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Selim Tlili's avatar

That is a fascinating insight! I think I intuitively knew that they could only be in uniform on these shows if their superiors gave the green light. But I never consciously considered it. That’s the whole point though isn’t it? They don’t want you to consciously think about it. They want you to just have a series of unconscious positive associations with the military.

And it works! As late as my early 40s I explored the idea of enlisting in the army reserves. I had lots of conscious reasons to consider it (skill development, networking, benefits, etc) but my main feeling about it was a sense of pride and duty. Those values are fine but they have been overtly inculcated by a lifetime of movies like Top Gun and subtly inculcated by things like The Price is Right.

That’s really enlightening thank you!

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