“You know what one of the greatest scripts ever written in the history of Hollywood is? Top Gun.”
There’s a 90s movie called Sleep With Me. I know just a single scene of it, but I know that scene well.
The scene shows a party where Quentin Tarantino (real-life Quentin Tarantino) is talking to some other guy. They are discussing Top Gun — my favorite movie of all time – and they give a new interpretation of it.
“The whole idea is subversion,” Quentin says. “You want subversion on a massive level.” That’s why Top Gun is so great.
“What is Top Gun?” Quentin asks. “You think it’s a story about a bunch of fighter pilots.” He shakes his head.
“It is a story about a man’s struggle with his own homosexuality.”
The other guy in the scene chuckles. He thinks it’s a joke.
But no. Quentin hits him with the proof…
… which won’t mean much to you if you’ve never seen Top Gun. If you’ve been deprived like that, you might want to take a 100-minute break right now to watch it (highly recommended) so the rest of this email makes sense.
You’re back already? Good to have you. So here’s what Quentin says about Top Gun:
Maverick is right on the edge.
On the one side, Iceman and his crew represent the “gay way.”
On the other side, Kelly McGillis represents heterosexuality.
But Maverick won’t have sex with Kelly. Halfway through their first date, he rides off on his motorcycle, leaving her frustrated.
So in the next scene, she dresses like a man — in a fighter pilot jacket and baseball cap — to pull Maverick back through subterfuge.
But it doesn’t work, not long term. By the end, Maverick joins Iceman and all the other fighter jocks.
They are fighting the MiGs. “They are this gay fighting force,” says Quentin. And then the movie ends with the climactic exchange between Maverick and Iceman, which Quentin caricatures only slightly:
Iceman: You can ride my tail any time.
Maverick: You can ride mine.
Do I hear you groaning? Maybe you think this whole scene is just tasteless 90s humor. Maybe you’re right. But get this:
I first heard about this scene some 20 years ago. It gave me a kind of thrill, and completely changed the way I see Top Gun. That’s why I often share this scene with other people. And many of them get a kick out of it too, and they remember it and they pass it on also.
So you think there’s something there?
I think so. At least that’s my takeaway for you — a check you can cash:
You might have heard that stories are powerful in marketing. And it’s true.
But like I’ve written recently, people might consume your story-based marketing… and still not want to buy your stuff. It takes a lot more than just fancy storytelling.
Because after your story, your prospect might feel like you tricked him into your pitch…
Or maybe he made up his mind long ago he won’t respond to any advertising, not even if it’s subtle…
Or he might have this stubborn belief, that even though your story tells him differently, your product can’t help him, not really, not him.
So I’d like to suggest that the future of marketing is going to be something like that Quentin Tarantino scene above.
Maybe you’re curious about the details of what I have in mind.
That’s classified. I could tell you… but then I’d have to kill you.
But it might be something I share in my top-secret newsletter. And soon. If you’d like to sign up for that, click here and fill out the form.