Airport Security and Catastrophe

    In her article "The Culture of US Airport Screening," Lisa Parks argues that "the x-ray sequence ultimately exposes the state's inability to regulate the flow of objects and matter in the age of globalization" (Parks, 186).  One aspect that I found interesting about Parks' statement is its relation to Doane's argument that in television, catastrophe is inherently linked to technological failure.  Doane comes to define catastrophe as the "conjuncture of the failure of technology and the resulting confrontation with death" (Doane, 229). Granted that Doane is discussing catastrophe specifically in terms of television, it is worth consideration in terms of Parks' discussion of airport security.  

     Like television, airport security relies on a continuous flow of objects that are potentially or are, in fact, catastrophic; their "escape" through security is precisely the failure of technology and the resulting confrontation with death.  This is perhaps a little overdramatic as most illegal items that get through security are probably not intended to be used in life-threatening ways, but more likely are the result of the forgetfulness or overconfidence of the owner of said pocketknife, wrench, etc...  Nonetheless, there are several parallels between the x-ray sequence and the televisual flow.  To begin, they are both characterized by a continuous flow of fragmented, disparate images.  Also, it is easy to simply glance at either screen; however, in both cases the viewer is alerted by specific indicators.  Altman discusses the significance of the televisual soundtrack in alerting its audience to significant events.  While audio track is, for now, not a part of the TSA visual, other elements draw attention to the screen: superimposed images, coloring, and so on.  However, most important is the element of catastrophe; for both television and airport security are characterized by a continuous flow, interrupted by the rare catastrophe.  

However, indeed the sense of catastrophe is not synonymous in these cases; it is more likely that a catastrophe in air port security would result in a later catastrophe presented televisually.  Furthermore, the televisual catastrophe's emphasis is on the "now" whereas the catastrophe in air port security is realized, more likely, after the fact and perhaps, brought to the attention of such security workers through television itself.  

      What is the nature of airport security x-ray screen?  They are constantly in the now, but unlike television, they are not characterized by a temporal diegesis.  Unlike cinema, they are not overly concerned with space.  The x-ray is only to concerned with the object itself; the object as presented by the machine and interpreted by the human element.  The x-ray screen makes the invisible visible; the private public.  Airport x-ray security and indeed surveillance overall demands a reinterpretation of what it means to invisible, to be private.