Sunglasses, Flight Jackets, and Everything Else: from Machismo to Diversity in Top Gun: Maverick

Popular media is getting better at representation. That’s something already apparent in the video game industry, with the likes of Ubisoft Montpellier making leaps and recently reimagining overtly Orientalist titles like Prince of Persia to make them more “authentic.” Now, The Lost Crown (2024) is both the first-ever game to be localized in Farsi. It’s also the first in the franchise to feature woman composer Mentrix. Arguably, this growing diversity can be credited to increasing global connectivity, where modern means to rapidly share information with a wider audience have shaped capitalist strategies to make products and services appeal to more