There’s an ad on the bus warning everyone to be vigilant of stray packages. These ads are sad and ultimately destructive of the society they’re supposed to protect. I wish we could learn to think more rationally about risk.
But anyway, that’s not what prompted this post. The ad has a picture of a suitcase-like bag sitting alone on a seat. In the frame next to it, squinting at the bag, is a close-up of a face that is nothing if not Arab-looking (or perhaps Indian, it’s hard to tell). Now, it’s not clear if this guy is squinting at the supposed bomb because he’s being vigilant, or if he’s squinting because he’s the bad guy with a hard, unapproachable look. Either way, did they have to make him look Arabic? There’s no such thing as “accidental” choices in the advertising world.
(As an aside: In the 1990′s, twice as many people were killed by roving death squads in Los Angeles County as were killed by foreign terrorists on 9/11.)