（美国有线电视新闻网）“寻找魔术师”——一个从关于男性脱衣舞娘的电影中衍生出来的真人秀节目——听起来可能不像你在保守的观看推荐列表中找到的东西。然而，仔细观察一下，这个 HBO Max 系列不断回归男性及其本质以某种方式被围困的想法，这已成为一个保守的话题。
当然，该节目的特色是荡漾的腹肌和磨削的圈舞，同时争夺 100,000 美元的奖金。但它不断回归到这些男性参赛者利用他们的参与找到自己的主题，铸造一些对任何人的海报日历都不自然的人。
以拉斯维加斯（还有其他地方？）为背景，他们从 50 名有希望的人开始，然后迅速将其减少到 10 名。“我们正在寻找失去魔力的人，”主持人亚当罗德里格斯解释说，他是主持节目的电影。他与编舞艾莉森福克和卢克布罗德利克，以及现场“魔术麦克”节目的制作人和喜剧演员罗宾西德和惠特尼卡明斯等嘉宾一起参与了搜索。
另一方面，罗德里格斯说这个节目旨在“帮助他们找到他们来这里寻找的东西”。好像是为了解决这个问题，他直接对着镜头的忏悔中的一位参赛者说：“我只是想向世界证明我可以实现我的目标并真正实现一些目标。”
如果您认为这对于关于脱衣舞的节目来说听起来有点敏感，那么您是对的。然而，男性被围困的想法已成为一些共和党圈子的号召力，密苏里州参议员乔什霍利最近发表讲话称，男性气质正受到左翼的攻击，呼吁“在美国复兴强壮健康的男子气概”。
正如经常发生的那样，“寻找魔法迈克”似乎在多个层面上运作，其中一些是相互矛盾的。这个节目可能很淫秽——罗斯是最直面的竞争者之一，他不断吹嘘他的资产——同时也很感伤，每次其中一个人被送回家时都会流泪和拥抱.
尽管如此，这里仍然有一个主题可以追溯到 1997 年的电影“The Full Monty”，在那里普通人脱掉衣服，在这个过程中解放了自己的另一面，让他们重新获得魔力并摆脱低迷。
CNN 政治分析师格洛丽亚·博格 (Gloria Borger) 最近考虑了霍利的论点，并确定了其背后不那么无私的理由。 “政治动机很明显：保守、疏远的男人是一个政治宝库，”她写道。
就《寻找魔法麦克》而言，其商业动机也相当明显。从表面上看，这个节目似乎是为了吸引女性而调整的，展示了参与者敏感的一面，也展示了她们轮廓分明的一面。
尽管如此，对于那些愿意收听的男人来说，这个系列及其框架提供了一个不那么微妙的鼓舞人心的谈话，与霍利的没有什么不同：嘿伙计们，你仍然可以“找到内心的魔力”。准备好从字面上或比喻上被剥离，去做这件事。
“寻找魔术师”于 12 月 16 日在 HBO Max 首映，HBO Max 与 CNN 一样，是 WarnerMedia 的一个部门。
'Finding Magic Mike,' stripped down to its message, is about men getting their mojo back
(CNN)"Finding Magic Mike" -- a reality-competition show spun out of the movies about male strippers -- might not sound like something you'd find on top of a conservative list of viewing recommendations. Look a little closer, though, and this HBO Max series keeps returning to the idea of men and their essence somehow being under siege, which has become a conservative talking point.
Sure, the show features its share of rippling abs and grinding lap dances, while vying for a $100,000 prize. But it keeps returning to the theme of these male contestants using their involvement to find themselves, casting a few guys who wouldn't be naturals for anybody's pinup calendar.
Set in Las Vegas (where else?), they begin with 50 hopefuls and quickly whittle that down to 10. "What we're looking for is guys who've lost their magic," explains host Adam Rodriguez, a co-star in the movies who hosts the show. He's joined in conducting the search with choreographers Alison Faulk and Luke Broadlick, as well as the producer of the live "Magic Mike" show and guests like comics Robin Thede and Whitney Cummings.
At another point, Rodriguez says the show seeks to "help them find what they came here looking for." As if to address that, one of the contestants in his direct-to-camera confessional says, "I just want to prove to the world I can go after my goals and actually achieve something."
If you think that sounds a little touchy-feely for a show about stripping, you're right. Yet the idea of men being besieged has become a rallying cry in some Republican circles, with Missouri Senator Josh Hawley recently delivered a speech contending that masculinity is under assault from the left, calling for a "revival of strong and healthy manhood in America."
As is so often true, "Finding Magic Mike" seems to operate on multiple levels, a few of them contradictory. The show can be salacious -- one of the more in-your-face contenders, Ross, keeps boasting about his, er, assets -- and at the same time sentimental, with tears and hugs every time one of the guys gets sent home.
Still, there's no escaping a theme here that dates back to 1997 movie "The Full Monty," where ordinary men shed their clothes and in the process liberate a side of themselves that will get their mojo back and shake them out of their doldrums.
CNN political analyst Gloria Borger recently considered Hawley's argument and identified a less-than-selfless rationale behind it. "The political motive is obvious: Conservative, alienated men are a political treasure chest," she wrote.
In the case of "Finding Magic Mike," the commercial motive is fairly obvious too. On its face, the show seems calibrated to appeal women, showing its participants' sensitive side as well as their chiseled one.
Nevertheless, for men who do tune in, the series and its framing deliver a not-so-subtle pep talk, not all that different than Hawley's: Hey guys, you can still "find the magic" inside you. Just be prepared to get stripped down, literally or figuratively, to do it.
"Finding Magic Mike" premieres Dec. 16 on HBO Max, which, like CNN, is a unit of WarnerMedia.
