Top Gun
I don’t remember the first time I saw the movie Top Gun, but I know the near seven million times I’ve seen it since have impacted my life. For those of you unaware of the movie, (i'm not sure how, but i since i haven't seen Casablanca, or It's A Wonderful Life, who am i to judge?) it is an action movie based around navy fighter pilots who go to flight school and fall in love with their hot lady instructor. I remember being captivated at a very young age with the best jet ever created, period. The F-14 Tomcat is by far the best thing that military intelligence has ever spent billions of dollars on. I would take the cushions off the couch and put on my flight jacket and pretend that I was Maverick, the lead character in the movie. It sparked my imagination and ignited my childhood obsession with jets. Even after i developed a pretty enormous fear of flying, i still wanted to take the highway into the danger zone.
As I grew older and still watched the movie, I also realized that the film showed me a lot of my firsts. Such as, my first onscreen kiss, (which I couldn’t look at straight on until I was about eleven, come on, you could see their tongues and everything!) my first death of a character I cared about, and my first envy for someone’s life. I know that it was a silly blockbuster movie, but I really loved it. I tried to model how I acted after how Tom Cruise portrayed Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, and still love the aviator/ bomber jacket look. It’s just classic cool.
The movie was kind of my childhood, and even though Cruise may now be fit for the loony bin, I still think of him as that cool pilot. It’s weird, but I guess I’m okay with it. This movie just showed me so many adult things that I wanted to be a part of. And since it was such a silly movie, (see every scene Val Kilmer is in. i mean really, who clicks their teeth as a threat?) it worked out, it worked for my childhood and adult self. These were adult themes on a grade-school level. Falling in love, singing in bars, losing your best friend, saving the day. This is what I wanted my life to be like when I grew up.
I bought the special edition version of the film when it came out and still think it’s a classic, though now, as an "adult" i can see how silly the film is. Still there is no denying how much I love the movie. I think my mom still has my bomber jacket. Maybe it’s time to get a new one.
3 comments:
I have movies and books like that, too: now, I know they're ridiculous, but they changed my life.
As for clicking teeth for a threat: my cats do that all the time, at the birds they watch but can't reach through our windows. "Click click click click." It's a chattering that sounds like a Geiger counter; my husband translates this as, "I will give you such fierce killings!"
So maybe Val Kilmer is really a cat? Or a were-cat?
As you know, I don't share your admiration for this movie. Unfortunately, I saw it for the first time as an adult. I strongly suggest you watch Tombstone several times. Val Kilmer is the best part of a very good cast. Then watch Real Genius. Kilmer is excellent in that as well. Then you will realize how cruelly Val was treated by the inane script in Top Gun.
Having said that, you don't get to pick what or who you fall in love with. It just happens. Top Gun makes you happy and that makes me happy. It can't be all bad.
I also loved this movie, but I think Tom Cruise has ruined it for me. The man has lost his mind.
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