So yeah. After allllll that, the jiggling minions who spent their hard earned George Ws (the film had earned a paltry $12 million by Monday) on Magic Mike XXL this 4th of July weekend were almost entirely women. Not that that news is the shock of the century… but ninety-six percent is really quite mighty high, particularly when you consider how intently Tatum & Co. were pandering to gay audiences (particularly during the Los Angeles Gay Pride parade.
Related: Here’s The Magic Mike Sequel You May Not Be Ready To See
So, it begs the question: Where were all the gay men? Rehoboth Beach? Fire Island? (At least at those vacation spots, you can spend hours ogling real-life muscle men in Speedos, and even meet/hook up with one.)
Perhaps we never quite forgave the original Magic Mike for being so low on male nudity, and so high on after-school-special angst. (GHB?) After all, the hottest scenes from the first film inexplicably wound up on the cutting room floor. (That link, incidentally, is rather NSFW.)
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Perhaps the stars of Magic Mike XXL were simply so overexposed during their promotional blitz, gay men simply lost interest in seeing them, like, exposed-exposed?
We’re genuinely curious: why didn’t you see Magic Mike XXL? What were you doing instead? (Full disclosure: We haven’t seen it, either.)
h/t: The Wrap
Ron Freake
Probably went to see real strippers.
Milton Appleby
I love being generalized. All gay men do not like the same things. Haven’t watched the first one and have no desire to see the sequel. I am not a fan of strippers in general. If I am going to spend my hard earned money it’s not going to be on garbage like this.
AJ Sarabia
Because some of us are will over 21 and can watch porn.
Duncan Noel Campbell
Because, like the first one, I wasn’t interested in it.
Josh447
I saw the first Magic Mike and really liked it. there are a couple of reasons why I’m not rushing out to see it this time. 1, there’s so much eye candy on the internet and amazing porn with guys just as gorgeous that it fills part of the platter. 2, you won’t find me in a movie theatre on the 4th of July weekend ever. Tomanyotherfun things to do. and though I hadn’t even thought about it until you mentioned it, 96% women is not my idea of a good time. I may or may not go see Magic Mike 2. I’m more inclined to go see Henry Cavill in Man from Uncle coming out shortly. One more reason I probably won’t go to see Magic Mike 2 – is because Channing Tatum and Matt Bomer have saturated the airwaves now for years and are a bit yesterday. Over saturation. And it’s ok to watch it on dvd or cable. It’s not like it’s Jurrasic World where a huge screen is a big plus. Those are my hits. Groovey but not groovey enough for a fifty dollar expense seeing it w/a friend/date etc.
Leon Wilborn
1) Can’t stand the smell of moist coochie, 2) free porn is easier to acquire and 3) G-strings.
Avery Alvarez
I remember the first one had no male nudity, and unnecessary female nudity. No peen, no gay content whatsoever.
I guess, fool gays once, shame on you; fool us twice….
I also think we’re getting to the point where if you market something to gays, we expect more than a little shout out, or something subtly gay.
Cagnazzo82
Call me crazy, but I’m not so easily swayed by swaying abs, and gyrating pelvic V’s… (actually I am, but mostly not in movie format, lol).
Personally I’m at the stage where I’d like to see a movie featuring a hot action hero who incidentally happens to be gay. That would go doubly if he just happened to look like Chris Pratt (just saying :)…
Also, I’ve always dreamed of seeing a really good sci-fi movie where the lead is gay and there’s some gratuitous shirtlessness/nudity aimed at a gay or female audience. Likely will never happen since our demographic isn’t as large, but one can dream.
I think with Magic Mike I’ve been there and done that. Maybe I’m just not too into Tatum and the other guys I guess. But that’s just me.
Rich Borkowski
Dennis ð??³
Glücklich
I hope most of us had better things to do.
Really, Queerty has hyped up this movie so much and for what? To see nearly naked men with above average looks gyrating around on a stage? The internet is just a click away where we can see men at least as attractive doing a lot more than dancing around in their skivvies. And depending on where you live, there are plenty of all-male revues to visit.
Sidebar – I don’t think the looks of any of the stars’ of MMXXL are all that much to write home about anyway. Again, depending on where one lives, there is plenty of fine-ass talent upon which to feast one’s eyes walking about in our every day lives.
Good lord! Was the expectation that we gays would get all up in a tizzy for some middling movie sequel? Talk about underestimating the lot of us!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngSZWRdyBe8
SteveDenver
In Denver gay men were well represented BOTH TIMES I WENT TO SEE IT. The first time I went with two gay friends. The second time I went with three gay friends and six women, which included five of the most fun Black moms who know how to dress up and go out, but seldom get the chance. One stretch takes place in a southern house of entertainment crafted especially for Black women and featuring some smokin’ HOT Black male strippers. We were practically throwing dollars at the screen!
wld8hrt
The first wasn’t that exciting but my main reason for not attending is that I am not really into that look. The shaved, over-worked-out look is also WAY overplayed and has never been my thing.
Mike Jasinski
Maybe because the first one sucked?
wld8hrt
A little variety in the men wouldn’t have hurt, would it? Men have hair. And some men (and women) like that.
Cagnazzo82
@SteveDenver: Your story reminds me a little of Conan’s funny girls night out Magic Mike clip.
I feel like this movie was a movie aimed more for these audiences than actual gay men.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1ndZnfZdZM
Pablito Belanger
Channing Tatum is a dime-a-dozen type online and should never open his mouth. He can’t act.
David Quirk
right now there is a zillion free naked tweets and I can pop my own popcorn.
Bill Mountrey
Nothing unique about the movie or the men. Real life = 3D. Movie = 2D
Daveliam
Because the first movie was awful, had almost zero gay content, and was low on male nudity (and featured female nudity).
If they had a gay plotline and showed frontal nudity, I’d pay to see it.
Noé R. García
Because the first one sucked. No need to see the second.
Roger Honeycutt
Saw the first.magic mike.and wasn’t impressed. Bad acting and no plot. Just a bunch of guy wanting to show what they don’t really have
MarionPaige
Isn’t this post assuming that fewer gay men saw the second film? 96% woman is a stat that doesn’t automatically mean that fewer gay men saw the second film. Magic Mike could have / probably did not met expectations because: not enough women saw the second film.
Alex Cameron
Probably got DVD or saw a cinema crap movie almost fell asleep watching it the DVD
enfilmigult
Saw the first one because I’m a Steven Soderbergh fan, and liked it quite a bit. He didn’t direct this time and the movie seems sillier than it would be if he had, but I’ll be seeing it. (The commercials made it look terrible to be honest, but the reviews are pretty good.)
I just won’t bother with theaters—unless it’s in 70mm 3D or something there’s usually not much of a point. Every place seems so indifferent about competent projection/sound nowadays that the Blu-ray would still be a bargain even if it cost more, not less, than two tickets to a single showing.
P.S. I don’t get people seeing these movies just because they really want to see male strippers. Why not just, y’know, go see some male strippers?
David Harlem
Where did all the gays go? It’s summer, Fire Island, Key West, Ogunquit, P-Town. Why go to a movie when you can see it in the flesh.
Raul Islas
Nunzia Gutierrez
Tom Lozza
It wasn’t a very good movie. 1st one was better.
Gene Kohl
Because it sucked
jimmycurry01
I forgot about this film. I will also add that most sequels are worse than their predecessors, and the first one want really great to begin with. I guess when all is said and done, I simply want interested.
Mike Muniz
Are we really supposed to see this?
robertkalin
I saw it. I wasted $8.75 on it. Beyond disappointing. Wish I had walked out, but I was hoping it MIGHT get better. And, poor Andie MacDowell—her career is dead.
Jesse Erickson
I never cared to see the first, why would i go to the second?
Atrius
Not falling for it twice.
Alistair Wiseman
How about that there are considerably more straight women than gay men. Simple demographics.
Raphael
Because there is no gay content and to go out only to see 4 or 5 half naked men, we better stay in the comfort of our home watching completely naked men on the internet.
Byron Scott Jones
Theatre full of screaming women? I’ll wait for blu-ray.
Tab-Eric Varney
It’s made for str8 women, not gay men. Matt Bomer, who’s gay in real life, plays a str8 guy. Besides, the whole thing is overblown anyway. If I want to see guys naked I can go elsewhere.
Atldeuce
Why did gays stay away? The question was why didn’t everyone stay away. I saw it. It was horrible. Could have been a hilarious movie with gay subplots and, oh yeah, maybe a little nudity. Annie McDowell? She should sue them for what they did to her. And Matt Boomer’s chakra reading character – tragic. How did they get Stephen Soderburgh to direct this turkey
james_in_cambridge
I was seeing Terminator: Genisys, which wasn’t bad at all, despite the horrible reviews. I’ll take sci-fi over a stripper movie any day, especially when I know I’ll see the best bits of Magic Mike online. Also, the first one sucked.
james_in_cambridge
BTW, Arnold really was great in Genisys…he’s usually terrible but he was one charming Terminator in this one.
MarionPaige
@james_in_cambridge: “I was seeing Terminator Genisys”
After seeing Terminator Genisys, I thought to myself: “this is what the original Terminator would have been like had JJ Abrams directed it”. It just so happened that one of the reviewers at “What The Flick” echoed the same feelings.
Bill Hardie
Saw it and liked it better than the first. Wish they included a gay element
Johnny Mulkerrin
its called pornhub
Ladbrook
Because watching a film about straight guys stripping for drunk women doesn’t interest me.
Because the strippers did not actually show anything I can’t see via a quick Google image search.
I prefer naked bears.
Because a movie, drink, and popcorn is now over $25, and if I’m going to spend that much money, I’m gonna need a lot of exposed dicks in that flick, or at the very least, another great acting performance from Cate Blanchet.
Patty Cabey
Bill Hardie thats going to be Magic Mike 3…..Beyond the Pole…LOL
Greg Ballard
I had a really good answer but the replays before all cover it.
Bill Hardie
Lol
Denis Beaulieu
magic mike 1 was boring….number 2 xxxl even worst…save your money people
Joe Wilborn
Jada Pinkiin-Smith is in it!!!!! What a ass hole!!!!
Damich
Zero interest with straight men pandering to straight woman. It’s none of my business.
Jon Mackey
Because I didn’t find a movie about male strippers interesting. When I spend money on a movie I want a good plot .
machuffin
They advertised the movie to gay men, but left us out of the movie and did not give us anything to look at (it is pretty dumb to not have nudity in a movie about stripping). This was a movie made for women, so why should we go see it? Just like the remake of Piranha, which I heard was campy fun, a few years back. I also heard there was a ton of T & A, but nothing for gays or even women. The movie pretty much bombed (though “spawned” a sequel, NPI). Why? If you make a movie that panders to a certain segment (men) of your intended audience (in this case, horror fans), but completely ignores the rest (women and gays) of your desired audience, you can’t be surprised when only the people you pandered to show up. If you make a stripper movie about straight strippers and don’t give us nudity or fun or any representation in the film, what do you expect?
Jeffrey York
I want to see it when it’s on Netflix or On Demand. I won’t go to the movies. I can get a month of Netflix for the cost of a ticket or several On Demand movies. First run movies are a rip off.
machuffin
If you’re not going to put us in your movie don’t expect to get us in your audience.
Ron Czebieniak
It is a boring snooze.
Dita Fitz James
Coz we are educated and a plotless film full of bad dancing is not art!!!
Jim Carroll
Because porn
Rosalynn D'Angela
965 women , that should be answer enough… like when to many straight people show up at gay club to dance , sort of ruins the ambiance
bicurious
I saw Magic Mike XXL over the weekend and I’m still thinking/fantasizing about the scene in Savannah where Tatum Channing tossed a diminutive woman around like a rag doll, thrust his body into hers, pulled hers into his, and on and on. I would absolutely love to know what it feels like to be taken under control by him in that way. You gays that aren’t going to see this movie are missing out. It is very gay friendly and feminist and for just those reasons deserves support. That it might turn you on like it did me makes it even more worth seeing.
Dennis Patrick Ellis
bc i could not find the sexexitement in the 1st, why go to 2?
dave lopes
The web is full of REAL strippers with better bodies for FREE.
Realitycheck
@Glücklich:
>>I hope most of us had better things to do.
Thank you, LOL
Jeames Granger
because there poster look like Tom of Finland nothing beats TOF
jason smeds
Channing Tatum might have been at one of the Pride parades but his movie Magic Mike XXLL is filtered and cut so as to pander to women, to make them feel that they are “powerful” in their ability to seduce men. Any notion that the male strippers cannot be seduced by a woman is removed so as to reinforce the idea that women are “all powerful” in their ability to seduce men.
This idea runs counter to male empowerment and, therefore, homosexual male empowerment.
jkb
@bicurious: Nothing in the advertisements demonstrated it was gay friendly, so an anonymous promotion on the internet about it being gay friendly (after going on about a heterosexual encounter in the movie no less) probably won’t inspire many either.
Robert Pimentel
Who cares
Colin McCoy
Should I count the reasons?
The plot’s probably terrible.
No gay characters/subplots.
No full frontal.
Porn is REALLY easy to find for free online.
Masturbating in a movie theater is frowned upon.
Not to mention that the movie is marketed towards women, and is based off of the types of strip clubs that are geared towards women; male strip clubs for men have a lot more on display.
mikelphx
Coz of porn and I think most gays are over being pandered to.
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
For all of it’s fake ass macho poses a man deliberately and self-consciously objectifying himself before a crowd is not sexy to me and is pretty much a passive bitch-move .YMMV
Malibu Eric
If this was 1995 and no internet I would probably have run to a midnight showing. However, it’s 2015 and I can see the same content on NetFlix and not spend $15 on a mediocre movie, especially filled with 96% giggling women.
DarthKitsune
I didn’t even see the first one because there was no one in either of then that I had even the most remote interest in seeing stripping or erotically dancing as it were. Sadly, the large disinterest is only going to fuel the studios assertion that audiences don’t want to see original content. Get ready for a rash of remakes, reimaginations, and tween-romance books being made into movies.
ShowMeGuy
The Gays were busy celebrating the birthday of a great nation which finally recognized that “the gays” do in fact exist and are being discriminated against and that discrimination will start to end…NOW.
The other reason……the sequel is sucking large and not in a good way. It’s a movie with a storyline developed by special interest committee and the storyline is slave to those special interests. The movie is about male strippers and at one hour and 55 minutes long only has 10 minutes of male strippers.
There will be no dvd/bluray special bonus feature of the complete dance routines from the film……because there basically aren’t any dance routines.
Harold Powell
Sadly, I can go to any gay bar and see half naked straight male dancers being malled by straight woman, why would I want to go see the something at the movies.
dvlaries
I’ve been under the assumption that discriminating gay audiences are still waiting for whatever proves the next logical step beyond Brokeback Mountain. Since that landmark film proved that love between men can be astonishingly and beautifully dramatized, we’re going to be all the more reluctant to financially underwrite lazy exercises that presume that a handful of half-dressed men is enough to lure us in.
David Mack
well if ur in Ogunquit, Maine..u go to the downtown movie house..DUH ! !
Steven Dearing
At first day 1pm show two guys and twenty five women
We enjoyed it but kept getting looks from the ladies
L Daniel E Kaufman
Er…we have better porn than this movie could ever be.
tjr101
Sitting in a movie theater with a bunch of screaming, horny women is not my idea of a great summer holiday weekend spent. The movie is targeted to the female audience, not gay men. I didn’t go and see the first one either.
lauraspencer
Let me count the reasons…
1. The first film was sooooooooooooo boring that I almost fell asleep.
2. The best looking guy, Alex Pettyfer was not even in the sequel.
3. Lack of diversity in the men. All had shaven steroided bodies.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY even put 3 white men on the cover when there were Latino and black men in the movie as well.
4. If there is no real story or solid acting then there better be a fun camp factor or nudity to make it worthwhile.
SonOfKings
As gay man, I’m just not interested in seeing straight actors, playing straight strippers, stripping for straight women. There’s nothing in it for me.
tiger7985
I saw XXL this past weekend. The theater was empty aside from maybe 10 other people. This sequel sucked big time. It was BORING. The first movie had way more dancing and male ass than XXL, and had a good storyline with the drama between dallas/mike/the kid. Mistake #1 is that McConaughey didn’t return. Mistake #2 is that the kid, as well as mike’s girlfriend from the first movie didn’t return. Those were glaring holes immediately present when the movie started. And you only see tatum’s ass once, very quickly, at the end? Come on now this is a rated R movie about strippers!
It felt like this movie was just a contract obligation and not something anyone was remotely passionate about.
Wait for the redbox, it’s not worth more than $2.
Wil Cohen
Why would I go see this? If I want to look at meat I watch porn…
Sweetie Pie
Here in Montreal we can see real strippers who will bare it all…and beers are only 7 bucks…
Timothy Herbert
They believed their own hype. The same problem The Entourage had (has).
reallygoodthings
Full disclosure / Full frontal. And until MMXXL puts out, I don’t pay!
Brian Boughton
First one was solid this one was dull.
stanhope
How insulting to think that gays will flock to any movie with some abs on some tepid men despite an absence of plot. I’d rather see Ryan Cummings at one of his events….now THAT’s some real fun doings.
da90027
Maybe because gay men like to movies with a great sotyline or good acting they can walk into any gay bar and see a bunch of straight rent boys stripping. LMFAO!
da90027
typos (see a movie with a great storyline…
dave lopes
maybe the 4% male was mostly gay men…lol
denvermtnbiker
We DID see it, and loved it. Y’all are missing out.
broadshoulder
Perhaps we never quite forgave the original Magic Mike for being so low on male nudity, and so high on after-school-special angst.
You got it. Why when you can enjoy real porn on the internet should you bother. Magic Mike is gay porn for a straight crowd. Boring!
Bailey Bednar
We are all pirating this crap.
Alan David Smith
I didn’t know 50% of the cast in the 1’st one. since I don’t get to see a lot of movies. it’s to expensive to go to the theaters. and while I would like to see it. I wanna see ted 2 mark whalberg is still hot. and x-men apocalypse. plenty of hot men in that to. so who knows
Rick Holtz
Not interested in getting teased by “straight” men who don’t deliver-and gay, plotless porn is free.
Chris
because some of us like to see movies with story lines — like Jurassic World
SeeingAll
Because the first one sucked. Saw it on cable. All those characters’ pretentious dialogue about such a stupid subject.
Saint Law
@jason smeds: The men you fancy will never sleep with you. Ever. Most of them will, however, sleep with women.
Hell – if the choice is a woman or you any gay man would too.
Darren Smith
Erm because they saw the total rubbish first movie?
Sluggo2007
I can see beautiful, totaly naked male strippers on the Internet. Why would I pay $15 to see this garbage in a theater?
Vincent Turner
I am gay and totally neutral about this movie. Matt Bomer is hotter than Channing but gets much less press likely because Bomer is gay.
Kieru
The first movie was just… awful.
There wasn’t enough skin for it to be a good cheap skin-flick, and there wasn’t enough plot for it to be a good movie. I cannot imagine the “XXL” version will be any different. Yes, all the men in it are just gorgeous… but if all I want to do is see Channing Tatum half-naked or any other member of the cast they are a Google search away.
This is the sort of cheap film I reserve for a bored evening and a trip to RedBox.
Cam
Who knows, the first was a decent movie, but it did seem to insinuate that all strippers were straight, and that all the audiences were women.
Daniepwils
Maybe because the first movies story line was lacking. Or maybe that it was Fourth of July weekend and a lot of gays travel when they have time off. Not to mention we have a party or parties to go to on the Fourth like most other adults…I get more invites to pool parties on the Fourth of July weekend than any other weekend of the year.
Also, I am pretty sure if we really wanted to see male dancers dancing we can just go to a gay bar and watch it…. we don’t need a movie to see it.
Frankly, I am not a big stripper fan. I have no problem with strippers doing their job, I just don’t enjoy watching them, I can do that in my bedroom for free!
Fvk847
Was waiting for the crowds to clear…seeing it tomorrow with a bunch of female friends! #girlsnightout
Kathukid
We saw the previews. That was enough.
Paul Higdon-Smith
LOL, we saw the first movie 😀 LOL
Hank Trout
At home, waiting for the DVD to come out, trying to avoid embarrassing boners in public.
Greg Marmai
To read a book.
Greg Morris
It says the link to the deleted scene from the first movie was NSFW.. liars.
ryantbo
This gay man rushed to see it with the same female friend that I saw the 1st one with. the plan was exactly the same as last time. See it with her and then over the weekend see with my gay friends. Only thing is half-way thru I was thinking “I really can’t sit thru this again”. After being billed as Bigger and Better than the original, it was the same or less. There weren’t any big strip numbers until the end of the movie. The convenience store scene with Joe M had been played out on all the talk shows and Entertainment Tonight. The script was BORING and no amount of Channing Tatum’s brooding was going to fix it. My roommate and friends are now just going to wait for the DVD. Maybe someone forgot to tell them what “bigger than the original” should have meant
Evji108
It always seemed to me that this was a film for women, not gay men, just like 50 Shades of Gray, ie: boring pap for women. I can’t imagine going to see it.
Stephen Devine
That 1st movie was GOD AWEFUL. Hello Fast Forwarded through that garbage. Bad bad bad movie!
EVIRGO9926
I went to see Magic Mike XXL, and I completely enjoyed the film, it was much better production than the first Magic Mike!! I give this movie 3 stars!!!!!
Liam
“Magic Mike”, the first movie, had a vapid simple plot and little else besides a few names. The amount of nudity over-hyped to the point the movie could do nothing but be a let down. That anyone at all went to see the squeal is amazing. If people wanna see real nudity, they’ve the internet where it’s often free.
CINTI_JACK
Because a gay man watching movies made for women’s sexuality is so ’80s – see Gregory Harrison in For Ladies Only.
ryantbo
@CINTI_JACK: you forgot Christopher Atkins in A Night in Heaven 🙂
Gaspar Marino
The were wise to stay home. One of the worst movies EVER !
Damarco4u
I enjoyed the first movie for its “Saturday Night Fever” approach to a man longing for more while those around him are seemingly content. Therefore I could forgive it for being such a frigging prick tease with the nudity. I went to see MM XXL because I thought it would be more fun, and no doubt the people who made thought they HAD made a movie that was more fun.
Yet it’s the same damn thing. Male actors getting huge points for doing about one-fifth of what women have to do. They are at a stripper convention and the backstage is full of male strippers, covered from head to toe in costumes. Can you imagine if this were a women’s stripping convention? They’d have to have extra weeks to trim the movie from an X-rating to get an R.
Women are no help in these matters. Every time a man is shown nude from the front in other movies, there are always the women who will scream in repulsion and cover their eyes.
They said this movie was made for women, so why were they courting the gay crowd?
Bob LaBlah
Back in the 1980’s this movie would fly. But in 2015, not too many gay men are interested in paying $12-15 bucks to watch on screen non-nude muscle mary’s that are doing nothing but taking them back to those old body building shows of the 1980’s.
iBLOW
My friend and I went to go see it and thought it wash early worse than the first one, they decided to give them all characters this time so there was even LESS stripping going on. Thankfully we had free tickets because if not I especially would’ve been pissed.
Mercurical Memo
Why would GAY MEN watch a movie about straight men dancing for screaming women? Seriously? Make a GAY version of magic Mike and we’ll talk. On the side note: I’m glad to hear gay men are not the straight worshipping drones the gay blogs would have us believe.