"I Hope It Tanks At The Oscars": MSNBC Editor Slams Pro-Military "Top Gun: Maverick" As "Poisonous"

One MSNBC editor is actively rooting against the adrenaline-fueled and Best 
Picture-nominated "Top Gun: Maverick," complaining that it paints too 
positive a picture of the United States military.

MSNBC opinion writer and editor Zeeshan Aleem explained in a Saturday column 
that the movie, while an entertaining break from CGI and animated content, 
was sending a message that he called "insidious" and "poisonous."

"'Top Gun' is as insidious as it is entertaining. It does not merely revive a 
forgotten human-centered spectacle; it also beckons for a return to accepting 
the American war machine as a beacon of virtue and excitement," Aleem wrote, 
claiming that the movie glorified the excitement of battle -- which in turn, 
glorified war in itself. "It's a poisonous kind of nostalgia, one that 
smuggles love of endless war into a celebration of live action."

Aleem referred to the summer blockbuster as "literal propaganda," noting that 
the military had given filmmakers access to real aircraft in exchange for 
some oversight.

"In exchange for access to military aircraft, the producers of the movie 
agreed to allow the Defense Department to include its own 'key talking 
points' in the script. Perhaps equally important, the script had to be 
written in a manner that flatters the military in order to secure the buy-in 
of the Pentagon," he wrote.

Aleem went on to argue that the 2022 film and its predecessor were used to 
"rehab" the military's image, after periods of waning popularity. The 
original film, he said, helped the military's reputation recover after 
Vietnam -- and the sequel "diverts from the failed war on terror, and comes 
as defense officials eye the rise of China."

"I don't object to anyone's enjoyment of the film, but I hope it tanks at the 
Oscars," Aleem concluded. "It's possible to make thrilling action without so 
brazenly priming the public for warfare."

In addition to "Top Gun: Maverick," the other 2023 Best Picture nominees are 
as follows: "The Banshees of Inisherin," "Everything Everywhere All at Once," 
"All Quiet on the Western Front," "The Fabelmans," "Avatar: The Way of 
Water," "Elvis," "Tár," "Triangle of Sadness," and "Women Talking." The 
ceremony will take place on March 12, 2023, at the Dolby Theatre in 
Hollywood.

[I don't think this moron understands how the Oscers work when he says he 
hopes Top Gun "tanks". ]

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Let's go Brandon!