Snakes On A Plane was, for a brief moment, the uber-hyped, internet-propelled, buzz film of 2006. With a title that is punch-line and plot synopsis rolled into one, the film provided a study in Barnum theory in action. Forget relational aesthetics in a museum, this was the ultimate exercise in audience participation. Long before the film opened, internet discussion of the film was at a fever pitch and the studio capitalized by adding scenes in response. The most-quoted dialogue from the script actually originated as an online parody of Samuel Jackson's pistol-whipping persona ever since Pulp Fiction:

"Enough is enough! I have had it with these muthaf***in' snakes on this muthaf***in' plane!"

When you leave that theater, think of the film as a metaphor for the expansive paranoia that has gripped air travel. If it's not on your screen, it's real Arabs or Muslims biting you as you sit waiting for takeoff. Overwhelmed by the fear that Seat 3B is not just looking for a snack as he rifles through his bag, passengers have become the new enforcers on our flights.

Getting there is half the fun.

Ultimately, this is not a security conversation -- it is about enabling individuals to act out their fantasies as "terrorist spotters." Every person is now an 'Action Hero', ready to pounce on evildoers. Even after someone makes their way through security checks, passengers are indulged when they "spot suspicious behavior", kick up a royal fuss and boot that passenger off the plane.

When you target behavior and facial tics, are passengers passive actors in all this or do they start behavior modification and self-censorship? This is partially debated by Bernard Harcourt in his forthcoming book Against Prediction: Profiling, Policing and Punishing in an Actuarial Age. Faced with new measures to study passengers faces through "behavioral profiling", airports have become locations for a new form of performance art. Many of us have become used to rehearsing a script that allows an assumed normality roleplay, so that some hair-trigger suspicion meter doesn't go off.

What is suspicious? Suspect behavior has expanded to include not smiling (the Syrian musician case), going to the bathroom repeatedly (the two Indian men detained soon after 9/11), changing seats and using cell phones (Amsterdam-Bombay flight scare), wearing heavy clothes (Malaga-Manchester flight, shades of Jean Charles de Menezes who was also wearing a heavy coat), wearing hijab (JFK detentions), wearing an Arabic t-shirt (JetBlue's "We Will Not Be Silent" fracas with Iraqi activist Raed Jarrar), and speaking "Arabic" (Malaga-Manchester again) In the last instance, mob rule forced two men off a Manchester flight. The men in question were Asian and were most likely speaking Urdu -- apparently everyone is an amateur and inept Arabist. Maybe they can help fill the Intelligence Department's deficit of Arabic translators.

One of my innocent pleasures are horror films for that balls-to-the-wall fear buzz. One such enabler was the first installment in the Final Destination franchise, featuring a protagonist who sees a vision of an airline crash, and by freaking out, saves a group of passengers who get off the plane.

For any of us who already have a fear of flying, the accelerating nervousness displayed in the scene below is true to life:

Alex Browning: "I saw it. Like, I don't know I just saw it. I saw it on the runway, I saw it take off. I saw out my window. I saw the ground. And-and the cabin starts to shake, right? And the left side blows up and the whole plane just explodes! And it was so real, just how everything happens, you know?"

Tod Waggner: "You've been on a lot of planes that blew up?"

This exchange is not taken well by the flight attendants, who insist:

"We will remove you from this aircraft!"

To which Alex replies with bravado:

"F**k you! I'll remove myself!"

And he storms off the plane, along with some lucky souls who are scared by his outburst. Moments later, the plane is in the sky, and even fewer moments afterwards, it has exploded. Death does not take a holiday, and eventually all the survivors get their comeuppance in maximal gory fashion. The film was made in 2000, but subsequent sequels wisely avoid the air for freeway pileup (#2) and ferris wheel mayhem (#3).

If Alex Browning had a darker hue and a different name, the sum result of his freak out could very well be deep incarceration. Center for Constitutional Rights might still be suing for his release today. These are the realities of air travel in this eco system of fear.

Happy Flying!

this is classic. so funny. thanks for posting it!

assalaamu alaykum

Democracy Now broadcast a feature about the JFK Incident mentioned in the article. The URL is

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/25/142252

So what should our policy demand be? No extra questioning? If we're pulled into the next room, that the processing be speedy and that drinks and food be served? That questions asked meet some kind of standard? For example, "Have you ever trained with bomb-making materials?" might be a legitimate question while "What are your existing health conditions?" might be a forbidden question. That legal counsel be made available to people being questioned? That data collected be destroyed whenever they do not classify someone as a "security threat". etc.

What I'm trying to say is that the Bush Administration will eventually come up with criteria which allow it to do religious/ethnic profiling in all but name, just like it currently tortures people yet denies it by restricting the definition of torture. So is there some "gentle" profiling we should accept in order to stave off the Jim Crow-like profiling we're on the verge of experiencing? Or is acceptance of the basic premise, namely that Muslims are more likely to commit crimes than non-Muslims, a step on the road to Jim Crow? Should we call it Jamil Crow?

When the FBI came to my door in 2002, I suspect it was an apartment maintenance person who "alerted" the FBI to my suspicious behavior. Perhaps we could have a rule where the person who reports the "suspicious" behavior also gets pulled off the plane and searched and questioned. Or has to wash the car once a month for the next three months. Or appear on the local TV news segment and explain what he/she thought was suspicious behavior, and then get put on a stool with a dunce hat. ....

assalaamu alaykum

I think I should not compare Muslims' situation in the USA today to Jim Crow by using phrases like "Jamil Crow." Jim Crow represents nearly a century of extreme violence and denial of the most basic human rights agains African-Americans. It is just hyperbole to compare the current situation with that, so I regret using that term.

A few years ago, I was out walking with my then much smaller autistic son when I got into a fairly minor tussle with him over which way we were walking. But because I was dressed in a great coat and scruff clothes, and therefore looked 'yobbish', a local toff assumed I was trying to abduct him (despite my explaining he was autistic), followed me in his car and then tried to snatch him off me!

Ironically, I finally called the police, at which point he realised I was genuine and did a runner - before the boys in blue arrived. Funny how wannabe heroes suddenly find themselves without courage when it comes to facing up to their own stupidity!

Wasalaam

TMA

this is an excellent peice. thanks for posting and thanks to altmuslim for actually having a venue for this kind of stuff.....

SOUTHWEST AIRLINES NO LONGER ACCEPTS WHEELED LUGGAGE (AS WELL AS MUSLIMS, FAT PEOPLE, BLACKS, OLD PEOPLE & GOOD HUMOR)

Today a revision was submitted to the Southwest Airlines Wikipedia entry at

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwest_Airlines that deals with the numerous lawsuits and

customer complaints that have surfaced recently. These incidents portray Southwest Airlines

as a meanspirited and bigoted company.

In addition, there is a recent court case discussed wherein a Southwest representative said

that wheeled baggage is no longer wanted at Southwest Airlines and that, instead,

"throwaway baggage" is being used by customers of Southwest Airlines.

No doubt Southwest will delete this material ASAP, but if you will help us by persistently

resubmitting it, maybe they will either give up or change their attitudes. The only thing that will change Southwest's behavior at this point is publicity, so keep it coming.

If you want a copy of the additional material, feel free to email me at