Security checkpoint at the movie theater [View all]
My partner and I left the house this afternoon to see Wolverine, but we had one qualm about this plan; the last time we'd been to the movies at this particular theater complex, we'd had our purses searched. This change in process caught us by surprise, with tickets in hand, so we went through that security check as requested, but this time around we weren't so eager to repeat that exercise.
On the face of it -- as blandly iterated by the theater manager -- this policy is about checking bags for weapons to ensure a safer experience for customers. In truth, it's nonsense. Men are the most likely people to carry guns and shoot-up an establishment and they're far more likely to stick a gun in a pocket of their cargo pants than in a man-purse. The most violent movie incident in Aurora, Colorado involved a man with assault rifles entering through an exit door. Checking women's purses is not an effective policy; it's just a token (and somewhat discriminatory) gesture to create an illusion of safety while furthering a very real erosion of personal privacy.
Beyond that inane illusion of saftey, however, is yet another creeping normalization of "Your papers, please" authoritarian control of our daily lives. Our gun culture resists any kind of regulation of our freedom to own weapons, but then meekly bows down to the checkpoints against gun violence that permeate our participation in community activities.
This is ultimately what my partner and I were objecting to: the normalization of authoritarian control that numbs everyone to a process that can slide into crowd-control with less sterling motivations than protecting us from the violence of unbalanced individuals.
The larger context was emphasized this morning, before we even left for the theater, as we listened to Diane Feinstein discuss Snowden on a news program. Without even blinking at the screaming irony of her own statements, Feinstein spoke somberly about our reassurances to Russia that we would not torture or kill Snowden, and that she felt as a former KGB agent, Putin would most assuredly understand the United States' concern over Snowden's actions.
When we've reached the point where we count on the shared understanding of the KGB to act in our national interest, we have blatantly and openly admitted that we are a fascist state.
Welcome to the American Homeland.
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