REVIEW: Minx is a fun comedy about pleasure, desire and feminism

I kept thinking of ways to describe Minx.. For a few days after I finished it, the only thing that comes to my mind is “cute”, which I find strange since its central theme is the porn industry, but that's a better way to describe it. In fact, the comedy series takes place in a newsroom of an adult women's magazine in the 1970s, led by an unexpected partnership with different methods to achieve success. 

Minx's plot

Aspiring magazine editor Joyce (Ophelia Lovibond) is challenged by life as she tries to fulfill her dream of publishing a magazine with a more feminist theme, different from the women's publications of the time. That's where she meets Doug Renetti (Jake Johnson), head of a large pornography company. Renetti is interested in his magazine, but now the two have the challenge of understanding and reconciling these two universes.

Joyce has the dream of publishing a magazine aimed at the female audience that brings other content in addition to taking care of the home and being a good wife and mother, as was most of the women's publications at the time. In her dreams she wins the prize pulitzers (maximum award given to professionals for work in the fields of journalism, literature and music organized by Columbia University) for the legacy of their imaginary magazine.

However, when it comes to being able to put your ideas into practice, no one really takes them seriously. And well, she's not exactly a very articulate person when it comes to presenting her ideas to others.

Doug Renetti is the owner of Bottom-Dollar Publications, a company behind the magazines soft core to which Joyce does not even dream of wanting to collaborate. Doug, however, sees in Joyce's idea the possibility of reaching a new audience within the market and soon runs to get Joyce to work with him.

unexpected partnership

lovibond presents a Joyce a little too naive for the real world, but also determined and astute; she's very outspoken about her feminist beliefs, to the point where she's willing to lecture a bricklayer at a construction site about her behavior, but the series doesn't stand by this overwhelming stance on overthrowing patriarchy. 

In fact, it's working with Doug and the rest of his team at bottom dollar, that Joyce finds some of her greatest preconceived notions about what feminism is legitimately and validly questioned. And that's a really cool point about her character, because a lot of people tend to see this struggle with a single look at her, when really, the feminist struggle is much broader than our social bubble. 

It's no accident that she becomes a more playful and conquerable character when she begins to relinquish her strong hold on the concept of what she thinks she is. Minx. should be and begins to add to the magazine a new vision of the struggle for women's rights, inspired by the perspective of other women.

Johnson thoroughly enjoys his character. And this is very visible on screen. Doug seems like an idiot at first, but when we get to know him more we realize his “contradiction“after all, he is an editor-in-chief of pornographic magazines that boast women in various stages of nudity on nearly every page, but who has also hired women as part of his trusted staff at the office of bottom dollar. Not everything is as it seems at second glance.

Doug sees an untapped market in women who want the same kind of visual pleasure as his male readers. He sees Joyce's idea of ​​a women's magazine as a way to achieve this, combining her feminist writing with pictures of naked men. 

Joyce, being a bit of a prude, initially balks at the idea of ​​objectifying men in the same way that the market objectifies women. However, it's obvious that Joyce and Doug form a successful partnership as she begins to see that things aren't always so "black and white" after all, and even though they continue to have different priorities about what the magazine should approach in partnership. works brilliantly.

It's cool to see that even with different visions, they manage to strike a partnership that brings together a little bit of both worlds. Texts that explore ideas other than the ideal “beautiful, demure and home” while boasting photos of nude men in sensual poses. Who said a woman can't have different views of the world while "drying" a handsome man in a photo?

Inspired by real magazines

nominated Minx., the magazine is fictional, but inspired by many erotic magazines aimed at women in the 1970s. Joyce is fighting for major social change, including things like equal pay and reproductive rights, but the showrunner Ellen Rapport keeps Minx. mainly in the field of light comedy, fun and focused on developing their characters.

There is, of course, a lot of talk and revision of concepts about the fight against patriarchy, machismo and how women can and should have their equal rights, but still, everything happens in a light way - sometimes a little utopian - but always focusing much more on bringing these changes to the characters than to the world around them. After all, the world doesn't change if the people who live in it aren't open to that change.

Of course, as a fictional work, Minx sometimes uses poetic license to produce a few moments that end up “resolved” very easily, situations that in reality would not be so likely to happen, and the show sometimes glosses over this. in favor of giving Joyce and Doug big triumphant moments against stereotypical macho men. However, it's all too easy to root for them and "put a rag" for certain situations, and it's nice to see them achieve small victories, even when bigger battles still need to be won.

Nudity of real bodies

Like its eponymous magazine, Minx. It's also sexy and seductive, full of full frontal male nudity, with a fair amount of female nudity as well. It's just another day at the office bottom dollar, where Doug is running a quietly progressive company that has no illusions about the kind of service it provides. The balance between these two sides is what makes Minx. such an attractive and enjoyable series.

The more dramatic elements throughout the season are always delivered with a generous dose of humor, preventing the series from venturing too far into more serious and not-so-fun territory. After all, this is a series dedicated to highlighting female and male nudity in all its various shapes, shapes, sizes and lengths – and in the most fun and real way possible. 

This is another fact to be highlighted in the series: the real bodies. Showing that there are various types and sizes of breasts and private parts, and that no, nothing is like in pornographic movies, full of edits.

While Minx. has some problems resolving conflicts generated in the story, preferring to move more towards comedy and less towards the drama that would need to be placed, there is still something exhilarating about a series approaching so simply about desire, sexuality and pleasure without fear of taking risks and being bold.

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You've watched Minx., what did you think of the series? Comment here and also be sure to check out our list with indications of 10 miniseries to marathon in HBO Max.