's and it's like because the internet childish Gambino too it's like yes early childish Gambino like absolutely I did not know he was in this

movie and I was like I forgot I totally agree with you you're like wow this is a very specific Donald Glover we're getting in this movie two years later this Donald Glover was no longer available he was and arguably two years later the body of that Donald Glover would have made more sense in this movie. But, you know. Oh, man. It was wild seeing him in this role. But it was like. I was like, he's such a baby.

He's a baby in this movie. He was still doing, like, Troy. Like, it was very. Right. It was a different era of Donald Glover. And it feels like the tail end of that era. Absolutely. But, yeah yeah I totally agree

with you Caitlin like because that was something we talked about in our first episode was that like it's made to seem like okay well he got a lot out of working as a sex worker but at the end of the day that's not quote-unquote the sensible choice but I like that this franchise course corrects in this way where it's like well this is like a huge part of who he is and like why can't more than one like it just it sort of wants to explore like you don't need to choose one thing and like be less of a person and that seems like what most of the guys are kind of coming to terms with and struggling with in right in this movie in a way that i thought was like pretty effective and cool because you also have tito whose dream is to get this like

artisanal fro-yo food truck slash dance party dj i love that all their dreams are like best of luck, guys. Yeah. But so his dream is to get that going. But he says like, nothing makes me feel better than that. Aside from being on stage, like he still loves performing. So I appreciate that you have at least a few of the characters expressing like, this is not something I'm trying to escape. This is something that like, I will always do yeah so I appreciated that and and that they come to accept each other like and it totally makes sense that they have like the attention they do like I really liked the conversation between Magical Michael and

sorry I'm just gonna keep calling him Matt Bomer what is that damn Ken Ken he's literally oh yeah the Ken doll right I was a little like not sure what to make of him I mean I I I really like Matt Boomer so I feel like maybe I was like bringing I like Matt Boomer energy into the chat on this one but I I did like how they had to have conversation like a couple conversations before they had really made peace because it was like oh that you know like i think it's interesting with people of all genders when people get into for lack of a better term because i am pro this i've made whole shows about it uh woo woo stuff and then sort of are able to say like well because i am now a spiritual person all of my past problems and trauma have been resolved

via this that is not always not for everyone is always necessarily true because it's like sometimes it's like you can use a spiritual practice to avoid actually dealing with your shit and it seems like that's kind of what ken is doing for And I did, and there were moments where I felt like the movie was kind of making fun of him. Oh, yeah. For, like, the Reiki stuff over Gabriel Iglesias. Like, there were moments where he's clearly being made fun of. Well, do you feel like he was queer coded in this movie?

Because to me, you watch the first one, and none of them really have speaking roles, right? Like, you kind of, of like going back into it i was watching the first one i was like oh yeah they really aren't actualized characters they're like a part of a group but you don't really learn much about them you just know like ken's wife has big tits and like they like to fuck and they do drugs like that's about it he doesn't really say more than like three lines the whole movie but this movie as they like developed his character it felt really queer coded and at this time Matthew Ballmer has already come out like he in the first movie had not come out yet he came out in like 2012 which is when the movie was

released so during the production of that movie he had not come out right so by this movie he had come out so I was like it felt like to me by the end of the movie, they were trying to get to him having an arc of, you know, coming out. And then they just like cut it. And it felt very like, like not actualized or like I couldn't tell what they were trying to do. That's really interesting. I hadn't, I honestly hadn't thought about it that thoroughly. But I do, I did know that Matt Bomer came out the same year Magic

Mike 1 was released and has been out ever since and I don't know we felt like had a conversation on this show many times where it's like you know it's because you're a queer actor doesn't mean you need to play queer characters but it did seem like at moments where it was like what are we trying to say about this character and I feel like it speaks to kind of like a larger point that I have with a lot of the non-magical Michael characters, which I think some were better developed than others. I totally agree with you that like Ken's story is like, they're like, well, he wanted to be a singer. And that's kind of where they leave it it which is bizarre given the like stuff you know about him from the first movie which never really comes back and they got rid of his wife you were

like okay they broke up yeah never mentioned again yeah and in fact so there's a scene on the beach where where mike says to ken like oh are you still with mercedes and he says no and because he cites the reason being like they tried to do monogamy and that didn't work out for them so they split up and then that's what leads to Magical Michael being like punch me in the stomach I was like where did this come from because suddenly like one of them is being passive aggressive. I didn't even notice it. I'm not quite sure. But if you consider that Mike has a love interest who is a woman, you have Big Dick Richie has sex with Andy McDowell. Tito has sex with her daughter, Megan.

You have Tarzan saying like, oh, I would love to go home to like a wife and kids but there's never any mention of ken having a romantic interest who is a woman so i think maybe based on that there is possible queer coding but it's not overt to me yeah it wasn't clear enough that i felt like you could like i just wonder i was like is there something that was a cut that i don't know because it is also like there is kind of a vibe of a one-to-one and i don't even mean that as an insult to this movie but as far as i know the only and maybe I'm incorrect about this. I'm not totally sure. As far as I know, the only people I knew to be openly queer who are in this movie are Matt Bomer and Amber Heard. And it is a one-to-one situation if we are interpreting Ken as a queer coded character where Matt Bomer is an openly gay actor and amber heard is openly bisexual and has

been for a long time and they make that canon to her character as well in a way that i didn't take any issue with it was presented very matter-of-factly and she wasn't you know like bisexual characters are treated like shit or like as jokes so much and she wasn't but i i did feel like oh yeah the only actors in this movie that i know are openly queer yeah i don't know i mean it's i don't know yeah it's not even a positive or negative i'm just like 2015 yeah what was going on uh interesting to ponder i do like like you mentioned becca that each character is given more characterization in this movie which helps to again another issue we had when we discussed the first magic mike movie is that it's a movie that seems like it has the agenda to humanize sex workers or you know male entertainers but it kind of doesn't do that that seems like it has the agenda to humanize sex workers or you know male entertainers

but it kind of doesn't do that that much because it really only focuses on two of those characters and puts the other just kind of more characterization in general although to varying degrees yeah i was supposed to say because i feel like adam rodriguez's character was characterized by a large margin the least like yes i was gonna say that yeah like the the guys we learn more about and because we do get characterization of everybody to some extent yeah but like for my reading it was like Ken even though that was ambiguous as you were just talking about Becca but like Ken's was more of a I don't know I mean I don't really have an issue with it because some people were like

a relationship thing with ken it was more of a career thing yeah whatever but ken big dick richie and tarzan i think got the most attention they are like three white passing men yeah and then adam rodriguez i thought was given the least attention of the bunch and then gabriel iglesias is like ejected out of the movie in a fucking rocket in the middle. And huge. I mean, it's not like there is. I don't know. I mean, I'm curious to discuss that because there was some sort of, I don't know, the discourse around this movie when I was revisiting it for research was so 2015-y that I was like, I don't know.

Because it is like a pretty diverse movie it's not like you know who knows maybe Gabriel Iglesias was like I have to go on a world tour I can only be on set for like three days or whatever like he's really successful and like it is a very diverse movie but it's still like there are still kind of these things that feel very rooted in like, OK, like, you know, still centers whiteness slash light skinnedness. Yes. Right. They even call out Adam Rodriguez as like their token man of color in their like group. They're like, yeah, we got the Latino, you know, And then Adam tried to throw it back at Big Dick Richie and was like, well, you are also technically a person of color. And he's like, I'm Armenian, whatever. I'm white. Like he literally was like, I have internalized racism and I'm white. And you know, justice for Adam Rodriguez, because I've had a crush on him for

very many years and he's a beautiful Latino man And he deserved, he was also the second best dancer. In my opinion, I think he's a better dancer than big Dick Richie. And I feel like he did not get enough dancing time. Yeah, I agree. I agree. He's wondering.

And it's like, also, I was just like, wow, Mr. Criminal minds, the disrespect. Like it's just Adam Rodriguez is an icon and they didn't give him enough to do.

No, he's an amazing dancer but I just like I feel like it really actually kind of came all the way around of like who was characterized versus who wasn't at the end because they were all given big set pieces about like yes hey remember their arc here it is in a sexy dance and Adam Rodriguez's I think was like even though he is one of the stronger dancers was one of the, and who, like what he does in that routine with the chocolate and the licking,

and then you're just like, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh,

Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh,

Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh,

Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh,

Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh,

Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh,

Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh,

Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, in the awooka zone for that one but narratively you're he's just in front of like the fro-yo truck yeah and it's like i again i mean and as far as the matt bomer character i honestly don't know where to fall in terms of like how we were supposed to feel about ken it did feel like the canon from the previous movie was abandoned in a way that felt a little bizarre it was done to everybody to some extent yeah but like ken's felt especially dismissed but it is like ken and tito have career-based things going but even so like ken gets a bigger spotlight on his moment in like the anti-mcdowell sequence where you get to see like donald glover in his childish gambino era plants the seeds of like you know you can and a plot point i thought was like really cool of like well you can like

combine your passions yeah in a way that is really like beautiful and like you can use your you know singing and musicality to like make women happy, which is why we've been put on this earth, which is kind of the theme of the movie for whatever reason. And it was great. But like Ken gets that big moment where he uses his dream to do what he's currently doing in a way that makes him and a woman happy. Yeah. Tito doesn't really get that moment. And so like when you see him dancing in front of his Froyo truck, it just like doesn't really get that moment and so like when you see him dancing in front of his fro-yo truck it just like doesn't have the same amount of impact because he wasn't given like the same moment and focus true yeah um I was prepared to argue that Tarzan was given the least

amount of kind of characterization unpack maybe it's just because he's on screen the least amount of time i felt i kind of agree with you caitlin in a different way like i agree that i think characterized he is the least focused on but i feel like adams was more poignant because he is the only brown one definitely yeah but i was noticing that there were scenes that like Tarzan wasn't even in. Like it seems like the four younger guys would like go do something fun. Yeah. So I was like, is this an ageist choice that's happening? Because Tarzan is the oldest of them. And I tell you, I mean, maybe this is like rude because I know that Kevin Nash has been in a lot of stuff. I sort of interpreted that choice of like yeah professional wrestlers aren't always great

actors uh yeah that was sort of my thing I was like and I don't know it absolutely could be ageism I think I defaulted to like not everyone's the rock not everyone like but maybe that was unfair of me because the scenes that Tarzan is in I really loved him he's doing a good job yeah but but if you think like he does say in that one scene that he would like trade his dick swinging lifestyle for a wife and kids and people who love him but that's the only moment that we get any indication of that well especially because we didn't even know his name right like there's that moment where magic michael's like and and he's like ernie and he's like i don't know anything about you earnest and then there's another scene where later kind of booze him when he and when he says like that was i thought that that was i mean it was like both

very like it felt soderbergh where it where it felt very like, I don't know. Like I love in Soderbergh movies, like the way that conversations play out feel like pretty realistic and funny, even when they're like not very sensitive towards everybody. But it didn't really come all the way back around in a way that felt sensitive to him. Because he was like, oh, this is what I want. And everyone's like, bummer. Yeah. They're like, oh, this is what I want. And everyone's like, bummer. Yeah, they're like, oh, no. He pours his heart out.

And everyone's like, buzzkill alert. And then they move on. Everyone's like, boo, tomato, tomato. And then they move on and talk to a woman who we hadn't met before, we won't see again. We don't know her name. Tarzan's right there. But if she doesn't go on a journey

in that scene let's be honest true I thought that scene was I was like honestly I mean whatever like I think it is interesting how this movie you know I think with varying degrees of success but this movie does attempt and seems to have an agenda to navigate through a lot of different class systems and races and gender and like I feel like it tries to use the road trip movie in a in an unusual way which is like not to make I feel like the road trip movies that we're used to are more often used to like make a mockery of the communities they're passing through to characterize the protagonists whereas like this movie is trying to again with like varying degrees of success to like not do that to like pass through a lot of different classes and and but do it in a way that like

you have a moment to appreciate someone in the scene that's like specific and there's not a lot of like movies like that I don't know like the Annie McDowell thing I was kind of all over the place on that sequence I didn't know because it's like you don't really like want to like linger on like upper crust white ladies of the south however the way that they're written and characterized I thought in that moment especially with like a woman don't know, it just got me thinking about like the boomer women in my life who like Andy McDowell's character. I thought, you know, she's very like cool momming it, which who knows how her daughter feels about that. That can suck. But, you know, she's just like, oh oh i've only ever had

sex with one person because that's what i was told to do and now i'm fucking miserable i don't really know what where her husband's like i think that they're divorced maybe i don't know it seems like she kicked him out but maybe the papers aren't finalized vibes like he obviously the guy felt like he cheated on her and then she was like wow like i've only had one dick in my life and you out here swinging it get out of my house like i'm not signing the papers yet because i want the money right now so i have the power play the house yeah she also says like we broke up because he's gay and then her daughter's like you don't know that for sure and then she like oh that's right oh i missed that yeah she's like well he loved it when i stuck my finger up his and then she was

like megan's like no i don't want to hear about that and tito was like yeah tito did come in and say like hey a finger up the bum what's wrong with it yeah but with that i mean specifically with the i i know that she was given a name i don't remember what it is because i hate women but the the character who i just thought it was like a very vulnerable writing point for like a middle-aged woman to say like my husband has never had sex with me with the lights on and i don't know if that's a him thing i don't know if that's like but it's clear that like she's internalized it and is very insecure and it's like is something wrong with me yeah and then I don't know I mean it's I guess you can like come at this movie in so many different

ways because in a way the married troop of male strippers is characterized as like these men are coming to save you and make you feel good about yourself again. And I think there is a way to look at that a little critically of like, there's a lot of movies that I think really effectively show fellow women and people of marginalized genders, like helping each other through stuff like that versus like this guy, you just met making you feel good about yourself. But I also think that there is like some beauty in that and some like that character seems to feel so like vindicated and comforted by the fact that it's like,

no, you're hot. Your husband is who knows what's going on with him and you're beautiful and you're great. And like, I do think there is some value in hearing that from someone that you're attracted to in a way that can be like really impactful i don't know i liked that scene is what i'm saying yeah especially because men are not conditioned to be equipped to help really anyone with their emotional yeah issues that they're going through i would like sex workers of any

gender are especially equipped to make people feel valued and attractive and and loved that's like the service that sex workers often provide so even though like at large men are conditioned in such a way to like not have those skills these particular men that's their job that's what they're good at so and like donald glover gives that great sort of like mini monologue about about that of like how he and again i do think that there's multiple ways to look at this where there is a patronizing vibe to a man saying like we're healers we heal women and you're like yeah sure but like you know but i think in the context of the movie it is like an attempted very wholesome message because what the conversation is before that is like donald glover's character talking

about how through sex work he's like realized how infrequently the women that he works with are like listened to and yeah cared for yeah and he's like okay so this is something that i can provide that like unfairly the women that i meet are not given in their day-to-day life and it is i do think it is a little overly simplistic and I do think it is like if you think about it too hard a little patronizing but because it kind of makes the women seem sad like all of them are sad and some of us are just horny some of us are like I'm trying to have your time right like okay I'm here I'm single you know assumingly right like it's like I'm single I'm having fun or you know like if you're like a couple of my friends that love going to strip club and they're not single she's like i'm bringing my

man like we're having a great time like we're just like we're enjoying we're tipping the ladies like there's a whole spectrum available of reasons why you would like seek out entertainment like that yeah that's i guess that that's like one of the more because this movie is written and directed by straight white guys. Yeah. Like men. And I think, you know, the fact that like mostly straight men are involved at the highest level. I'm like, I don't really know how they pulled it off. But I do think that there is like there is this tendency in this franchise that is true for some women but not all and i feel like maybe that

is where like the a little bit of dissonance comes in that like there is always a hundred percent a necessary emotional aspect to seeking out sex work or seeking out pleasure like you like uh there there's because of how the men in this story approach their work which again i'm like worked for me um but it just seemed like it's like a prerequisite that most of the women they come into contact with are not just seeking a physical experience but seeking an emotional experience. Right, which is a bit tropey to assume that women need an emotional component to sex and pleasure, because, oh, women are so emotional. Even though, of course, many women and femmes are very capable of non-emotional sexual gratification. Although, to go back to that kind of monologue that Andre gives in the car

where he's saying like, yeah, like men don't listen to women. Men never ask women what they actually want. And all we have to do is just listen to them and ask them what they want. And when they tell us that's a beautiful thing. And my initial reaction was like, it is beautiful. And oh my gosh, yes, it would be so nice to have someone listen to me and ask me what i want but then i was like damn women have to pay men to listen to them right and that does pretend to care about them it is i'm just like but that has so many implications too because i'm like well first of all it's indicative of the way it's not the individual employee's fault right yes right yeah it's also it's just like indicative of the way men are again like socialized and

conditioned especially in like hetero romantic relationships where like men aren't often really taught how to like be romantic like yeah be romantic or just like have the emotional intelligence to like care for their partner's emotional needs like just all this stuff and i don't want to sound like i'm i'm suggesting that it's pathetic or anything like that in any way to like pay someone no and i don't think that the movie is trying to code it that way no no no definitely not and so i just want to make that clear like there's there's no judgment from us or from the movie that like anyone would pay for that type of like i don't know just like emotional

care yeah that these men are often giving to women but i guess i was just reminded of the the bar is so low for male behavior where it's just like all you have to do is just like listen and then like check in with me and then it's just like oh my oh I'm coming no literally all those women all those older women in uh South Carolina were just like gushing they were just so happy to have these young men in their home. And also like I think Caroline in Savannah like is also sort of utilized to a similar extent. And it's like it sucks because in both of those sequences

I was like so thrilled for them that they were like getting something that they clearly like wanted. But with Andre andoline in the savannah sequence like he brings her up and i think that it seems like she's expecting you know i mean i don't know because i don't know if she's been there before but like yeah you know it seems like she's expecting kind of a traditional very very physical stripper experience and then yeah lap dance fine yeah but then he shocks and amazes her by asking her a question about her grandma and it's like again that scene really works for me i love how it

plays out and it's like the character caroline is clearly like wow this is great but i do feel like she's a wugging hard hard 2015 becca was was awooking so hard that was like my challenge can be no obsession era right like I saw that scene the first time and I was like you know this time I was like Jamie yeah I mean I was still kind of awooking I loved it but I like back then I was like oh my god I needed that right and so it's like it's in a way it's like I don't know like like, there's a way to come at it where you're like, wow, that is something that most women don't even feel entitled to in their day to day life, to the point where it's like, this would be a really unusual thing

to happen. And then the other way, it's like, well, you know, that like, guys are writing and directing this. And it's like like it is to some extent men writing what they think women want and then controlling the behavior of the the women in the story to be like wow this is what i want and so it's like you know yeah it's a little yeah it i think some of those interactions would feel more authentic had there been more women behind the camera in creative positions making creative choices I had way more like I watched the movie all the way through and I was like I love this I'm horny this is the best ever and then I think I forgot this between our episode on Magic Mike a year ago and now, but I was like, oh yeah, this was all written by a white guy who went to Harvard.

Now I feel dubious. Like I was tricked. I enjoy his work. I'm a fan. But you're also just like, I don't want a white guy from Harvard to tell me like what women of all generations and races and classes want.

Like how, how? But you know what? Knowing that it was written by a white man from harvard does explain why there wasn't more nudity i mean also like the rating system does but to me i'm like men are so i feel like prude for themselves which is why the rating system is the way that it is where it's like we must exploit women's bodies but like if a dick is on screen it's rated x you know i feel like this movie was a lot of fun and it was horny in terms of the dancing

and like the storyline was I think a little bit more horny than the last one because the first one is like more gritty you're only focusing on Magic Michael you know obviously Magic Michael does his thing but but I feel like the first one was way more nudity

and like sexiness than in the second one. Like the second one is like way more about the sensuality and the people and like less bodies. Like we only see full ass at the very end. Why wasn't there more ass? Which was not a problem with the first one. Yeah, the first one, there was a lot of ass. We even saw a little bit of Joe, whatever his last name, I can't pronounce it. It's a dick.

Yeah. Yeah, we did. We sure did. And we didn't get any dick in this movie. No dick. I wonder why that was. Yeah, because it was like this movie was more focused on emotions and less focused on bodies. But I'm like, you can have both, everybody.

Come on. Let's figure it out. I'm glad there wasn't like women nude this time like there wasn't the first one like i feel like there was like unnecessary female nudity in the first one where you're just like okay i guess like we're just living in raunchy florida and i guess that's part of it but in the second one i was like okay glad that we like course corrected that but also you don't have to take all the nudity out i was like still men stripping i want more stripping i had the same complaint in the first movie well while we're at it let's talk about

the women that are in this movie because we haven't we haven't gotten to talk about them very much i think that to start with i mean uh the women that we see in the kind of peripheral of this movie and again this feels like a very generally positive but also like hinged with some 2015 baggage where there is a lot of racial class and body diversity in this movie on the surface but in terms of who gets characterized it still skews very straight and white yes that said i was i think even for a movie that came out like right now I was kind of struck by and again maybe this just says how low the bar is um it probably does but like there is a focus on women feeling pleasure in this movie as this was a big talking point when this movie came out there are many many

many like essays about how it's like wow women enjoying themselves i'm like oh god so disservice it's depressing i was like but you do see like women across all these different lines enjoying themselves and being treated like people not being like mocked or made a meal of by the camera in any way that we're used to seeing and there is like you just see a wide variety of like people of marginalized gender like having a good fucking time yeah and that's great like i really loved that but then in terms of like actual women who we get to know in the story i feel like that's perhaps a bit of a different story. Yeah. I think especially when it comes to body diversity and body size, where there's not much to be had just on a societal level about like yeah rigid beauty standards when it comes to strippers and dancers and models and entertainers

in general and i don't think that that's even completely like an accurate portrayal of like people who do sex work there are men of all body types who do sex work for sure it's just this movie focuses on guys with like pecs and six packs. Yeah. Very Hollywood. Right. Very, very, very shredded read. Yeah.

There is more body diversity seen in women on screen. Well, yes, there are a lot of thin women, but there are people with bodies of all shapes and sizes on screen, including a number of fat women. However, the fat women you see are only ever like featured extras. They're always in the audience of the shows. We never hear from them or learn their names or hear them speak. They are always like spectators

paying for this like kind of idealized image of masculinity. Whereas like the love interest characters for the various men are all thin and attractive by western standards of beauty yes yeah absolutely i mean it's like the three i think main women we get to focus on this movie are amber heard jada pingott smith and andy Andy McDowell, who all have very traditionally Western beauty standards bodies. And I think in particular with the Zoe character, that was like all over the place for me because she felt very studio notes to me of like,

why doesn't Magic Mike have a girlfriend in this one? Because she is on the peripheral of every scene. You have to keep cutting to her to remember that she's there. Yep. And it's like the script tries to give you, and you do get like, I almost understood why they liked each other, but they don't even like, it just felt very weird. Like where you do get a little bit of background into who Zoe is, where she says like what was it like I am a photographer but like the first person who gave me a career opportunity was trying to fuck me and like it ended poorly and like it feels like kind of a story that like I think unfortunately a lot of people are familiar with of like

imposter syndrome of like am I even good at this if the person who gave me the opportunity was trying to sexually exploit me yeah which you know isn't exactly magical michael's journey but i understand like why they would sort of connect on feeling exploited and like also he like seems to want like he notices her he wants to make her happy but the character just like was pretty underwritten and then on top of that like i don't know the things i appreciated about her was that the movie went out of its way to make her canonically by in a way that wasn't mocking or like challenged by the fact that she seemed interested in magical Michael.

He didn't have an issue with it. Like it wasn't even talked about really other than her just stating it, which is rare felt normalized. Yeah. Yeah. But I just felt like the character was just like why is she here like in a way that really is a bummer in a movie with so few women I just didn't like she didn't seem to have much narrative impact and it just felt like she was added in in a not the original draft I also was confused by an aspect of her character where at one point, I think when they first meet her and Mike, she says that she's trying to avoid ending up on the pole.

And I didn't know if that meant that she had been a stripper and she's trying to avoid returning to it. Cause that's how I initially interpreted it. But then I was like, think maybe yeah I think maybe she means that she wants to avoid becoming a stripper as if that was something that like if her photography doesn't work out it would be something that she would have to quote unquote resort to yeah I was like that's like a weird thing to say to a stripper and in in this movie specifically. It felt like one of those comments that people who have unconscious biases, it just bubbles out of them. Kind of like when it's like, I don't hate gay people, but, you know, they say something homophobic.

Like, it felt kind of like of the same vein where it's like, that's cool that you do it. But like, I don't want to do it. But just like keep it behind closed doors or something like that. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah. Like, I just I. But again, it's like that.

I didn't even pick up on that line, to be honest. But like it just everything she says and does feel so. Was this supposed to be here? That's how I felt in the very first scene. They talked. I like literally even put in my notes. I was like, I felt like bad improv. Like it felt like they didn't know what to do.

Like I was like, was this scripted? Like I felt like like she came up to him and the notes were like, talk about his dick, and he's peeing. And then they didn't know what to do after that. And they just, like, had weird banter. Yeah. And then it, like, didn't come up in the next scene. Everything that had been, like, that's why I was like, was this character added after shooting? Like, I couldn't find any information about it.

And it probably wasn't but like it just felt like you know like Magic Mike in the next scene talks with Ken about other stuff that they have established in the previous scene but she doesn't come up and I feel like normally in a scene like that a character like Ken would be like so what was up with that girl last night but like she just doesn't come up it's like she wasn't there because they have this weird way of like asking each other if they've had sex the night before and it's so corny but they're like what did they say i've it made me they're like did you bangy yeah did you bangy not did you bang did you have sex i don't know did you bangy and i'm like what are you babies like what are you

saying it's like they're all 12 not that i would put it past heterosexual men to like say shit like that but not in my presence this movie is for me like i don't want to watch this i i will say that i was so and i'm curious how this kind of bears out with magic mike 3 because i hope that between 2015 and now there has been a think you know not a satisfactory but significant cultural shift yeah and when this movie came out the audience for weekend one was 96 identifying as women yeah and i'm wondering how that kind of bears out for magic mike 3 i feel like have like men caught on to the fact that they're just fucking awesome movies yeah that they're fun they're fucking fun what do you hate

fun okay anyways but yeah i i just and then also on top of that and this is like no reflection on the actor because it's like it's not her fault but like the fact that for both movies it just seemed like a very sequely thing of like oh yeah he dated a hot thin white woman in the first movie so we just need to find a different hot thin white lady for him to date in the second movie and you're like well no you don't and also I wouldn't have been bothered if I don't know it's always bizarre when we come up on movies like this where I'm like I just I wouldn't have minded if that woman wasn't in the story because it's just like she wasn't effectively fit in she would show up at random points I don't think she really factors into Mike's development as a character very much and all it really seems

like for her development is like she was kind of and this was like a note we had about Magical Michael's original girlfriend, Brooke, was that she's so uptight. She can't feel pleasure. And like in an even lazier way, because she's barely in the movie. That's how Zoe's character is made to seem of like all the other women in the scene are really engaged and they want to like not only get horny but like talk about their feelings and as do the men and like it's a very kind of like wow this is cool but zoe's like i'm eating cake in the kitchen i'm not like the other girls i'm not horny and it's just like what are you trying to tell me with this character why is she always in the other room like can she ever be in the room it's really bizarre to me the way she's written yeah yeah um but we have we have other women to talk about that have way

more narrative Rome Rome can we talk about Rome yes I love that she's a successful business owner most of her customers it seems are black women It seems as though Rome's, like, mission statement for her business is that she wants to create a space where Black women can enjoy themselves, where they can feel valued and appreciated and beautiful. She, like, makes a point to, like, go around to different women at this like horny mansion and be like and like you're all queens i have so many questions about the horny mansion like and and that said like listeners if you know that these horny mansions exist and if they're safe like please let us know drop the links i want to Seriously. To the horny mansion. Yeah.

But yeah, she just like, she wants to, again, just like create this safe space. And it seems like a safe space for both the performers and the clientele. And she seems to just like be curating this like great space, again, specifically for Black women. Yeah. Because Black women are so historically undervalued and underappreciated that she's like i and this never gets explicitly stated in the movie but that was my read on it but also romantically discriminated you know like this is a safe space for black women to express their desires and to be desired in a way that like in the other club circles,

I feel like it is more about like with the white dancers and the white male entertainers, you know, it's about them being like, look at me and all my sexiness and I know you want this. Whereas like in Rome's club, you know, it's focused more from an honest place of her pleasure. Like, it's like, this is about her desire and what does she want? How can we make her feel special? Like, this is about you

and not about how sexy I am. It's about how do I turn you on? And there's so many rooms. There's so many rooms that I gotta turn on. And I think especially, like, I, listeners, I make a lot of comments right now about black and brown women i am an afro-latina i am a black and brown woman but all that to say i feel like it was very beautiful to see like especially dark-skinned black men be interested and desiring these you know or making these black women feel desired

because so many times oftentimes like that is so not the case. So I thought that was really lovely. That was like, you know, a space where these women can find what they're looking for because their communities refuse to acknowledge them. So for sure. Yeah. Yeah. And it felt like those themes and like that was introduced in a very, in a way that was very organic to the story, too. Yeah. In a way that I feel like sometimes I forget what movie we were talking about this recently, where it feels like a lot of times between movies and franchises, there's like a very needed demand for like, why was there no diversity in this movie? Why was there no like diversity of race or class or body type or anything and then the way that these sequels try to address it are very like fine here you go like in a way that's very careless and like worse than if they had done nothing um so again it's like the bar is

absolutely on the floor i'm not even congratulating the magic mike team for having done this but it's like there was a glaring lack of diversity in the first movie it was something that we talked about especially for being in florida like it's like right yeah right and and so it's like the movie you know like it felt like the higher up creatives like did hear that criticism and tried to make the movie more equitable and diverse in a way that also felt very like in step with what the story was and not in a way that was like fine there you go like because I feel like viewers can you can feel when that's happening for sure I agree especially with the club being in Georgia like I felt like that was like very organic to what it could have been.

And I think the only way they could have done that right was having, um, Rome be Jada Pinkett Smith, you know? Or, like,

a black actress. Like, it definitely could not have been a man. And I'm glad that they made it a madame owning this horny mansion.

Right. She's so fucking cool. I mean, and truly, like, Jada Pinkett Smith is just, like, such a potent Right. She's so fucking cool. I mean, and truly like, Jada Pinkett Smith is just like such a potent person. She's so great. Yes.

Like, you forget about Matthew McConaughey, like you just do. Yeah, you did not, I hated Matthew McConaughey in the first one. I feel like this was such

a better addition. because Matthew McConaughey was so gross. His whole character was like, I'm on cocaine was the vibe. Like, it was just like, ugh. And it wasn't like, Matthew McConaughey was so gross. His whole character was like, I'm on cocaine was the vibe. Like, it was just like, ugh. And it wasn't like Matthew McConaughey, like, his character, like, did not respect or understand what women wanted outside of a way that made him money. Yes.

It just seemed like Rome, it wasn't that she didn't want their money. She absolutely did. Yeah. And judgment isn't passed on her for that. And I think rightfully so. But also it's like she knew what to do better than Dallas did. She was creating a real experience that at the core was what these women wanted versus Dallas is like, I'm a creepy, money hungry man who owns a club, you know, which like statistically women that own clubs like stripper clubs and things like that have better you know employees because the women feel cared for and protected right in a

way that men simply don't do that to their workers so well a big thing that the characters were dealing with in the first movie is that dallas was like exploiting their labor and like not paying anyone well enough. Whereas it seems like in Rome's horny mansion, she's, and again, the movie doesn't get into this with any specificity, but it seems at least that the like male performers and entertainers in her house are given like artistic freedom because some of them are doing like very horny dances and

then you have Andre who like only just like takes his shirt off and then he's just like freestyle rapping the rest of the time like he's not doing like traditional stripping he's like doing his music and also like showing his abs too but like it does it reminded me of like it's like when you I don't know i mean i'm a fan of jumbo's clown room in la and it's like that is a club where it is predominantly women but not exclusively but like it's a club where as far as i know generally people who work there love working there because they're given a lot of creative freedom and that's like part of the point and i think that this is like a um criticism i saw of this franchise that i don't know i mean i i have never done sex work like i don't feel like my opinion here carries a lot of weight but i just wanted to like

bring it up of like because this movie i do feel like there are elements of magic mike that are like it's kind of a fantasy movie in a lot of ways. Because in order for it to be as cathartic and amazing as it is, you have to ignore things that happen in the world. Things that happen in the world don't happen in the Magic Mike cinematic universe. And that's not a criticism. I'm glad that horrible things don't really happen in this world. I love that about this movie versus the first one. I was like, this movie was pleasant from start to finish.

Like there was no real traumas. Like it was just guys getting to know each other and solving their problem at the end of the day. I love that. Right. So I came across this article that came out at the time that this movie came out in 2015. It's by Chloeloe cooper jones in vice uh articles called magic mike xsl was the most important feminist

movie of 2015 which my god if that's true uh 2015 was a brutal for us there's no women in the movie but okay uh great um not no women few okay. But but she interviewed the former president of the American Philosophical Association, a person named Linda Martin Alcoff, who had a danger when popular culture uses feminist ideas in ways that not only misrepresent but mislead this is the case with magic mike xxl which appears to be about the gender equality of men and women in sex work so the movie makes use of this representation and then goes on to portray sex work as a choice individuals can make it does not show the real costs the constant violence regular dehumanization by clients wage theft and sexual violence that is part of so much sex work so there is a falseness to that representation unquote i see what she's saying but i also don't think that that has a place in this franchise that's not why this exists exactly

yeah but it does feel worth acknowledging we're obviously like for sure that this is a fantasy like magic mike xxl especially i feel like the first one they like kind of like they it was all over the place honestly the first one but yeah the second one like it was like the goal is fun this is a fantasy we know that this is not how the world works but that is the point of fiction that this is fiction so the world works, but that is the point of fiction, that this is fiction. Exactly. And then the other criticism I saw of this movie popping up is for all the diversity of women feeling pleasure in this movie, outside of the fact that it's still straight, thin women

that seem to be getting precedence, that there's no representation of disability, which I think is fair, especially in a movie that seems to be prioritizing such a wide spectrum of pleasure that we didn't see any disabled women did feel a bit glaring yes but okay what are the what can we talk a little bit more about andy mcdowell's character yes let's do it i wanted to point out a few positives a few things i enjoyed you see sexual desire in older women and like horny mom energy and like they are expressing their frustrations of like some of them are like feeling sexually repressed and you know we we talked a little bit about this already,

but I was just, I appreciated there being representation of like older women, sexuality being a thing on screen. Yeah. And that big Dick Richie gets with an older woman or a woman older than him. And they called her absolutely beautiful. I think like they were like that beautiful,

amazing woman or whatever. And they didn't call her old and they didn't say milf yeah and i appreciated that they were just like she's hot as hell good job just again accurate yeah i mean also literally auntie mctown yeah right and i also appreciated that you have a mom telling her daughter to like play the field and like don't stop until you find like the best dick of your life where you would normally see on screen a mother like slut shaming her daughter or like warning her of like the quote-unquote dangers of having multiple partners especially in the south i was gonna say, because I tend to associate like a Southern woman in her 40s or 50s

as being this kind of like pearl clutching, like, well, I never kind of like, oh my goodness. And I know that that's a stereotype, but I've seen it in a bunch of movies. And when the only representation you see of something is a stereotype, you think that that must be the truth,

which is what our whole show is about anyway yeah so for nancy to be like yeah my daughter should fuck a bunch of men including male strippers yeah that was pretty subversive that was pretty cool i liked and again it like fit into the story in a very like cool and logical way i read a few um accounts of like younger women bringing their moms to this movie and moms feeling really like liberated by that scene because I do I think it was in that same vice article where um the writer whose name is Chloe Cooper Jones was describing seeing this movie with her mom and her mom like kind of tensing up when the andy mcdowell scene started because women are so conditioned to seeing like any woman over a certain age treated as a joke if they're experiencing any

sexual desire and then like really loving that scene because i don't know they're just like treated like people that are horny which makes sense and i loved the scene with like it just felt very like true to that character where she was like really horny but also like oh what's going on where um andy mcdowell's character like asked big dick richie like if she could unzip him and then he was or what did he say he's like she said can i pop the hood objectifying men that's not nice but it like that scene fucking ruled i just like it was really it was really nice i like that the movie wanted to take all of these like i don't know because it's like road trip movies are so episodic like this yeah this felt like really intentionally

episodic like here's a woman you don't normally see in a movie like this experiencing pleasure and having a nice time isn't that great all right they're gone and that's kind of like yeah that was great yeah cool another kind of episodic thing that happens a little stop they make on the trip is the drag show scene oh yeah which i was the first stop yeah yeah i had some questions so you have this scene taking place at a nightclub called mad mary's the drag queen character tori snatch played by vicky vox is like hosting this show and then says something like all right now all of you amateur queens get up here and strut your stuff and i'll give you four hundred dollars to the winner yeah no one who gets on stage is in drag not in drag include because like you understand why like magic mike and his friends are not in

drag but the first few people who get on stage were clearly people who were there to participate in this drag competition. And for some reason, they're not in drag. And then you have these seems as though mostly straight guys going on stage, kind of inserting themselves into this like queer space, into this queer competition. I would say not doing a very good job and then somehow still winning and fluffy was half-assing it big time and yet nevertheless he persisted so i found that confusing and it just felt like a scene that was written by straight men oh for sure it's like men who'd never been to a drag show. Like they had no idea. They were like, oh, well, Fluffy like is wearing the what's her face costume from the Bananas and Chiquita.

Yeah. So he's wearing the costume, but that's not a drag costume. That is like a normal costume. And it's also vaguely racialized because like that is a like argentinian banana i think they're from argentina those bananas um so you know it's just like okay yeah it was like the closest they could think they're like well we can't actually put them in drag because like that's too gay and these are straight men we have to remember that they they dress up but they're not gay. They're performing masculinity for women. It has to be hetero.

Which is something that I'm curious about. Will the third movie dare to not have a single moment that feels a little no homo in a way that... I think that, again, this movie improves upon the first in that regard. Yeah. But there are still little moments where you're just like, why? Why? Although there's one crumb that I maybe would give the movie. Give me that crumb.

It's when I think they've checked into the convention. So they're like staying in the hotel in Myrtle Beach. And Magic Mike and Tito get into the one bed that's in the room get into the bed together and there's no like gay panic moment there's no like what we have to share a bed they just get into the bed together and start talking about frozen yogurt it was nice that is true and I was like wow it's a crumb but I was like huh but honestly like most movies would be like now let's go like let's go wild on this moment and i guess the crumb is that they like don't make fun of the drag queens or like you know going to a gay bar like they were like they apparently go every year yeah they like

say that they go every time that they go to this competition. So another smidgen crumb. Another tiny little crumb. Which like, yeah, it's like, and it makes sense. Like it's like they have a lot in common. They work in similar settings. Like, cool. It makes sense that everyone would get along here and the movie doesn't like try to do anything weird about it. Right.

And which just goes to show how low the bar is. Yeah. Right. about it right and which just goes to show how low the bar is yeah right because you're always like is something fucked up about to happen because i don't trust these men but this i mean this franchise will will generally go with not even just like a more realistic choice but like the path of least resistance narratively like it makes more sense that this group of men would be friends than not. Yeah. So, yeah. True. Is there anything else we want to talk about?

No, but I do want to mention that the Twilight Stripper moment killed me. And I felt like that was very of the era. As someone who used to be a Twi'har, I loved it. What team? Okay, I bounced back and and forth but i think ultimately i was team edward oh that's the wrong answer unfortunately it's all about team jacob no but also like they're but the the right answer is neither team nobody yeah team nobody not even team bella like team why am i reading this like all three of them are kind of diabolical. And I was,

yeah, I was team Jacob back in the day and which you would catch a lot of shit for that. It was brutal. But also all three teams, everyone's wrong. Everyone was wrong. Magic Mike XXL seems to understand that.

It does seem to understand that because they made fun of them. They were like, the fucking vampire acts is warning. Yeah. And the last thing I wanted to say, because they made fun of them. They were like, the fucking vampire acts is warning. Yeah. And the last thing I wanted to say, because I didn't realize, like the two, I think the two most successful erotic movies of 2015 were Magic Mike XXL and the final Fifty Shades of Grey movie. And so if we're putting ourselves in that headspace, it made me appreciate Magic Mike XXL a lot more because you think of how, you know, they are both technically focused on women's pleasure.

But if you watch a Fifty Shades of Grey movie, it's like, oh, this domineering guy who doesn't respect boundaries and is like ruining your life. Like hates her. Like you're just like, well, I guess honestly magic mike xxl was in that media landscape a miracle which is so depressing but yeah that was that was my that was my final thought on it uh but does it pass the bechdel test folks oh you know what i don't think it does or i don't know if it's two lines of dialogue but in theory you got paris and rome chatting about their love for one another yes but it is narrowly like in the vein of male entertainment so right i feel like that would have been the only time that it would have passed right because all the horny moms are they aren't really talking

amongst themselves they're mostly talking to the men i do think it passed but it wasn't like as thorough a pass as you would like i think there were like individual because the movie does seem to go out of its way to give every woman a name yeah in a way that almost felt glaring to me at some point it's where i'd be like these are my friends blah blah blah and blah and i'm like it's to pass the buckles that's like what because by 2015 it was a popular discussion of like what was versus what wasn't and i do think that there were a few offhand exchanges in the andy mcdowell sequence that would have passed um i think that the rome and paris like again contextually ultimately I guess Rome's goal is to get magical Michael into the room

but also she's trying to get herself into the room I think there's a little bit of wiggle room there it's not a hard pass you never see Megan and I can't even remember Amber Heard's name in the movie Zoe you never see them in a room together they're like supposed to be friends

she's staying at Megan's house and they never talk yeah yeah well it's like because zoe just seems so out of place out of time out of movie in this movie where it's like we keep being told she and megan are friends but it seems like she disagrees with megan on everything and like they never speak so i do think like in a movie like this while it is very valuable to have a movie that is focused on i think coded heterosexual men coming to terms with themselves and each other in an emotionally intelligent way is a is a good mission there's not a lot of movies that do that well this movie does it pretty well but it's like there was room for more women it like, based on the trailer that I've watched 5,000 times for the new Magical Michael,

that women are there are at least two, there's like a mother-daughter dynamic in the third movie. Is Rosalia supposed to be Salma Hayek's daughter? I think that they say that in the trailer. I'm pretty sure. I'll watch it after this. But I don't

know. Maybe I, but I'm pretty sure that, watch it after this but i don't know maybe i may but i'm pretty sure that yeah they're supposed to be playing mother daughter and like that's the impression i got also channing tatum knows her daughter and then meets her mother and it's like and that's like fireworks awuga yeah awuga yeah big time awuga and i'm like who is he dating and then i'm like well maybe he's not dating anyone in this one and maybe that maybe he's been liberated from the need to be in love with a boring character but i like that they didn't end up like truly at the end together like it's like yes he danced on her but i think obviously he's like this is also my job like and i want to have fun and i think this is funny that's a good but i like that they didn't like kiss like they didn't like it wasn't clear

that they're like ending up together it was more like like he had mentioned throughout the whole movie it was like come have fun like like you're young like you're young once your friends want to go like just have fun with a bunch of strippers we're friends now they mentioned like we're friends now so i do like that even though obviously it's like geared that he she is like the romantic interest of his. I like that it wasn't actually very romantic and that they didn't kiss. It just seems like their lives intersect for a few days and then that's kind of it. Yeah, it's like kismet. I love stories like that. And I agree with you, Becca, that it didn't seem like the movie was like, you'll be seeing this character again.

Like, yeah, and that's fine. Like, whatever, you know, I yeah, I Magical like whatever you know i i yeah i magical michael you know he's still hurting he's still hurting from he had to heal from his engagement you know he wasn't ready to take that on true he said he lit a candle and everything he was really he was like i lit a candle and everything she said no you're like all right i had bacon i don't understand why she said bacon i've had epic had bacon. I've had epic random bacon. She still said freaking no. I will never understand. And you're like, well, whatever.

You still gotta grow up. There must have been some other problems. Yeah. She also sucked. So it's like, well, she did suck. Yeah. She wanted him to quit stripping. Not cool. Yeah. She was a bit of a traditionalist in a way that I don't think suited the beauty that is Magical Michael.

His lifestyle. But maybe he's going to fall in love with Salma Hayek. I think that's what's going to happen. I do want that, though. That, to me, is sexy. Yeah, they can do that for two hours and I will watch it. I'll be happy. Same writer.

So the third one, Steven Soderbergh is back directing. I thought it was interesting. So, and I like, like, Steven Soderbergh, I think he's a really cool artist where, like, he seems, like, kind of unpretentious in the way he does stuff, where he directed the first movie, and then for the second movie, his cinematographer from the first movie and him switched places. So in this movie, the cinematographer is directing steven soderbergh is doing the cinematography and editing and they just kind of like switched things up in a way that i thought was like visually cool and then in the final one or if i mean i guess were to believe

perhaps could be the final one but like you know would i be mad no but in the final steven soderbergh is directing again which i do think fits with the tone of the trailer. Now that you've mentioned that, because the trailer to me is giving like step up one. Yes. But like sexy. Like it's like it's giving the same type of drama. Like it's going to be more drama this time than it is comedy. It does feel very like I haven't seen any of the tom holland spider-mans i'll be honest

but i i do like you know this character you know and love is in london question mark and that's like what is happening in the third magic bike i can't wait to see it i will see it opening weekend i will laugh cry pee myself like get very horny that's why i'm there that's why we're there that's why we go to the movies. The movie. We come to this place. We come to this place. For magic. We come to this place to laugh, to cry, to care. How about that nipple scale of ours where we rate the movie from zero to five nipples

based on looking at the movie through an intersectional feminist lens. I'm going to give this movie. This might be wild, but I'm'm gonna give it 3.5 because the two kind of like main thrusts of the movie that's my new favorite way to describe we have been saying that shit we need to stop we have to knock it off it's really the it's triggering my fight or flight response when we say that out loud okay fine the two main themes of the movie are male friendship that is like healthy and productive or at least trying to be and they're doing it in a very like the way hetero men are conditioned to behave when it comes to like emotional vulnerability but they are like talking through their problems they're expressing

vulnerabilities they are saying that they love each other. And yes, they're doing it while they're rolling on Molly. And so are a lot of expressing their love does lead to a car crash. But generally, it seems like the movie is very much in favor of this male friendship. And I really appreciate that. And I also appreciate the focus on and this is mostly through the rome character but her mission being like cultivating a space where women can like experience joy and pleasure and to feel valued and to feel attractive and you know all these

things that are good so i'm gonna give the movie three and a half nipples i will give one to jada i will give uh one to elizabeth banks the director of cocaine bear i will give one to the scene where magic mike dances to pony by genuine and has sex with his workbench. And I'll give my half nipple. And I'll give my half nipple to Tito because he deserved more characterization. I'm going to go three and a half as well. I think that the Zoe character was kind of the biggest miss for me in terms of a woman where it felt like she was a character who was added as a girlfriend kind of half-heartedly we didn't get to know very much about her um i do appreciate like you were

just saying becca that like it wasn't forced on us as like and now she's the great love of his life because it just like wouldn't have worked at all but it just i you know for someone who is pretty high build in the movie she could be removed from the movie and nothing would change um she didn't really factor into magical michael's growth at all however rome is a great character i really liked her i like that they reset everything at the beginning of every magic mike movie but i'm like kind of bummed that we won't get to see more of her yeah because it feels like that character like she just like i, I would see a spinoff movie only about her. Yeah.

Same. And her horny mansion. And her horny mansion. Like, how do you. I would love the prequel. Like her life with Magical Michael before. Right. He went to Dallas.

Because those two have chemistry. It was like, wow, when he kissed her hand, it was like begging for forgiveness. I was like, wow, wow, wow. This is great. I was great like why isn't it me no I'm just gonna right like it was yeah like I thought she was a great character I feel like she you know I would love to see her again down the line but in this movie she is wonderful but I think for me she and the Andy McDowell characters were the best written most narratively impactful women in the story which is kind of cool because you know they are like women over 40 and you don't usually see in kind of a sexy movie um older women taking narrative precedence over younger women i think there was room for everybody though yeah but i love this movie i love it's like focus on um

straight men getting their shit together. I love how it celebrates sex work and doesn't shame it in the way that I think the first movie tacitly did towards the end. I think this movie kind of course corrects that issue from the first movie. There is more diversity. I know that some of it is sort of like or much of it is very surface level and flawed. And it is still a white character-centric movie in a way that I really hope the third movie course corrects on justice for Adam. But it's a hell of a romp.

It's a hell of a horny movie. I really enjoy it. And I also do like, it is kind of nice to come at a franchise like this with general optimism, where I feel like with future movies in most franchises, I'm like, there's no way they're going to do any better and I just need to manage my expectations but for a two movie franchise I feel like they made significant strides between one and two I am excited to see three I hope it is really awesome and at least I hope I get

fucking horny and a room full of my peers. That's what I want. So I will give it three and a half. I'm going to give all of my nipples to Twitch because I love Twitch. And I was very sad. I honestly like I learned when Twitch passed because it was like last month. Yeah. And I was really sad. And then I didn't I wasn't expecting to see him in this movie

and then I was crying uh yeah same just um you know if you haven't seen twitch dancing in I mean at any point but like in his so you think you can dance prime just a beautiful wonderful spirit in person and I'm very sad he's gone so all all my nipples are going to Twitch. Nice. Becca, how about you? Oh my gosh, my time to give away nipples. Okay, I'm also gonna go with three and a half. I was leaning more for three, but then after our discussion, I landed on three and a half.

But I will say I really love the arc of this movie from the first to the second after watching them back to back. I think there was so much more joy in this movie and it was just such a fun light-hearted watch obviously we dug into it there's a lot to be said but I think generally for the context of the movie and the content and for the timing it came out I think it is such a joy that it you know for the most part, withheld with time, which is, you know, rare for, I think, movies within even the past five years. I will say I do wish it was hornier in the sense that I did not see enough nakedness for being a rated R movie.

It really felt like a PG-13 movie. I was shocked when I Googled that it was rated R still. Wow. And I felt like the most sex we got was in the last 10 minutes. And that just wasn't enough for me um but otherwise yeah I agree with both what everything you said I don't have much besides those two notes to add on to that um and yeah I'm gonna give my nipples to one to challenge Gambino for my 2015 heart could not stand uh love One, a Channing Tatum because I've been horny for him since Step Up.

And then one, Adam Rodriguez because I love that man, Delco Forever. And then my half nipple to Twitch, rest in peace. Oh, my goodness. Well, Becca, thank you so much for joining us. Truly. Long time coming. I'm so glad we did it. Me too.

This was so much fun. It's like truly a dream come true. I'm like, I listen every week and now I'm on it. Oh my God, I feel honored. So thank you for having me. Becca is literally wearing a Bechtelcast shirt right now. It looks great. Come back. Say less, I will be here. Yes. Okay. Amazing.

And speaking of those shirts shirts you can get them at tpublic.com slash the bechtel cast uh all of our merch is designed by jamie and we've got some some recent designs such as shrekian and feminist icon paddington and the flubber mambo by danny elfman hard to say how that design's doing that may have been just for me but i am enjoying it i bet a few people bought it if you have please let us know because i've been seeing a lot of Hard to say how that design's doing. That may have been just for me, but I am enjoying it. I bet a few people bought it. If you have, please let us know, because I've been seeing a lot of the other two designs and really kind of radio silence on the Flubber Mabo by Danny Elfman. Let's work on that, folks.

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Awoo-ga! As well as access to... There is actually like pretty thorough awuga energy over on the matriarch and you'll get access to over 100 i think close to 150 back catalog episodes there as well over five years all right goodness we're getting crusty over here yeah and um with that shall we all get on the frovia truck truck and head to Myrtle Beach? Absolutely. As long as it has a bathroom. It does.

Okay, bye. Bye. Hey, everybody. This is Matt Rogers. And Bowen Yang. We've got some exciting news for you. You know we're always bringing you the best guests, right? Well, this week we're taking it to the next level.

The one, the only, Katherine Hahn is joining us on Lost Culture East. That's right. The queen of comedy herself. We'll see you next time. Big Money Players Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If we don't know the answer, we bring in people who do, like negotiation expert Maury Tahiripour. If you start thinking about negotiations as just a conversation, then I think it sort of eases us a little bit. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Daphne Caruana Galizia was a Maltese investigative journalist who on October 16th, 2017, was assassinated. Crooks everywhere unearths the plot to murder a one-woman WikiLeaks. She exposed the culture of crime and corruption that were turning her beloved country into a mafia state. Listen to Crooks Everywhere on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.