After we discussed today’s reading from Acting Out Culture and airport security, I thought about a scene from a movie I saw recently. In the movie, the two main characters are of Asian and Middle Eastern/Indian descent. There is a scene where the two men are going through airport security to take a trip to Amsterdam, and the Middle Eastern man, Kumar, is pulled aside for a “random security check”. Kumar immediately starts to accuse the man of pulling him aside because he is of Middle Eastern/Indian descent. The employee is confused, and then the two of the men start to get into an argument. I remember one of the quotes from the employee being something along the lines of, “What are you talking about man, I can’t be racist, I’m black.” Eventually the employee’s boss steps in, apologizes profusely to Kumar and asks the employee angrily what he thought he was doing, upsetting a Middle Eastern man like that. Later on Kumar reveals he only made the scene so that he wouldn’t have to go through security – he had drugs on him that he wanted to smuggle into Amsterdam.

I didn’t think of this example until after class, but I think that it makes a really good connection to what we discussed today. In a way it can be viewed simply as ridiculous as the scene was itself, however, I think it makes a very profound statement about both today’s airport security and racism. Personally, I think the makers of the film were poking fun at the state of security today, but also, at the way Americans perceive terrorists. We talked in class today about how as individuals we hold a subconscious fear against those from the Middle East, only because of how the media has portrayed today’s terrorists. Like Devin mentioned, for example, people wearing turbans makes us uneasy.

My point is that I think this scene summarizes how I feel about the way airport security has evolved in today’s times, and I felt a strong connection between that and the discussion we had today. I think that, of course, we do need some precautionary measures in airports, however, I really don’t think that a lot of what is in place today is absolutely necessary. I also hold a real pity towards those who are automatically prejudiced against in today’s airports. I can’t imagine what it would feel like to be judged based on my skin color, or my cultural upbringing. It really is racism in its truest form.