The Unintentional (or Was It?) Homoerotic Subtext

Between the shirtless beach-volleyball match, the tight uniforms, the tension-filled locker-room scenes and the longing glances, Top Gun is almost as famous for its barely veiled homoeroticism as for its aviators. When the film begins, the bromance between Maverick and Goose is palpable. And when Goose dies, Maverick mourns him like a lover. That is, until he finds a new prospect in Iceman. Though it has always been thought to have been unintentional, it’s hard to imagine that the makers of the film couldn’t see the obvious subtext. The theory has generated so much buzz that someone recut the original trailer to portray the love story between Maverick and Iceman. In the 1994 movie Sleep with Me, Quentin Tarantino argued that the plot is really about one man’s struggle with his own homosexuality.

Time: 10 Reasons Why Top Gun Is Still Awesome.