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Last I checked in on Top Gun: Maverick, the long-awaited sequel to the Tom Cruise fighter-jets-go-fast ’80s cheesefest, it was to note how good a movie it was (better than the original), and how its international success despite not opening in China (or Russia) should send a message to Hollywood. In recent decades, Hollywood had made an increasing play for the Chinese market, resulting in a proliferation of the sort of big-budget spectacle that translates easily, and, quite frequently, in outright censorship of movie elements that were politically sensitive to the Chinese Communist Party. (Eric Schwartzel tells this story in the excellent Red Carpet: Hollywood, China, and the Global Battle for Cultural Supremacy.)
