Memorial Day musings: Top gun and war boys

Examining attitudes about young men and war from a pair of big time movies from the last decade.

One of the consistent themes of America’s War Game is the notion that football serves as a war game within American society. It’s both a toned down substitute for actual warfare between peoples within the country, allowing people to compete violently without actual warlike stakes, as well as a practice which maintains a value and emphasis on the traits which make for a warrior society.

America is a wildly more martial and warlike society than we often appreciate, particularly given that war generally strikes Americans as a distant concern. The earth’s two oceans and the fleets of supercarriers with USS etched in the hulls tend to effectively shield broader society from the horrors and reality of warfare.

Over the last few weeks I enjoyed a pair of films that broach the football adjacent topic of war and channeling of America’s young men into a warrior class. Given that it’s Memorial Day where we honor our fallen warriors who died in service to the USA, it seemed a fitting time to branch into this more socio-cultural topic. We’ll be back on topics within the 2023 college football season soon enough.

Those two movies were Mad Max: Fury Road (perhaps my fifth time seeing that one) and Top Gun: Maverick (my first time). Both pretty prominently take on the notion of a warlike society and both have drawn rave reviews from opposite ends of the political discourse, but I’m not sure they’re as different in message or theme as people think.

I’m not sure I can do this without spoiling the plots of these movies so let that be your warning. Now let’s talk about war culture in American cinema.