‘Top Gun’ Culture and Reality

‘Top Gun’ Culture and Reality #Top #Gun #Culture #Reality Welcome to TmZ Blog, here is the new story we have for you today: Tom Cruise portrays Capt. Pete "Maverick" Mitchell in a scene from "Top Gun: Maverick." Photo: Paramount Pictures via Associated Press ‘Top Gun: Maverick” crushed box-office debut records over Memorial Day weekend, and it’s worth asking why. Could this be an entertainment phenomenon that says something larger about the current moment in American culture? No doubt many are showing up to see Tom Cruise, who plays U.S. Navy fighter pilot Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, as he did in the original “Top Gun” in 1986. But the movie’s opening weekend outperformed the box office for Mr. Cruise’s other hits such as the “Mission: Impossible” franchise. It’s no easy feat to stick the landing of a sequel more than three decades after the first movie. Maverick trains fighter pilots for a mission against an unidentified enemy, though the Journal reports the film lost a Chinese investor over its pro-America bent. The movie’s makers, reportedly after some debate, declined to scrub Taiwanese and Japanese flags off Maverick’s bomber jacket. By the low standards of Hollywood, which is typically prepared to placate the Communist Party in search of Chinese box office, we’ll count this as courage. The movie is drawing some older folks back to theaters after the long Covid absence from theaters, but let’s better hope this paean to fighter aviation captures the imagination of younger Americans. For years the Navy and the Air Force have been short of fighter pilots. The picture is worse for enlisted service members such as experienced maintenance personnel. Only about a quarter of America’s youth meet current eligibility standards to enlist, and fewer still are interested. “To put it bluntly,” North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis said at an April hearing in Congress, “I am worried we’re now in the early days of a long-term threat to the all-volunteer force.” Call that a highway to the danger zone for U.S. security. A well-known cast and action scenes may explain much of the “Top Gun” success, but it’s nonetheless notable how many Americans are turning out to see a movie valorizing the military. The progressive lectures about the U.S. as a racist or evil society will continue, but it’s encouraging that the public still cheers when American aviators take down the bad guys. Inside View: Much like too many films these days, “No Time to Die” and the other Daniel Craig 007 movies have taken a dark turn. This from a franchise that used to deliver fun and sophistication. Images: Danjaq/MGM Composite: Mark Kelly Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8 Appeared in the June 2, 2022, print edition. Click Here To Continue Reading from Source