{"id":1499520,"date":"2022-06-01T10:45:23","date_gmt":"2022-06-01T14:45:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1499520"},"modified":"2022-06-01T10:46:13","modified_gmt":"2022-06-01T14:46:13","slug":"top-gun-is-much-better-recruitment-than-that-lesbian-wedding-cartoon-ad-the-army-made","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/top-gun-is-much-better-recruitment-than-that-lesbian-wedding-cartoon-ad-the-army-made\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Top Gun\u2019 Is Much Better Recruitment Than That Lesbian Wedding Cartoon Ad The Army Made"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftop-gun-is-much-better-recruitment-than-that-lesbian-wedding-cartoon-ad-the-army-made%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1499520&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/image-2022-05-31T173343.771.png\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p>When \u201cTop Gun\u201d came out in 1986, it helped drive a surge of interest in flying for the U.S. military, including a 10 percent spike in service academy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/archive\/local\/1987\/01\/19\/naval-academy-cruises-to-popular-heights\/19e2b896-c777-4054-96a1-fbfdf9091763\/\">applications<\/a>. Its sequel, \u201cTop Gun: Maverick,\u201d which came out just ahead of Memorial Day weekend, is chock-full of the same feel-good heroics, guts, and patriotism that made a generation of boys (and a few girls) dream of becoming fighter pilots nearly 40 years ago. <\/p>\n<p>The Pentagon <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/film\/2022\/may\/26\/top-gun-for-hire-why-hollywood-is-the-us-militarys-best-wingman\">collaborated<\/a> with producers on the movie, as it has with myriad other military flicks. Now, from ads lined up to accompany the movie to recruitment <a href=\"https:\/\/www.warhistoryonline.com\/news\/us-navy-recruiting-top-gun-maverick.html?chrome=1&#038;D2c=1&#038;A1c=1\">tables<\/a> set up outside theaters, the Navy and Air Force are making no secret of using \u201cTop Gun: Maverick\u201d as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flyingmag.com\/u-s-navy-air-force-banking-on-top-gun-maverick-recruitment-boost\/\">recruiting<\/a> tool, as well they should. It\u2019s a far better promotion for the U.S. military than the embarrassing, woke garbage that equity consultants have been churning out.<\/p>\n<p>A year ago, the U.S. Army released a 2-minute cartoon narrated by Cpl. Emma Malonelord and ostensibly depicting her childhood.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed alignwide is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<span class=\"9IaUSwXRj\"><\/p>\n[embedded content]\n<p><\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIt begins in California with a little girl raised by two moms,\u201d she says. \u201cAlthough I had a fairly typical childhood, took ballet, played violin, I also marched for equality. I like to think I\u2019ve been defending freedom from an early age,\u201d she adds, before detailing the day her moms were married (complete with a colorfully animated wedding). <\/p>\n<p>She then talks about being a sorority girl surrounded by \u201cother strong women,\u201d before realizing she had so much privilege that she finally decided to have her \u201cown adventures\u201d like her friend that was studying abroad in Italy. So, Emma joined the Army.<\/p>\n<p>The ad makes our military \u2014 the members of which I deeply respect \u2014 appear instead like a bunch of kindergarteners. Emma\u2019s reason for joining up is selfish; it\u2019s not because she wants to sacrifice for a cause she believes in, it\u2019s because her friends are studying abroad in Italy or climbing Mount Everest and she wants to do something exciting too. <\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s painfully obvious that the point of the ad was to check boxes in the Army\u2019s department of showing how much the Pentagon loves lesbian weddings. The animation is reminiscent of a B-list kids TV show, and so is the sugary tone of the voiceover. <\/p>\n<p>There is zero in the video to inspire any kind of bravery, sacrifice, duty, honor, integrity, excellence, teamwork, or respect. Like the short-lived \u201cArmy of One\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/id\/wbna15197720\">slogan<\/a> of 20 years ago, this ad is all about being your best self and fulfilling your personal needs and desires. It\u2019s more evocative of a cheesy Instagram caption than a profession that is aptly described as <em>service<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike that dumpster fire of an ad campaign \u2014 which was only one video in a series of five \u2014 \u201cTop Gun\u201d (both movies) gave viewers something to be inspired by besides themselves. There are strong themes of sacrifice, bravery, and overcoming personal challenges for the good of the mission and your team. While Maverick and Iceman might be a smidge <em>too<\/em> cocky, they have the exploits to back it up; they\u2019re not talking about their sororities or \u201cshattering some stereotypes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Besides that, there\u2019s the fact that \u201cTop Gun\u201d actually makes the military look cool. Who sees the epic dogfights, the sharp uniforms, the shiny aviator glasses, the daring flybys, or the dramatic takeoffs without wanting to be that legendary? I doubt anyone who watched the Army\u2019s cartoon walked away with the same impression.<\/p>\n<p>It turns out, Tom Cruise and company are far better at making a compelling promo for the U.S. military than \u201cDiversity, Equity, and Inclusion\u201d-crazed bureaucrats at the Pentagon are. (The ad is no one-off; Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley told Congress he wanted to \u201cunderstand white rage,\u201d while Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/national-security\/2021\/06\/16\/admiral-criticized-for-recommending-antiracism-book\/\">defended<\/a> the Navy\u2019s inclusion of Ibram X. Kendi\u2019s \u201cHow to Be an Antiracist\u201d as recommended reading for sailors.)<\/p>\n<p>The military isn\u2019t going to fix its alarming <a href=\"https:\/\/www.heritage.org\/defense\/commentary\/military-recruiting-increasingly-awol-can-we-fix-it\">recruiting lull<\/a> with kitschy \u201cbe yourself\u201d cartoons. Nor are movies like \u201cTop Gun\u201d enough to combat our cultural war of attrition on concepts like duty, responsibility, and sacrifice. But at least the latter is speaking the right language.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<p>\n  Elle Reynolds is an assistant editor at The Federalist, and received her B.A. in government from Patrick Henry College with a minor in journalism. You can follow her work on Twitter at @_etreynolds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When \u201cTop Gun\u201d came out in 1986, it helped drive a surge of interest in flying for the U.S. military, including a 10 percent spike in service academy applications. Its<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":500,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1499520","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1499520","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/500"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1499520"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1499520\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1499520"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1499520"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1499520"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}