Monday, March 3, 2014

How to explain "Magic Mike" to a Lao woman

The Academy Awards were held in the States last night, and throughout the day different Asian/ Lao TV stations have been playing clips of the acceptance speeches and red carpet moments.  Our office admin, a Lao woman, and I were out for a pork-and-rice lunch when Matthew McConaughey came on the screen, accepting the award for Best Actor in some movie I've never heard of (Dallas Buyer's Club?). 

"Ah Matthew McConaughey. He's pretty funny- have you seen 'Magic Mike'?" I asked our admin. 
"'Magic Mike'? No. What is it?"  
"Um... it's a new movie... with dancing... do you know who Channing Tatum is?"
"Cha-ni-tae-dam? No."
"Um... never mind I guess."

(For the few who don't know "Magic Mike", it's a highly entertaining movie about male strippers which has an absolutely crap plot but an incredibly talented ensemble including Channing Tatum, Matthew McConaughey, the super buff werewolf guys from "True Blood", etc. etc.)


So I drop the "Magic Mike" subject and we continue eating our meal and discussing favorite movies, actors, etc. 

After paying our check (26,000kip for two people! That's only $3!), we're heading back to the car when I ask our admin who her favorite actors are. 

"Oooh Johnny Depp! Also John, or Joe..." she said.
"Who?"
"You know! Like 'G.I.Joe'." (Note: Channing Tatum is the lead actor in G. I. Joe)
"Yes! That's Channing Tatum!!! HE'S the main actor in Magic Mike!!"
"OOOH I love him!"
Then I decided to try to explain 'Magic Mike' one more time.

"You should definitely see 'Magic Mike'. It's very funny. Channing Tatum is really good in it."
Then she asked what it was about.
"Um... it's about male exotic dancers." ('Strippers' just sounds gauche.)
"Who?"
"So... you know when ladies dance for money? Like, in a bar, and men pay them? It's like that, but in this movie, men dance for money, for ladies."
"Oh. OK."
"Yeah it's not really a movie you watch with your family."
"No, not at all."

So hopefully she will discover the glorious talent/ hilariousness that is Magic Mike. 

Which, by the way, is on Netflix. 

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