You Can't Avoid Boyd

Happy 25^th Birthday Danger Zone!

 First off, I apologize to my loyal followers for the lateness of this post. I know most of you wake up on Thursday with a cereal bowl in hand, expecting your weekly Boyd fill. Please be patient with me as I will still try to post something once a week. It may post on Thursdays, it may post later in the week, it may not post at all. I promise I’ll be back on my normal schedule sometime in the near future.

I admit it, I am not good with remembering birthdays. I know about 12 people’s birthdays, and only because half of them have the same birthday as me. Facebook does a good job reminding me as well (as well as letting me know of all the mundane details of some of my “friends”.) However, I was pleasantly surprised this morning when CNN.com informed me a very special birthday. Let’s all take a moment to wish a happy 25th birthday to the movie “Top Gun”.

Before “Top Gun” came out, Tom Cruise was a young actor on the rise. After it, he was a star who became one of the top paid actors for nearly two decades (before he went crazy with Scientology and constant rumors of homosexuality.) Thanks to “Top Gun”, bomber jackets and Ray-Ban aviator sunglasses sales increased 40%. Multiple songs became popular by being on the soundtrack, including “Danger Zone” by Kenny Loggins and “Take My Breath Away” from Berlin . The “AFI's 100 Years…100 Movie Quotes” list had the line "I feel the need...the need for speed!" at number 94 on their list. Plus, any guy in his 20s-40s can ramble off some of the more memorable lines/scenes from this movie at any time. The movie is a favorite of all, despite the gay overtones Quentin Tarantino pointed out about this movie in 2007.

Personally, the movie stands out for me for two reasons. One, this is one of Those Movies for me. People who know me know I always show up late to social outings. Many theories have arisen as to why I do this, the most popular being the amount of time I spend getting ready. Based on the perfection of my hair, I can understand the reasoning behind this. However, the actual reason why is Those Movies. Those Movies are the ones I have seen hundreds of times, yet always grabs my attention no matter what, regardless of the type of rush I am. You can blame Maverick, Cameron Poe, Casey Rybeck, Johnny Utah, William Wallace, Andy Dufresne, Rudy, and many other others for being late. Two, the scene where Tom Cruise sings “You Lost that Lovin’ Feeling” to try and woo a girl at the bar. Courtesy of this, I have sang this song approximately 1.6 million times in my life within a chorus of BU ruggers, friends, or by myself. Usually, it receives compliments. Sometimes, I’m told to shut the hell up. Either way, good times by all.

While I realize it is a birthday weekend, just remember to pour some out for Goose. I like to think he is probably enjoying a piece of birthday cake in movie Heaven however, while looking down from the clouds at his movie wife, cute Meg Ryan, not the currently hideous Meg Ryan. Meg Ryan’s face has been in the DANGER ZONE for years.

              -Written by Marcus Boyd