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My weakness is aircraft.
There, I said it. No shame here. My absolute favorite for nearly four decades is the SR-71 Blackbird, closely followed by WWII birds. My beloved Blackbird pencil sharpener, the post’s featured photo, has been by my side since I was a teen; he’s been through the fires, let me tell you.
That aside, my brain needed decompression in a magnificently bad way today, so I went to a movie. By myself. On a Friday. Judge me if you must.
Devotion: that was what I chose- not because it sounds like a chick flick, but because it has PLANES, WWII planes! It was not a mistake. I was half an hour into it before I realized that my feels were meant to be ravaged today, and not in a Disney type of way.
As a brief synopsis because I hesitate to reveal any spoilers, Ensign Jesse Brown is a Naval pilot, a black one. In 1950, that was a yuuuge deal. As a result of his being heavily melaninized, he encounters resistance of a not-so-nice type. Enter fellow pilot Tom Hudner, who ends up his most staunch ally and wingman. (I will not insert any cheesy “I’ll be your wingman anytime” Slider quotes. No, I will not.) They briefly endure Naval and life problems before being sent to take a look-see at Korean and Chinese activities on their border. It being 1950, I hesitate to assume that we can and will say that means the battle of Chosin. Here’s the official trailer.
From here I’ll have to keep things nondescript so that you may all see it for yourselves. I laughed a bit, I bawled significantly more, and I stayed through closing credits out of respect. There were medals to be earned, people’s lives changed, and it was all based on the true story.
I’d not heard of it before today, but I do hope everyone takes the time to watch it, either while it’s in the theater to get the full effect of the planes, or after when it’s released.
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The featured photo for this article is of an SR-71 Blackbird pencil sharpener, and is the personal property of the writer.
Cameron says: I’m more an F-15 fanboy and my dad flew KC-135s. Sounds like you found a good movie though.
ROS says: I was the only chick when I was a teen who didn’t have boy band posters covering my walls, opting instead for an F-18 over my closet door, an F-16 over my dresser, and an F-15 on my side wall. My Blackbird was framed and stayed on my nightstand with my penguins, one of whom wore a polka-dotted necktie. It read across the bottom “I Gotta Be Me”.
Cameron says: I used to have a poster that had every plane in the Air Force’s inventory including helicopters. I would have loved to have been a pilot but my eyesight decided otherwise.
GWB says: Good on your father for flying such an important and distinguished aircraft!
(KC-135R, myself)
Cameron says: The amusing part is finding out the rather dangerous things he encountered long after he retired.
DC says: We were blessed with two great “airplane movies” this year. That’s unusual. And both films kinda compliment each other. And share one of the actors as well – Glenn Powell. After listening to an interview with him I’m convinced he was the right man for the job in Devotion. And he hopes to make more films like it. Great stuff. Go Navy.
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