VIDEO: Matthew McConaughey takes it off for 'Magic Mike'
Janine Schaults
6/1/2012
After sitting through countless movies (and YouTube videos, music videos and so on) that objectify women, I’m not going to feel even a smidge of guilt forking over ten bucks to see “Magic Mike.” Surely, this summer’s feel-good flick boasts a plot that might move the audience emotionally or let them leave the theater with a kernel of truth to ponder, but I’m not interested in that.
Matthew McConaughey (and Channing Tatum and “True Blood’s’ Joe Manganiello) in his skivvies will put my popcorn-toting behind in an air-conditioned movie theater. Yes, “Magic Mike” shows us the underbelly of male stripping. Hey, at least we get to see the sculpted bellies of the aforementioned actors (and that’s probably all we’ll get to gawk over). But, it’s a welcome change to be the one salivating over a prime specimen of manliness instead of standing by observing the wide-eyed reactions of my male counterparts both at home and in the office to the latest viral beauty or Kim Kardashian tweet.
Half-naked women are inescapable and they aren’t just regulated to the likes of porn stars or laddie magazines. Sites like the Huffington Post and US Weekly treated Taylor Swift showing off her bellybutton in a stripped bikini while frolicking on the beach as a news event. And no one in the newsroom averted their eyes when Kate Upton showed us how to do the Cat Daddy. The women groan and roll their eyes, of course. Some go the “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” route, while others just walk away from the crowd gathered around a single, flickering screen. But, reverse the situation (and really, you’d be hard-pressed to find a quality clip of an A-list hunk jiggling his bits) and you incur the embarrassment of getting called out as a perverted peeper. Not that wasting company time on risqué material should be condoned, but when it’s normal for water cooler chit chat to center around the assets of the fairer sex, an opportunity to ditch the boys club for McConaughey’s pecs shouldn’t be missed.
So enjoy the trailer and get the gals together on June 29: