Male Strippers

Carl had a sales conference and was out of town most of last week. That means when the kids go to bed in the evening I have to wait for Carl to get back in town before I can watch Downton Abbey, Sherlock, or True Detective. Instead, I can watch whatever girlie shows I've missed because Carl's not interested. 

Sometimes it's a wonderfully guilty indulgence and other times I know watching First Daughter was a waste of two hours of my life, no matter how much I like Katie Holmes.

For a few months now I've been wanting to see Magic Mike with Channing Tatum and Matthew McConaughey. It was suppose to be a comedy, but I found it totally depressing. 

Spoiler Alert: this movie has been out for awhile, but if you wanted to watch it on your own, don't read any further.

I thought Matthew McConaughey was great in another iteration of himself named Dallas, a super intense, obsessive stripper, and creepy owner of the strip club. 

However the ending was totally unsatisfying. When Magic Mike finally breaks free of being a stripper to start his life following his dreams beyond being objectified by women, the first thing he does is sleep with the girl he's been chasing after. Boo.

Why did I think I wanted to watch this?

It reminded me that I had been to a male strip club once in my life.  A friend of mine was married right after college and her sorority sisters threw her a crazy bachelorette party. 

One part of the party included all of us going to La Bare, a Dallas male strip club. For me it seemed incredibly uncomfortable and a bit creepy. I have a snapshot in my memory of the stripper, who was the bachelorette's personal lap dancer, taking her glasses off her face, breathing fog on them, and then using the only part of his body that was clothed to wipe them off. Burned-in-my-memory.

Next time Carl goes out of town I think I'll find a good book.