Sen. Lindsey Graham expressed disappointment that Paramount Pictures seemingly kowtowed to Chinese pressure by removing the Taiwanese and Japanese flags from Tom Cruise’s iconic leather bomber jacket in the upcoming Top Gun sequel.
“That’s the power of Chinese money in the modern world that kind of sucks,” the South Carolina Republican mused to a TMZ reporter in a Senate hallway Tuesday, adding, “I hate to see the flag removed because of Chinese financing.”
Eagle-eyed fans noticed that the recently released teaser trailer for Top Gun: Maverick nixed the symbols of China’s rivals. China has tussled with Japan in recent years over islands in the South China Sea and does not acknowledge the sovereignty of Taiwan.
Graham went on to qualify that such a move was “a private-sector decision” and therefore none of the government’s business, but reiterated that it “sucks.” The film is due out summer 2020, and “even with that problem,” Graham insisted that he still plans to see it.
The Chinese investment holding conglomerate Tencent, which partly owns Paramount Pictures, is the likely reason behind the subtle change, according to CNN.
There’s a new Top Gun movie coming out. And Maverick is wearing the same leather jacket – only this time it’s Communist Party of China-approved, so the Japanese and Taiwanese flag patches are gone (screenshot on right is from the new trailer)… pic.twitter.com/gUxFNFNUKX
— Mark MacKinnon (@markmackinnon) July 19, 2019
