The First 15 Minutes of “Top Gun” Is a Chronicle of America’s Pathologies
We’re stuck in the ’80s in so many ways!
Like many Americans, I love the original Top Gun. It’s the first “grownup” movie my dad took me to at age ten, and I’ve watched it countless times on cable and streaming. It’s one of the best ’80s blockbusters, filled with snappy lines, kick-ass action scenes, actual emotion, and charismatic characters (plus a couple of minutes of oily shirtless volleyball, just because).
So, inspired by the hype around the movie’s sequel, I fired the original up again on Netflix. As I watched the first scenes of the film, I was struck by how many of our country’s pathologies are reflected in the first few minutes of Top Gun.
The beginning of the movie sets the scene and establishes the characters. It begins with footage of an aircraft carrier, portrayed in a way that can only be described as sexy — it’s all fog and smoke and Kenny Loggins synthesizers. Soon, Tom Cruise’s Maverick and Anthony Edwards’ Goose find themselves in a confrontation with some vaguely communist MiGs. The Americans perceive this as a threat and engage.
There’s a brief confrontation, in which Maverick scares off the two MiGs, the first by locking his missile system on the plane, the second by flying upside down and giving…
