How Can I Resist You? Mamma Mia 2 and the Female Guilty Pleasure
Today, I saw and thoroughly enjoyed Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again. I loved the music, the performances, the humor, and every happenstance plotpoint that made up this jukebox musical. I would have watched it again immediately, and if they make another 14 sequels, I will see each of them. Yet, when I mentioned I'd be going to see this film, I qualified it to everyone with "I know it won't be good, but..."
Why did I feel the need to explain what I was spending my money and time on? Did the millions who saw Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom or the latest Transformers sequel feel like they had to come up with excuses? Probably not. All because those two films were made for a male audience, and Mamma Mia was made for women. Lindsey Ellis explained the scorn women-centered media receives in her recent video, "Dear Stephenie Meyer..." Of course, as Ellis pointed out, plenty of women (myself included) went right along with hating on Twilight because it was badly written and featured a Mary Sue. While those are legitimate criticisms, a lot of the loathing that Twilight received was thinly veiled misogyny targeted at women who had a fantasy. Much of the hatred was directed at "Twi-Moms" and has been redirected to 50 Shades of Grey fans, because women over 30 refusing to simply die after they've served their aesthetic purpose should be a crime, am I right?
The same vitriol was aimed at Mamma Mia and those poor, sad middle-aged women who'll go in droves to see a fun musical. The film has been maligned for being a cash grab (it is), unnecessary (arguable), and for the timeline making no sense (entirely true), but the snark has the same underlying current of misogyny that Twilight and 50 Shades received. Women aren't allowed to just enjoy things unless they're prepared to do what I did and quantify that of course I wouldn't be taking it seriously!
But I did take it seriously. I loved seeing the characters again and enjoyed watching just how the ABBA songs were shoehorned into the plot. I laughed out loud when I saw how they managed to work in 'Fernando,' a song they'd been gunning to use since the last film. I adored Cher's entrance and teared up multiple songs as the film explored mother and daughter relationships in a way that few do. It was a fantastic experience and the most fun I've had at the movies in a long time. The movie made me feel happy and the audience had as much fun as I did. Loving the film doesn't make me less of an intelligent person or a woman easily manipulated by sequins and disco. It made me a person, just like the same people that saw Jurassic Park or the latest Fast and Furious movie. Despite being a cynic, not everything has to be cloaked in seven layers of irony to be worthy of enjoying. Films and entertainment can be earnest and joyful, and they don't have to be more or less because of that.
So go see Mamma Mia. Read the latest romance novel (I know I will). Do what you want to do, and don't assume that it makes you less of a woman or a man for enjoying things that are meant to be enjoyable and uplifting. Screw anyone who thinks that men are going to give them points that they can later trade in for less misogyny and harassment. Buying into internalized self-hatred doesn't make men respect you more, and neither does holding up Ghostbusters as high art and incapable of criticism. Women won't get any type of equality as long as there are plenty of handmaidens willing to be complicit with the system.
Why did I feel the need to explain what I was spending my money and time on? Did the millions who saw Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom or the latest Transformers sequel feel like they had to come up with excuses? Probably not. All because those two films were made for a male audience, and Mamma Mia was made for women. Lindsey Ellis explained the scorn women-centered media receives in her recent video, "Dear Stephenie Meyer..." Of course, as Ellis pointed out, plenty of women (myself included) went right along with hating on Twilight because it was badly written and featured a Mary Sue. While those are legitimate criticisms, a lot of the loathing that Twilight received was thinly veiled misogyny targeted at women who had a fantasy. Much of the hatred was directed at "Twi-Moms" and has been redirected to 50 Shades of Grey fans, because women over 30 refusing to simply die after they've served their aesthetic purpose should be a crime, am I right?
The same vitriol was aimed at Mamma Mia and those poor, sad middle-aged women who'll go in droves to see a fun musical. The film has been maligned for being a cash grab (it is), unnecessary (arguable), and for the timeline making no sense (entirely true), but the snark has the same underlying current of misogyny that Twilight and 50 Shades received. Women aren't allowed to just enjoy things unless they're prepared to do what I did and quantify that of course I wouldn't be taking it seriously!
But I did take it seriously. I loved seeing the characters again and enjoyed watching just how the ABBA songs were shoehorned into the plot. I laughed out loud when I saw how they managed to work in 'Fernando,' a song they'd been gunning to use since the last film. I adored Cher's entrance and teared up multiple songs as the film explored mother and daughter relationships in a way that few do. It was a fantastic experience and the most fun I've had at the movies in a long time. The movie made me feel happy and the audience had as much fun as I did. Loving the film doesn't make me less of an intelligent person or a woman easily manipulated by sequins and disco. It made me a person, just like the same people that saw Jurassic Park or the latest Fast and Furious movie. Despite being a cynic, not everything has to be cloaked in seven layers of irony to be worthy of enjoying. Films and entertainment can be earnest and joyful, and they don't have to be more or less because of that.
So go see Mamma Mia. Read the latest romance novel (I know I will). Do what you want to do, and don't assume that it makes you less of a woman or a man for enjoying things that are meant to be enjoyable and uplifting. Screw anyone who thinks that men are going to give them points that they can later trade in for less misogyny and harassment. Buying into internalized self-hatred doesn't make men respect you more, and neither does holding up Ghostbusters as high art and incapable of criticism. Women won't get any type of equality as long as there are plenty of handmaidens willing to be complicit with the system.
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