treksmix:

Okay but I’ve been thinking about the massive backlash over Channing Tatum being cast as Gambit, and just about the Tatum-hate in general, and I’m just gonna say it: I think it’s sexist.

Remember when Channing Tatum first came onto the scene and he was in that Nicholas Sparks movie and then he was in Magic Mike and women were all about the Channing Tatum life? Then you got men saying, “Blegghh Channing Tatum sucks, he’s not a good actor, he’s a dumb jock-type, what about real actors”

I think the main driving force behind that original wave of men saying, “Channing Tatum is stupid, only girls like him because he’s hot, he’s not even a good actor, blah blah blah” was backlash against him because women liked him. It’s the same reason Dirty Dancing is sneered at by film critics and labeled a dumb chick flick, but Saturday Night Fever is classic Serious Cinema.

Channing Tatum isn’t a bad actor, he gave critically acclaimed performances in Foxcatcher and Magic Mike both. He’s not stupid: (That all-female Ghostbusters you’re so psyched about? He’s one of the main producers and backers. He also produced Earth Made of Glass with his wife, which is a major, award-winning documentary about the Rwandan genocide, 21 Jump Street and the sequel, which had massive box office grosses, and Magic Mike was literally based on his life. It was his idea, his story, and he co-wrote). He’s not an idiot by any means at all, and the fact that he has ADD and severe dyslexia make the whole “stupid buff guy” stereotype people associate with him kinda sketchy.

Anyway, after men started lashing out against him because he was popular with women (and Lord forbid something women like be considered quality), then you got women saying, “Well, I just don’t think Channing Tatum is attractive.” or “I don’t like Channing Tatum, I like ~real actors~” and it was all permeated with an underlayer of “…not like those dumb, bimbo other girls.” It’s the same shit as, “I just don’t get along with women, I get along with boys better.” It’s a subtle, maybe even unconscious way of saying, “I think like you, boys, please accept me. I’m better than those girls, please don’t treat me the way you treat them.”

TL;DR: Channing Tatum is a recovering alcoholic and former sex worker with ADD and severe dyslexia who is frequently unfairly lambasted just because he has the audacity to be popular with women.

here’s a gif of him feeding a puppy soup. please examine your life choices.