Top Gun!!! Is the Movie A Giant Commercial to Sell America? Is Maverick the Perfect Piece of American Symbolism? Does the Movie Still Hold Up Today? Is It A "War" Movie? What Will the Sequel Be Like?

The Best Paragraph I've Read: Are you looking to consider the grim realities of war, or to acknowledge the humanity of “the enemy”? Top Gun elides those inconvenient complications. If you are in search of some full-throttle patriotism, however, this film has you covered. Top Gun indulges in its metaphors. A hero who is young and arrogant and attempting to come to terms with his legacy might remind you of a country you know. And again and again, that hero is absolved. Maverick disobeys orders; he gets sent to Top Gun anyway. His antics get Goose in trouble with their superior; Goose forgives him. A series of scenes with Charlie goes roughly like this: She criticizes one of Mav’s flight maneuvers; unable to tolerate the negative review, he throws a tantrum and drives away on his motorcycle; she chases after him in her car, almost causing a pileup on a busy street; she catches up to him; he braces for her outrage; instead, she tells him she’s falling in love with him. There are many versions of this exchange in Top Gun. Maverick is someone who fails not just upward, but skyward. This paragraph comes from an essay in The Atlantic titled: "Top Gun Is an Infomercial for America." The essay is written by Megan Garber. You can read the full essay here: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/07/top-gun-infomercial-for-america/619013/ Zac and Don discuss the movie Top Gun. They wonder if the movie and its main character Maverick serve as a symbol of America. They wonder if the movie is serious enough. They wonder how the rest of the world views the movie.