Channing Tatum Has Heard Of Roxane Gay And By Extension Is Now An Employee Of The Toast

by Mallory Ortberg · July 9, 2015

I think Nicole already put this in one of her link roundups, but frankly I’m not done being excited about this yet.

What’s most appealing – and perhaps surprising – about the sequel to the 2012 hit is the overriding sense of inclusiveness and acceptance. The film’s already been called ‘body positive‘ and ‘sex positive‘, praised for its focus on diversity and female desire. For what’s essentially a buddy road film centred on a bunch of dudes – what Quentin Tarantino might call “a hangout movie” – it still manages to be a film for those Hollywood generally tends to ignore, especially women.

THIS FELT VERY TRUE TO ME, I can confirm that seeing this with a massive group of women was one of the most life-affirming and joy-filled experiences I’ve had in recent memory. Also, who would have guessed that hands-down the sexiest scene in a movie about dudes getting tits-out would be a muted greeting between two fully-dressed women? (JADA PINKETT SMITH, IF YOU EVER ESCAPE SCIENTOLOGY I AM HERE FOR YOU.)

Tatum: I wonder if she cooks? I wanna talk to her. We’re gonna do a Magic Mike Vegas show, and it’s… (sighs). ‘Feminist’ is like a hard word for me to throw around. I would love to say I’m a feminist but I don’t study feminism, so I can’t just go, like, “Yes, I’m a feminist!”. But I’m very pro-feminism. I wanna talk to her about the Magic Mike show.

“I don’t study feminism.” OF COURSE YOU DON’T. YOUR MIND IS A BEAUTIFUL GARDEN UNTRAMMELED BY BOOK-LEARNING, CHANNING TATUM. [Dot Com voice] Channing’s is a tactile, kinesthetic learning style.

We are an effective group of adults here. Channing wants to talk to Roxane about the Magic Mike show. Conveniently enough, Roxane wants to talk to Channing about the Magic Mike show. Surely we can move this from the realm of desire to the realm of action.

Want more good news? Okay!

Following the Affordable Care Act’s mandate for insurance companies to provide free contraceptives, individual spending on birth control pills plummeted by almost half in the first six months the landmark healthcare law went into effect.

This is according to a new study published by the Health Report on Tuesday, which found the sharp decline in contraceptive spending saved women a startling $1.4 billion in 2013 alone. Out-of-pocket spending on intrauterine devices (IUD’s) also declined by 68 percent.

The study comes in the same week as the results of a public health program in Colorado that provides free contraceptive methods to low-income women revealed that the rate of unintended teen pregnancies dropped by 40 percent and abortions by 35 percent.

Mallory is an Editor of The Toast.


120 Comments

  1. NicoleCliffe +110

    I am seeing it for the first time this weekend with Mallory and thebestjasmine and my friend Aurora.

    1. builtahouse +4

      just saw it tonight and my first thought afterward was “pleeeaasseeee tell me there with be a special edition of Movie Yelling on this, with Nicole, Mallory, and Jasmine on Monday.”

      My movie yelling consists entirely of a Tatum-email-length: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH ad infinitum.

  2. OpheliaInWaders +73

    This just makes me happy every time I think about it. I have become very pro-Channing Tatum in the last week.

    1. OpheliaInWaders +9

      Also, that GQ article from a few years ago where he drags the reporter out to spend a night in the desert? READ IT.

  3. carlynnrlane +178

    I want Channing Tatum to write something for The Toast. Suddenly I have never wanted anything more than this.

    1. blueblazes11 +57

      Or, you know, maybe just dictate something. Let’s keep those hands free.

    2. socallmeshirley +71

      I don’t even care if it’s just “HAHahahahHAHAHahahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH” x100,000. In fact, I hope it is.

  4. jekyllian +77

    I TOO AM NOT DONE BEING EXCITED ABOUT THIS MOVIE OR CHANNING TATUM OR HIS DESIRE TO MEET ROXANE

  5. Ashley +162

    I actually sort of teared up a little when he was like, “let’s put each other on an equal playing field and have a conversation.” It was just so earnest. I hope Roxane and Channing get to have a conversation about feminism together.

    2. builtahouse +78

      my favoritest thing about this is the tactful way Channing talked abut feminism, and I feel like if he read Roxane’s foreword to Bad Feminist he would be like “yes, YES, this, this is someone putting it in terms I can understand.”

      I will be following this story with great interest.

  7. cait0716 +36

    These are maybe not the intended takeaways from this article, but:

    1) The Smiths are Scientologists? WHAT? This is the most disappointing thing I’ve learned all week.

    2) Magic Mike Vegas Show? For real? When?

      1. TheasyPeasy +29

        Exhibit A: Tom Cruise

        Sure, he wants to reconnect with Suri. But he also wants to reconnect with his seminary days, if you know what I mean.

        (I know what I mean.)

    2. miprisci +132

      I read your comment and thought, “UHHH I’M PRETTY DAMN SURE MORRISSEY AIN’T NO DAMN SCIENTOLOGIST” but then I understood.

    3. Alli525 +38

      I propose a Toast Field Trip to Vegas for that weekend, or limited engagement, or what-have-you. Just rent out an entire hotel room floor and commence swooning and sleepovers.

    4. socallmeshirley +15

      The Smiths both deny being Scientologists but have given money/gone to events with Tom Cruise before. Maybe there is hope for them yet.

  8. anachronistique +126

    CHANNING TATUM. I cannot. I CANNOT. I would pay money to watch An Evening With Channing and Roxane.

  9. PotterPotterson +21

    I want this. I want Roxane and Channing together and it will be the best thing ever.

  10. HotDoom +46

    So after watching the interview I had a dream that Channing Tatum was giving me an earnest pep talk and I woke up just as he was wrapping it up and actually squeed at like 4am. Sadly, I have no idea what the pep talk was about, whether it was sexy or about cheetos or what. But let’s be honest, it was probably sexy cheetos.

      1. HotDoom +5

        Ahhhhhhh I love this! I think my favourite part about him is that the things he says IRL are indistinguishable from things we like to imagine he says.

  11. lauralizabethm +118

    TRUE CHANNING TATUM STORY:

    So for awhile I was in the fandom for 2011’s The Eagle, aka Brokeback Eagle, aka that movie where Channing Tatum and Jamie Bell wander around Scotland in tunics and gaze meaningfully into each others’ eyes. It’s an overlooked classic. ANYWAY, it managed to garner a decent-sized fandom, and I don’t know who initiated this- the fans or Channing- but Channing Tatum actually took several hours out of his evening one day to participate in a livechat/watchalong for the movie and answer questions that came up along the way. I’ve thought ever since then that he’s a total sweetheart, and I am glad to see that the rest of the world has caught up!

    1. citizenchristy +18

      Some of my favorite fic writers, if you go far enough back in their archives, have done a fair share of The Eagle fanworks. I love how overlooked movies garner that kind of attention.

    2. lilah80 +51

      I rewatched that movie just this week! I feel like someone once posted an article directed at its makers with the headline “So You Accidentally Made a Gay Romance…” but I haven’t been able to find it since.

      Look. It is astoundingly gay. There is no other reasonable motivation for those characters. It is a love story. “I thought I’d lost you!” –tearful Roman beefcake to intense fey Celtic warrior as the Celtic warrior grasps the back of his neck.

      1. lauralizabethm +47

        *Roman beefcake and fey Celt lock eyes as the Celt holds the Roman down during surgery* What’s better than this, guys being dudes!

        The gay quotient is only upped in the book where, iirc, Esca and Marcus co-parent a wolf puppy.

        1. nicole_fcd +17

          even better, in the book there’s Cottia, who is OSTENSIBLY marcus’ girlfriend but is in reality both marcus AND esca’s girlfriend.

          (ahhh subtext)

          1. katenepveu +4

            Yes, I was very sad when I went looking for fic after finishing the book and realized that Cottia didn’t exist in the movie.

        3. hey_sijia +13

          Nothing will EVER beat the scene when Esca returns from his wolf hunt and wakes Marcus up in bed to give him Cub. The phrase “queer hot look” was used to describe their intensely staring at each other (still on Marcus’s bed), while Marcus cuddles a wolf puppy. And then Marcus was angry at Esca for putting himself in danger, but also super impressed that Esca entered a wolf’s lair for no real reason then to fetch a token of his fey Celtic crush on this Roman beefcake.

          It was quite possibly the gayest scene I have ever read in a children’s novel. AMAZING. The only thing better is Frontier Wolf, by the same author: think of Jon Snow’s plotline at the Wall, except with Romans and forts, and in this version Ygritte is the local chieftain’s son.

    3. Zelenka +8

      It’s based on a children’s book, written at a time when children’s books were 100% guarantee sex-free, so it comes by its repression honestly, I suppose.

  12. projectbeks +32

    “Channing’s is a tactile, kinesthetic learning style.”

    mmmm hmmmm…[insert dirty jokes/gifs here]

  13. KatPruska +36

    I am verklempt. This is glorious.

    Also, I haven’t had friends living nearby me for, unnnngh, at least a couple of years. I have a new friend date this weekend to see this. I’m pleased that the atmosphere seems uproarious; that will help mask my crippling social anxiety!

  14. mmejoy +232

    So should we write a letter of introduction or something? “Dear Mr. Tatum, A not-small group of weird, overenthusiastic librarians and librarian allies have decided that you are one of us now. Many of the lesbians (and there are a lot of lesbians like a lot) are confused, but happy that everyone else is happy. Do come for tea. We Open Thread on Fridays.”

    1. ppyajunebug +86

      I’m imagining Channing showing up in the Open Thread comments and there is a lot of caps lock and not a lot of punctuation and I DESPERATELY NEED THIS TO HAPPEN ASAP

      1. Unreadaethel +45

        I mean, do you have any proof he hasn’t? He’s one of many famous people who may or may not be reading the Toast at this very minute.

    2. bibliowrecka +103

      I just really like being a member of a group of “overenthusiastic librarians and librarian allies.” Can I put this on my resume? Are there official meetings I can attend?

        2. agreencouch +14

          Pin please! I have a thing for pins…and I really want to say “The Toast pinned me.” and giggle at slightly uncomfortable strangers.

    3. apple_pi +26

      I feel someone should AT LEAST write this fic for us. Toast/Tatum 5evahhhhhhhhh.

    4. EnchiladaTaco +39

      I’ve never known how to describe myself in less than a paragraph (I generally go with, “hobbies include bourbon, listening to albums on repeat, and being a bitter bitch”) but LIBRARIAN ALLY is perfect. You are wonderful.

  15. bluewindgirl +33

    I loved that interview and find Channing Tatum a delightful human being. Buuuut will I be excommunicated from the Toast if I admit that I spent a lot of Magic Mike XXL hung up on the amount of waivers and insurance you would need to manhandle customers at your strip club/convention like that? And also that I would find the empty flattery of strangers, even extremely hot men, kind of silly and not really necessary to the aesthetic appreciation of their dancing?

    1. blushingflower +19

      I appreciated that Mike kept his hand under the woman’s head whenever it was close to the ground, but I also know that I would not be OK with someone I didn’t know picking me up and swinging me about like that. I am generally not okay with being picked up at all, partly because I have a fear of falling, and partly because on some level I think it will reveal just how much I weigh to someone who might have thought I am not as fat as I am. (I would also be very not okay with someone pouring food on me and licking it off, because eww)

        1. blushingflower +12

          oh, of course they didn’t! These are not guys who have their shit together enough to actually have a license for a food truck! But I don’t remember them ever actually serving anyone any food off of the truck…

          1. Alli525 +16

            Yeah all the moving around they did in that van made me very nervous… like how did they survive that crash, since NONE of them were wearing seatbelts except for Tobias, who (of course) was the ONLY one with an injury?

            Especially my precious doll-baby Matt Bomer… I got little twinges of fear every time he sat on the counter. That face must not be harmed!

      3. Dexteress +11

        As a former competitive figure skater, I am very particular about only allowing professionals to pick me up and toss me around. I am not sure these men qualify.

    2. megalesias +63

      The Guardian had a piece where they asked Actual Male Strippers about it, and the manager’s reaction was pretty much the same “oh god, too much liability”. The actual strippers’ comments, on the other hand, were mostly Delightful, as evidenced by this:

      “You see in the film that the men have other interests, too. Mine are food and rubbing oil or cream on my body.”

      (The article is here)

      1. ppyajunebug +8

        We have a Fifty Shades of Grey routine, too.

        oh god i think i need to lie down for a little while

      2. Ashley +35

        “Away from work, I’m not expecting to date a supermodel. Sometimes I’m getting really fit, amazing women; sometimes I find them sexually attractive even if their body isn’t perfect. Sometimes I’m just getting with them mind-wise.“

    3. bluewindgirl +6

      Too late to edit, but what I meant about the constant “you’re beautiful and amazing” patter was that this is a rare scenario in which what the women look like doesn’t matter at all; this is a commercial transaction in which only the beauty of the men matters.

    4. evieskye +18

      Haven’t seen Magic Mike XXL yet but I am with you in spirit- my dad was in insurance and his chief hobby was pointing out liabilities. I absorbed this and am no fun to watch movies with (that rollerskating discotheque at the end of Xanadu? No way that got insured!)

    5. Smitty +2

      I actually went to a male strip show when I was like 18-19 (NOT MY IDEA), and one guy grabbed a girl out of the audience and flipped her upside down. It did not look like fun! But we had to sign no waivers to get into the show. Maybe it’s like public pools – swim at your own risk!

    6. sarah_jay +27

      Since I asked out loud, in the theater, who was crazy enough to give Jurassic Park liability insurance the third time around, wondering about liability insurance in movie business ventures seems pretty normal to me

  16. yeah, sure +49

    Can Roxane guest star as the Jada Pinkett Smith role in the Magic Mike stage show though.

    Can that be a thing that happens????

    1. aqueousmedium +31

      I believe the Magic Mike stage show would only be improved by having BOTH Roxane and Jada Pinkett Smith MC.

  17. grandma_nancy +23

    Thank you for all of this but especially for reminding me of Dot Com/why I need to start my third entire 30 Rock rewatch immediately

    1. lilah80 +36

      Did you hear that Grizz of Grizz-and-Dot-Com may get his own TV show based on his own experiences as a comic store owner?! I almost wept with happiness.

      “I want to give a little edgier side of people who love comics,” [Grizz Chapman] said. “Like, there are ordinary people in The Bronx that love comic books.”

      TAKE MY MONEY. TAKE IT.

  18. merrite +53

    DotCom, this need you have to be the smartest person in the room is…off-putting.

  19. Either_Ada +52

    “Because, you know, I can see how it is pro-feminist. But it’s also a movie where the men retain their masculinity, which I think is, you know, a balancing act. I’m glad that she enjoys it. We’re still guys.”

    Joe MANganiello doesn’t want us to forget he is a MAN, even though MMXXL might be a feminist movie. DUDE. We are not forgetting. Don’t get your MANties in a twist.

    1. malloryelis +132

      you CANNOT hold Joe Manganiello to such a high standard of philosophical sophistication, have you seen his thinking face?? he screws his whole face up just to think one single thought, you will KILL him

    2. blushingflower +58

      Or, alternately, it is possible for men to make media that is pro-feminist and still maintain their masculinity, and all of the “feminism destroys masculinity” dudes need to slow their roll.

      Or, what Mallory said about Joe not being all that bright. His mouth is designed for things like “yes ma’am” and “as you wish” and … other things.

    3. EuterpesDelight +10

      I really like how Chatum kind of winces a bit at that and brings it back to the level playing field analogy.

  20. Alli525 +75

    My only hope for the future is that Roxane meets Saint Channing, and subsequently writes a story about the experience that reads somewhat like Edith’s interview with Chris Evans.

      1. Alli525 +21

        I read it about once or twice a year, just to roll around in how wonderful it is.

    2. lilah80 +45

      Look. You don’t even understand how hard I STILL ship Edith Zimmerman and Chris Evans. Chredith Zimmervans 4-ever!

    3. femaelstrom +4

      I just read that for the first time last week and I don’t think I’m even exaggerating when I say it changed my life.

  21. neuromanticism +72

    I hope you’ve all read his VERY CHARMING Reddit thread: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/3a7irw/i_am…

    Choice quote:

    fredfenster 2419 points 21 days ago
    How long did that “hahahahahahaa” email take to type?

    ChanningTatumHere 3969 points 21 days ago
    I’m sure exactly how long. I hit the h and a for a long time before I realized I could copy and paste. I’m not the most tech savvy person around but it did become a lot easier and faster.

    1. neuromanticism +69

      chaz91w 1450 points
      Channing thanks for taking time to hang out on reddit today. Everyone has a golden rule in life, besides having great abs, whats your golden rule?

      ChanningTatumHere 2773 points
      this is probably going to be superlame but my golden rule is the golden rule. Do onto others as you would have them do onto you. And that’s about it.

      gharrity 3530 points
      I’ve never thought this hard about what I want done onto me.

    2. jenavira +60

      I hit the h and a for a long time before I realized I could copy and paste.

      My heart just grew three sizes.

      1. neuromanticism +17

        THE ENTIRE AMA IS LIKE THAT.

        NeoPhalanx 4683 points
        Hello Channing Tatum! This is something I’ve always wanted clarified since it happened…were you ever in Sea-Tac airport at the Chili’s restaurant looking for a beer but IDless? I was the one working there who had to make the difficult decision as to whether we could serve you or not.
        It all ended with a picture of you giving each of us a peck on the cheek, myself included. It’s still one of my favorite stories to tell so I hope I wasn’t just duped by a very convincing look-alike.

        ChanningTatumHere 5181 points
        That absolutely was me. Because I love Chili’s. And no one believed me that i got into an airport without my id. I just wanted a beer and some chicken crisps, and i actually couldn’t get either of them for a while, because i remember you guys didn’t have chicken crisps either! what’s a Chili’s without chicken crisps?

        NeoPhalanx 3924 points
        Hey, at least you got your beer! You were an absolute pleasure to have there and were very kind. Plus the girls working there were fangirling for days after you left.

        ChanningTatumHere 4404 points
        thank you very much, my liver thanks you.

  22. crawlkill +26

    at first I thought the comments on the ACA were also from Tatum and I was like “damn boy’s gettin specific”

  23. dorianneemmerton +19

    That’s it, it’s settled, my lady and I need a date night in July and Magic Mike must be it. We are both of the bi kind of queer persuasion, and for a while there Alcide’s abs were the only thing keeping us watching True Blood. (and, well, the Viking sex god vampire. )

  24. Taylor +13

    This article is impossible to read because the page keeps auto-centering on the frickin’ video ad. This comment is also difficult to write because of that, but I’m pushing on because this is so dang annoying and you must make it stop.

    1. ArguablyMagalis +6

      I turned off Adobe Flash in my browser (not fully off, I just disabled it so it has to ask permission before it turns on now), and all of the weird Toast glitches that I had been having (including the auto-centering on the video ad) went away. Might be worth a shot?

  25. hardcore_umlaut +31

    Not official till he’s added to the masthead. “Pro-feminism: Channing Tatum”

  26. Es_Petal +10

    He is just an absolute delight. I had barely any idea of his existence before Sunday morning when I went to the cinema because I needed to take my mind off having had a shitty week, and now I may need to elope with him.

  30. Saurs +19

    I don’t even give a shit about Channing Tatum, I just like hearing that Roxane Gay is happy and swoon-y about something important to her. It’s good, occasionally having strong feelings about strangers validated. I am happy for The Toast that Tatum seems chill and groovy. (For Mallory’s sake, I want John Hawkes to announce that he’s interested in pegging and western European art, as I understand these are her specialties, which are hers and belong to her.)

  31. imissyouwheniblink +6

    YES.
    [taps fingers together under chin]
    It’s all coming together. It’s alllllllllll coming together.

  34. rgay +23

    I love everything about this post and I love Channing very much and I will talk to him about feminism and anything he wants for any length of time.

    1. mbculver +5

      Roxane, last night I dreamt that you and Channing were best buds and you were working out together while Thom Yorke from Radiohead was writing you a song. Woke up with a big smile on my face.

  35. Roxane Gay

    I love everything about this post and I love Channing very much and I will talk to him about feminism and anything he wants for any length of time.

  40. Bittersweet

    Roxane, last night I dreamt that you and Channing were best buds and you were working out together while Thom Yorke from Radiohead was writing you a song. Woke up with a big smile on my face.