Reading this article was weird, because I’ve never seen, nor
do I have the desire to ever see these movies, but looking at them in a social
activist light its cool to hear about political movements within what seems
like the shallowest movie ever made.
That being said I feel that the weakest argument in the
article was Megan Garber’s and I don’t know if its just because I thought he
whole argument was a little petty and almost seemed like she didn’t want to
have too many positive thoughts about the movie. So every positive she ended up
backing it up with three negatives. She basically said “Hey I like that they are
paying attention to women but they are not doing it good enough” which while
true just gets confusing and contradictory at times, and it results in a weak
argument. I did like her tag line about the second movie “This one struck me as
a commentary about feminism… in the guise of a movie about strippers.” I think
it was cool that she saw that, but personally her section seemed the weakest.
I feel like I should at least mention Spencer’s portion,
while good, it wasn’t my favorite, however I really liked the voice and humor
in this part, so that’s worth saying I think.
The strongest argument in my opinion is Sophie Gilberts, and
again this may just be me, but I enjoyed reading this one the most and that
means she played to her audience well and that’s what you are trying to do in
any argument. She got me to read more and actually pay attention to what she
was saying, and while yes it had a lot to do with my own preconceived notions it
also has a lot to do with what she was saying too. She points out that its
pretty black and white. And she gave praise where praise was due. She pointed
out the strength of the women instead of the weakness of the men. Her argument focused
on positives of one party instead the negatives of the other which isn’t really
done in this article so it was a really nice way to end the article.
Arguments in articles like this are always cool because its
almost like you are reading “The View” and you get more than one view point in
one area, and just like “The View” different people are going to agree with
different people. You wont get the exact same opinion anywhere on this blog,
every ones mind works differently, if even just fractionally, so its cool
seeing all these different view points in one place.
I agree with you that Sophie had the strongest argument out of all that were presented. However, like you said it is nice to see and hear the different perspectives that come into play over time. I think that you make a very valid point on explaining how Megan had a weak argument. I think she had a couple of good points but she did not thoroughly introduce them to her audience. I also, have no desire at all to see any of these movies and I think that It is so true that everyone has a different outlook on every thing or idea presented to them. It is very rare that two people can read one thing and get the same thing out of it. It is crazy how our minds work. Back on topic though, I do strongly feel as if Sophie made her points very clear. She was concise with everything that she mentioned. It was easier to red everything because she really made it come to life for her reader. I felt like she was just straight to the point and for me that is way easier to understand compared to something that is all over the place, kind of like my comment for example.
ReplyDeleteSo first things first, Magic Mike is not for me. I never have nor do I ever plan on spending 2 hours of my time watching either of these movies. I found it difficult to follow along with this article due to that fact. Honestly for me if I were to watch this movie the politics behind it would not be the first thing to come to mind watching this. I guess the arguments in this make since that it is some what empowering women. Typically, when someone thinks of a stripper its usually a young woman that comes to mind. This movie seems to reverse the roles of this making men the strippers and women being the one they try to please. I guess giving the women the wealth and the sex that is being pleased rather then the sex that is aiming to please would be considered a feminist way of thought. After reading this I understand the arguments each individual is making but still don’t feel to compelled by these arguments, I think just solely because none of this relates to me in any possible way. This was not one of my favorite articles to read, the whole time I felt bored and uninterested in this reading.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen any of these movies so I feel like I cant speak on the movies take on feminism and stuff but I do agree with what you're saying on how Sophie had the best argument. I like the points she made and what she talked about, I also think that Megan had the weakest argument, I feel like she was just filling the stereotype of angry feminist who thinks that anything men think women want is wrong and sexist. I haven't seen the movies but I thought that it was just a movie about male strippers, I didn't know it got as deep as feminism as a whole.
ReplyDeleteHello, Although I have only seen the first magic mike movie and watching it with your parents leads to a really uncomfortable situation I didn’t choose to see the second one. But from reading this article I am really seeing what the big argument is over. I would have to say this article started out rough with spencer kornhaber stating that all men simply want is marriage and that is what the entire movie is over, I don’t think that was what they were going for. And I agree with you when you said that Sophie’s argument was the strongest because rather than stating all the negatives she says what she likes. She brings out that this movie is refreshing because it is free of nuance and simply a Hollywood film. I don’t think this movie is anything close to “political” like spencer had said before, and more just a movie trying to make money. Sophie says that it shouldn’t be an argument if women or men were offended by this film rather than bestowing happiness upon their targeted audiences. And I think that is very true when she says that this is nothing more than a creation from Hollywood.
ReplyDeleteI have actually seen both movies and I have to say, Sophie does indeed have the best argument overall.
ReplyDeleteI didn't really like Megan's argument at all. When she said that MMXXL was about what guys think women want I found that to be stupid. I don't know about you, but I would LOVE to be sung to, and literally swept off my feet. The guys in that movie make every type of woman, every age and body type imaginable feel sexy and confident. And when she said that the female characters were "less fully realized" than the male characters, WELL YEAH it's a movie focused on MALE strippers. As far as Spencer's argument goes, he brings in the wedding striptease scene. Which I don't necessarily think was a bad idea to do as a performance. Because, let's think about it, on our wedding nights, what're we gonna do, play chess? No, we're all gonna have extremely passionate sex with our husband/wife. And some people are actually into the whole sex swing thing, and more power to them for it. So why not incorporate the whole awesome sex part about a wedding into the performance? I think it was pretty cool honestly. I think what everyone (and by everyone I mean everyone who has an issue with this movie) has to realize is, nobody is forcing you to watch this movie. It's just meant to make its target audience happy and that it did very well. It's just a movie, that's all it is!
I may have no room to talk due to never seeing any of these movies, however, from what is said in the article I think that it is safe to say I don't mind if I do.
ReplyDeleteIn the article i agree that Sophie made the best argument. I feel that it was stronger because her evidence can be backed up, where as Megan seemed like she had a more difficult time trying to provide evidence. Her claim really lacked in the article. I think she just didn't go about presenting her argument in the best way. Megan really didn't see the issue from her opponents point of view where as Sophie made a point to incorporate things from the opposite side. I understand why people are angry but I think that it isn't the big deal that people are making it out to be. Men are not all really the way that is portrayed in this movie, yet i think it is impatient for everyone to remember that movies are not real in most instances.