Kids turn on Barney the Dinosaur, Navy turns on Top Gun?

Herman_Snerd

Herman_Snerd

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Just for fun - my observation is that many toddlers LOVE Barney the Purple Dinosaur, but after a couple of years, there comes a certain age where nearly all of them vehemently deny it - "Who me? No, I've always HATED that purple slob." from the kid who would sit mesmerized for hours watching, singing along.

Why if the Top Gun was the best recruiting tool for the Navy in the 1980s - people lined up at recruiting stations the year after the film came out, is the Navy Aviation culture such that there is a fine jar for anyone who references the movie while on base in some situations? I kind of get it, have an opinion that could justify this in keeping grounded in reality v hollywood, but am interested to hear perspectives for anyone willing to share.

I did LOL on arrival to Pensacola Naval Air station in seeing so many Ensigns/ 2nd LTs who must have gone to a barber and requested the miles teller 'stache and cut. Wearing the same aviator sunglasses or latest movie version, it was pretty funny. Almost every NFO I met had the same 'stache as the folks in the movie. So that's another silly question - is there a tradition of mustaches for pilots in the navy - mainly I ask about the men but I suppose comments welcome pan-gender.

And yes, I had GI Joes, a stretch armstrong, wonder twin rings, a Mr T doll (I pity the fool!) but I don't recall every throwing 'em under the bus if anyone asked about it like the examples above.
 
I for one, never had a mustache and I wore AO pilot glasses with straight temples (just like everyone, but there was also a Randolph following back in the day because the zoomies adopted them). We all made fun of the cheesy Ray-Bans they wore in the first movie. It appears that they continued the same mistake in the sequel, but switched from the teardrop to the AO shape to be "cooler", I guess. Still, they used the cheap Chinese-made Ray-Ban copy. :rolleyes:

As a matter of fact, a lot of us went to see the first one when it came out and we nearly got thrown out of the theater because we were laughing so hard and yelling things like "wrong!" and "planes don't do that!" at the screen. The second one did not disappoint in the comedy department, either. :cool:
 
Haha we can always spot the (male) flight students down in the Pensacola area from a mile away. Same mustache, haircut, and outfit. Bonus points if they're wearing the issued aviator glasses, sunglasses or prescription clear ones.
 
THParent said:
I for one, never had a mustache and I wore AO pilot glasses with straight temples (just like everyone, but there was also a Randolph following back in the day because the zoomies adopted them). We all made fun of the cheesy Ray-Bans they wore in the first movie. It appears that they continued the same mistake in the sequel, but switched from the teardrop to the AO shape to be "cooler", I guess. Still, they used the cheap Chinese-made Ray-Ban copy. :rolleyes:

As a matter of fact, a lot of us went to see the first one when it came out and we nearly got thrown out of the theater because we were laughing so hard and yelling things like "wrong!" and "planes don't do that!" at the screen. The second one did not disappoint in the comedy department, either. :cool:
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I was a teenager when Top Gun came out and when I went to the theater to watch it, I sat in front a group of military pilots. They spent the entire movie saying things like "Fake....That's so fake" etc.
 
ProudDad2022 said:
I was a teenager when Top Gun came out and when I went to the theater to watch it, I sat in front a group of military pilots. They spent the entire movie saying things like "Fake....That's so fake" etc.
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If you were in the audience (Jacksonville, NC) I'm sorry. We were drinking during the movie, as well. :p
 
My F-16 AF pilot husband (now commercial pilot) LOVED the new Top Gun movie and loved how they tried to make everything look and feel real. FYI mine never had a mustache nor wore aviator glasses for what it’s worth.
 
lol I have some gouge from Pensacola. The young ladies don’t like the mustaches and sunglasses as much as the pilots think they do.
 
ProudDad2022 said:
I was a teenager when Top Gun came out and when I went to the theater to watch it, I sat in front a group of military pilots. They spent the entire movie saying things like "Fake....That's so fake" etc.
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I was on alert...we got a special row for the movie.

And all we did was pick it apart...

NOT a good movie to be sitting next to an AF pilot...especially one that prefers his '15 to the '14.
 
OldRetSWO said:
Jealousy is such a terrible emotion
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Jealous?

No. Neither for the movie nor the jet; especially not the jet.
(although it would have been fun to fly one)

Sad that the AF didn't have the smarts to get into something like this? YES.

Happy for the navy that it was such a success for them? YES
 
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Barney was never welcome at our house. We are fans of the Teletubbies (Tinky-Winky, Dipsy, Laa Laa and Po)

IMG_2716.jpeg
 
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