Top Gun: Maverick continues to take Republicans’ breath away. The Tom Cruise sequel that’s been shattering box office records has become an obsession in right-wing corners where it’s being hailed as an “anti-woke victory” thanks to its patriotic imagery and glowing portrayal of U.S. Navy fighter pilots.
Case in point, Republican Congresswoman Claudia Tenney stopped by Newsmax where she pushed Top Gun: Maverick as a much better alternative than watching the upcoming January 6 hearings.
Rep. Claudia Tenney says people should go see ‘Top Gun’ tomorrow night instead of watching the J6 hearing. pic.twitter.com/0K87EpvAha
— Ron Filipkowski
(@RonFilipkowski) June 8, 2022
Via Ron Filipkowski on Twitter:
“Are they gonna go watch Top Gun, which is entertainment, or are they going to watch the J6, you know, TV-produced show? That is, by the way, not even bipartisan. It’s a committee that’s a sham brought to you by the same people that brought the Russian collusion hoax. … To me, it’s just a sad and weak attempt to hang on to an issue that’s really not relevant to America’s every day life, right now.”
Of course, Republican-leaning Americans probably weren’t going to watch the January 6 hearings in the first place thanks to Fox News refusing to air the proceedings on its main channels. But Tenney’s comments reflect the ongoing conservative love affair with Top Gun: Maverick, which recently saw former The View co-host Meghan McCain gush about the film.
In her column for the Daily Mail, McCain praised the film’s box office success for proving that “Hollywood must wake up to the reality that ‘go woke, go broke’ is real.” However, McCain’s argument is predicated on the assumption that Hollywood doesn’t know how to make a “successful” movie anymore, which clearly isn’t the case as shown by the massive box office hauls of Spider-Man: Far From Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.